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Gagne caps miraculous win for Flyers

Dec 12, 2008 - 5:15 AM PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- There is absolutely no quit in Simon Gagne, Scott Hartnell and the Philadelphia Flyers.

Gagne tied the game late in regulation and scored the decisive goal in the shootout as the Flyers rallied from a four-goal deficit in the third period Thursday and posted a 6-5 triumph over the Carolina Hurricanes.

Hartnell recorded his fourth career hat trick and Scottie Upshall also tallied for Philadelphia, which improved to 11-1-3 in its last 15 games and 6-0-2 in its last eight at home.

"Scottie Hartnell had a breakout night," Flyers coach John Stevens said. "He was all over the ice tonight."

Jeff Carter and defenseman Andrew Alberts notched two assists apiece and Antero Niittymaki made 26 saves for the Flyers, who raised their record against Southeast Division opponents to 6-1-1.

Eric Staal scored two goals and set up another and Tuomo Ruutu collected three assists for Carolina, which has not posted a regulation victory over Philadelphia in the last 11 meetings between the teams. Staal's first tally was his 300th career point.

Matt Cullen, Sergei Samsonov and former Flyers defenseman Joni Pitkanen also tallied and Michael Leighton stopped 32 shots for the Hurricanes, who fell to 2-5-2 in their last nine games.

"We played some fine hockey for 40 minutes, and in the third, we got a lesson in forecheck pressure," said Carolina coach Paul Maurice, whose team fell to 1-1-2 since he took over for Peter Laviolette on December 3. "We had a difficult night moving the puck, and our feet stopped moving. It's a learning process for us."

The contest was the fourth in 16 days between the clubs, with Philadelphia posting a 3-0-1 record.

"We've played Carolina four times in the last couple of weeks," Upshall said. "We knew what they had and we fought back."

With the Flyers trailing, 2-0, Hartnell halved the deficit during a power play midway through the second period, tipping Carter's wrist shot from the blue line past Leighton at 9:17. However, Samsonov began a string of three straight goals for the Hurricanes just 11 seconds later as Carolina entered the second intermission with a 5-1 cushion.

"It didn't matter what I tried to do," Niittymaki said. "The rebounds went straight back to them and everything went in. You're just trying to think, 'What's going on here?'"

Hartnell chipped away at the deficit, burying the rebound of Alberts' shot just 1:42 into the third for Philadelphia's league-leading 12th shorthanded goal of the season. Last campaign, the Flyers netted 13 tallies while down a skater.

After his initial shot from the right faceoff circle sailed over the net, the puck bounced off the glass and into the slot, where Hartnell regained possession and fired it past Leighton at 7:12 to complete his hat trick and draw Philadelphia within 5-3.

"We came in (after two periods) and (Stevens) basically said, 'You're playing like a bunch of pansies,'" Hartnell said. "We turned it on for 20 minutes. You get one quick and you never know what's going to happen. We stuck with it, got a couple of great goals late and we were able to get the extra point out of it."

Niittymaki, who has won four in a row, denied former Flyer Rod Brind'Amour on a breakaway with just under 11 minutes remaining, and Upshall made it a one-goal game at 15:08, when he converted the rebound of a slap shot by defenseman Lasse Kukkonen for his fifth of the season.

"I think collectively, we came together and we threw everything at them," Upshall said. "We played pretty much Flyer hockey, the way we know how. We shot the puck, we made simple plays and we won battles, and that was the difference."

"It seems like when a guy like Scottie scores, it gives your team even more energy," Stevens said. "Then the power play kept coming and we just stayed with it. It was great to see."

Just three seconds after Carolina successfully killed rookie blue-liner Brett Carson's hooking penalty, Gagne did the unthinkable, stuffing his second attempt past Leighton at the right goalpost with 1:44 remaining to forge a 5-5 tie.

"Richie (captain Mike Richards) kept the puck in and Mike (Knuble) made a blind pass to me," Gagne said. "I took the first shot and then the rebound. I needed that rebound to go in. At first, I thought the puck went behind the net, but it worked out. It was a great feeling."

"It's not what we had envisioned going into the third period," Staal said. "We got back on our heels and they just kept attacking. ... The chances they got, they capitalized on. They were taking pucks to the net from low and they were finding the back of the net, so it's a tough one to swallow."

Knuble recorded his 400th career point on the play with an assist, while Richards extended his points streak to six games by helping set up the goal.

Stevens was unhappy with his team's effort over the first 40 minutes but thrilled - and a bit surprised - with its late surge.

"I was disappointed with the way we played the first two periods," he said. "It seemed like our role players were really providing the energy and the physical play, but we were allowing their skill people to hurt us.

"The game plan (in the third) was to get pucks in deep and put pressure on them with our forecheck. I just asked them to go out and play 20 minutes the right way. I never had any idea that we could come back from that kind of a hole against a team that was playing so well."

After a scoreless overtime that saw Carolina fail to cash in on a power play, Gagne began the shootout by avoiding a diving Leighton and sliding the puck into a vacant net.

"I've practiced shootouts with him when he played here,' Gagne said of former teammate Leighton. "I think he knew I liked to go with my backhand. I figured I'd fake to go to my backhand and come back to my forehand. He went for the poke-check pretty hard, but I was ready to move on the forehand."

Niittymaki made a blocker save on Ruutu before Richards lifted a backhander past Leighton after deking for a 2-0 advantage.

Representing the Hurricanes' last chance, Brind'Amour was denied by the glove of Niittymaki, whose last three victories have come against Carolina.