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Williams, Babchuk send Flyers to record-tying loss

Dec 20, 2006 - 5:09 AM PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Carolina Hurricanes' Justin Williams and defenseman Anton Babchuk kept the Philadelphia Flyers mired in a losing streak.

Williams and Babchuk each scored a goal as the Hurricanes posted a 2-1 victory to send the Flyers to their franchise record-tying seventh consecutive loss.

Cam Ward made 30 saves for Carolina, which welcomed back captain Rod Brind'Amour, who missed four games with a lower body injury. The Hurricanes were 1-3 in the games Brind'Amour missed.

"I was a little rusty, Brind'Amour said. "I just kind of took it easy I didn't try to make too much happen. I just played my game and let the other guys do their thing."

Carolina scored first when Williams deflected defenseman Andrew Hutchinson's shot from the right point past goaltender Antero Niittymaki with 7:29 left in the first period.

"Andrew (Hutchinson) made a great play to look up and see where he was firing," Williams said. "I just happened to be there and I just tipped it and it went in. It was a big first goal for us because we've had a tough time getting the lead."

Just 2:42 into the second session, Babchuk took a pass from Erik Cole, skated to the top of the right circle and let go a slap shot that beat Niittymaki high to the glove side to give the Hurricanes a 2-0 lead.

Carolina has won two straight since snapping a season-high five-game losing streak.

"We got the first one on Saturday and we came in here and got the second one," Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette said. "We dug ourselves a huge hole and it was important that we got back-to-back wins.

"I thought our guys played pedal to the medal. We got the looks that we wanted. It either hit the post, missed the net, or there were some big saves by Niittymaki. I thought that we played a pretty good game."

Simon Gagne tallied his 17th goal of the season with 5:55 left in the third period for Philadelphia, which has been outscored, 27-13, during its current losing streak.

"Losing is not fun," Gagne said. "You like to be apart of great things. I've been apart of the great history of the Flyers. With what happened tonight, you don't like to put your name on something like this. You're not very proud of this. People remember the good stuff but they remember the bad stuff too."

"We have to play desperate hockey," Flyers right wing Todd Fedoruk added. "Before the third period the coach gave us a pretty good lashing. I think we picked it up in the third period but we have to learn to play for sixty minutes."

Niittymaki made 40 saves for the Flyers, who fell to 1-7 vs. Southeast Division teams and fell to 8-21-4, the worst record in the NHL.

"The losses affect your confidence," Niittymaki said. "Even when the game is close, you start wondering if your going to win this one. It's tough to keep battling hard right now. We battled to tie the game. We had a couple of good chances but it was not our night."

Philadelphia, which committed eight penalties and was 0-for-4 on the power play, is just 3-of-36 with the man advantage during the skid.

"We flat out didn't compete," Flyers coach John Stevens said. "You can't win in this league when you don't compete. We didn't win any board battles and we didn't finish any checks.

"We challenged the players in between the second and third periods and then they came out and looked like a good team. Until we realize that it's a hard game, and it's a man's game, we are just going to be way too easy to play against."