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Umberger, Flyers whip Red Wings

Feb 13, 2007 - 4:38 AM PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Too bad R.J. Umberger and the Philadelphia Flyers didn't play this way earlier in the season.

Umberger scored two goals and goaltender Michael Leighton made 31 saves to lead Philadelphia to a surprising 6-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.

The Flyers, who have 38 points and own the worst record in the NHL, are 3-1-1 in their last five games. Philadelphia handed Detroit just its second loss in eight games and denied the Wings a chance to tie the Buffalo Sabres for the most points in the league.

"We have got to get the Flyers identify back," Umberger said. "We're not going to go away. We're going to be a strong team next year, and we want to compete for the (Stanley) Cup next year."

"When the score is tied and we're on the road, that is a good situation for us," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "We are normally a good third-period team, but we took some penalties and we took a 5-on-3. We got through that, then the Flyers got a shorthanded goal and we just didn't seem to recover. We have to give them credit. They played hard and they won."

Leighton won his second straight start. He made 25 saves in a 4-3 win over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.

"I was kind of surprised that I got the start," Leighton said. "(Antero) Niittymaki has been playing great, and against St. Louis I just had to do my job and did not play outstanding. The team played well and we got a win there, and we just went off of that."

"He won a home game for us and that hadn't happened in a long time, so that certainly was a consideration for us," Philadelphia coach John Stevens said of the decision to start Leighton. "He certainly played well. He looked much more confident tonight. He made some key saves in the hockey game, and that really gave us energy."

With the score tied at 1-1 after two periods, the Flyers pulled away with five third-period tallies. After Peter Forsberg's power-play goal put Philadelphia ahead to stay at 4:20, Umberger increased the advantage to 3-1 with a shorthanded goal at 7:08.

The center picked up a loose puck, skated around All-Star defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom and flipped the puck over netminder Joey MacDonald.

"He beat Nick (Lidstrom) a bit wide and I lost the post," MacDonald said. "The puck squeezed the post and my leg. It was a bad goal and I need to make that save. Had I made the save, it could have been a completely different game."

Simon Gagne, Umberger and Todd Fedoruk later scored goals in a span of 4:07 for a 6-1 lead. Umberger's second goal came when took a pass from Kyle Calder in the slot and beat MacDonald at 12:33.

Umberger's goals were his first in his last 13 games.

Gagne also had an assist, which gave him seven points in his last four games. Forsberg had an assist and has 12 points in nine games since the All-Star break.

Tomas Holmstrom scored a goal and MacDonald made 27 saves for Detroit. Holmstrom has six goals in his last eight games.

The Flyers won their second straight home game and are 5-15-7 at home this season.

"It has been a long time since we won two games in a row, and I thought tonight we played an outstanding third period," Forsberg said.

Before the game, Philadelphia honored former captain Keith Primeau, who retired in September due to concussion problems. Primeau played six seasons with the Flyers, scoring 87 goals with 127 assists in 312 games.