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Brind'Amour gets lucky, Hurricanes get by Flyers

Dec 16, 2007 - 5:22 AM PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Rod Brind'Amour got a lucky break, and it was enough to help the Carolina Hurricanes finally get a win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

Brind'Amour scored the decisive goal in the shootout as the Hurricanes halted a three-game skid with a 6-5 victory over the Flyers on Saturday.

Erik Cole and Craig Adams each recorded two assists for Carolina, which posted its first win in four meetings with Philadelphia this season.

"It was a good win, no matter who you're playing," Brind'Amour said. "In our situation, we need wins desperately. We'll take them any way you can."

With the shootout even at 2-2, Brind'Amour had a chance to win the game against his former team in the third round, but it initially appeared as if he came up empty. Goaltender Martin Biron got a piece of Brind'Amour's shot with his glove but did not catch it cleanly.

The puck was deflected straight up above Biron, who could not find it. As it fell to the ice, it hit Biron in the back of his right shoulder and trickled across the goal line for the winning tally.

"When he made the save, I saw it come out and I thought that it still had a chance to go in," Brind'Amour said. "It got a lucky bounce off his back and it went in. I'll take it."

"As soon as I made the save, I made a point to look up to see where the puck was," Biron said. "I tried to squeeze the post to not let the puck go in. It hit my head, my pad, my pad and then in. That sums up the night."

Matt Cullen and Jeff Hamilton also scored in the bonus format for Carolina. Mike Richards and Joffrey Lupul tallied for Philadelphia, but Daniel Briere failed to convert the initial attempt of the shootout, and that proved to be the difference.

Lupul scored once in each period for the Flyers to record his second hat trick of the week. The 24-year-old had three goals and three assists in an 8-2 rout of Pittsburgh on Tuesday.

He became the first Flyer to record two hat tricks in the same week since Eric Lindros accomplished the feat on March 18 and 20, 1995 vs. Florida and Montreal, respectively.

Lupul gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead midway through the first period, but Carolina came back to take a 2-1 edge before intermission

With the contest even at 4-4, Trevor Letowski put the Hurricanes ahead with just under 14 minutes left in the third. But Lupul came through again on the power play, pounding home a rebound during a mad scramble in front of the net with 8:14 to play.

"The puck is following me right now," Lupul said. "The second and third goals that I scored were just lucky goals. Hopefully, I will stay hot."

Both teams had man advantages in the overtime session but failed to convert.

Lupul was called for hooking just 26 seconds into overtime, but former Flyers defenseman Dennis Seidenberg returned the favor, pulling down Richards in front of the net just after Lupul's penalty expired.

Blue-liner Niclas Wallin snapped a 35-game goalless drought and also added an assist while John Grahame made 36 saves for Carolina.