Saturday, December 26, 2009

Flyers blow three goal lead, win anyway in shootout

Danny Briere posted the shootout winner, as Philadelphia blew a three-goal third-period lead but recovered to top NHL-worst Carolina, 4-3, at RBC Center.

Briere finished the first round by sliding a backhander inside the right post, then Michael Leighton robbed Jussi Jokinen to begin the second round with a prone glove save. Mike Richards then ended the game by sneaking a backhander home.

Richards, Briere and Jeff Carter hit the net for the Flyers, who picked up a win in head coach Peter Laviolette's first trip back to Raleigh since being fired as Hurricanes head coach last December.

Leighton finished with 37 saves for the win, Philadelphia's second in a row on its current six-game road trip.


Jokinen tallied twice and Brandon Sutter once for the Hurricanes, who scored three times in the third period but suffered their third straight loss. Cam Ward made 33 stops in defeat.

The Flyers took a 1-0 lead 9:47 mark of the opening period when Richards elevated a Claude Giroux rebound past Ward.

Carter's sizzling wrister from the slot made it 2-0 for the Flyers with 6:05 left in the first, and Leighton made the lead hold up through two periods by stopping all 18 shots he faced.

Briere's top-shelf wrister on a power play with 11 minutes left in regulation gave the Flyers a 3-0 advantage, but 24 seconds later, Jokinen's backhander hit a leg in front and trickled home.

Sutter cut the Hurricanes' deficit to 3-2 on a man advantage with 4:02 to play, after he outmuscled a Philly checker on a dump-in and fired past Leighton from the left side.

That set the stage for Jokinen, who tied the game less than a minute later by tapping home a loose puck in the crease.



Notes: The Flyers have won seven of the last eight meetings in North Carolina, and nine of the last 11 overall against the Hurricanes since the start of the 2007-08 season...Philly defenseman Ryan Parent did not play after suffering a lower-body injury some time during warmups...Carolina fell to 3-4 in shootouts this season.



12/26 22:46:22 ET

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