PHILADELPHIA - Mike Richards, Jeff Carter and Vaclav Prospal scored goals and the Philadelphia Flyers kept their hold on the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference in a 3-2 win over the Atlanta Thrashers on Tuesday night.
Antero Niittymaki allowed a goal 58 seconds into the game, but was near flawless in helping the Flyers to their 10th straight series win against the Thrashers. The Flyers haven't lost to Atlanta since November 2005 and Niittymaki improved to 9-0 against the Thrashers.
Ilya Kovalchuk scored his 50th goal of the season for the Thrashers in the final minute. Kovalchuk just missed tying the game in the final seconds on a shot from point-blank range, but Niittymaki made the save. Kovalchuk dropped to his knees in disbelief and the Flyers mobbed each other in celebration.
The slumping Flyers desperately needed this win to stay in the playoff chase with only eight games left in the season. They took a season-high 47 shots.
They had lost four straight, including a 7-1 defeat at Pittsburgh on Sunday, that caused general manager Paul Holmgren to blast their effort and team chairman Ed Snider expressed concern over their collapse.
Flyers coach John Stevens even ordered the equipment manager to change all the player's stalls in the locker room of their practice facility to shake everything up.
For one game at least, the criticisms must have inspired the Flyers.
They got off to yet another slow start, though, when Chris Thorburn slid the puck past for Niittymaki for an easy goal and a 1-0 lead. One of the knocks Holmgren leveled against Stevens was the Flyers sometimes are not prepared at the start of games and this was the latest example.
Unlike their thrashing at Pittsburgh, the Flyers rallied in this one.
The Flyers attacked Kari Lehtonen with a flurry of shots and Richards finally got the puck through for his 25th goal and tied the game 7 minutes into the first period.
The Flyers caught a break with 3 seconds left in the period when Kimmo Timonen's slapper just inside the blue line fired off Carter's skate and shot through Lehtonen's legs to make it 2-1. Carter's power-play goal was his 28th of the season.
Prospal scored his 31st goal off a give-and-go from Danny Briere in the third, which turned out to be a huge goal.
The Flyers, who blew a 3-0 lead to Toronto last week in the third period, had another scare when Kovalchuk made it 3-2 with 30 seconds remaining. The rowdy crowd was instantly hushed, but Philly hung on for the dramatic win.
Notes: The Flyers opened a three-game homestand ... The Flyers were averaging only 28.2 shots per game.
Friday
May 2nd, 2025
4:30PM
