Flyers Explode For 6 Goals Against Islanders

The Philadelphia Flyers finally broke their losing streak, with new Head Coach Peter Laviolette notching his first win behind the Flyers bench, Mike Richards, Jeff Carter and Claude Giroux each had a pair of goals as Philadelphia whipped the New York Islanders 6-2. Isles' rookie left winger John Tavares scored both New York goals and leads all rookies this season in total goals with 13 and total points with 24.

Flyers' center Mike Richards opened the scoring with a pair of goals, his 12th and 13th of the season with the second being a shorthanded tally. Team captain Richards tipped in Kimmo Timonen's point shot over Islander goalie Martin Biron at 9:47 of the first period and added another while Daniel Briere was off for elbowing as he blocked New York defenseman Mark Streit's pass at the Flyers' blue line and streaked in on Biron, lifting the puck over the goalie's right pad for an unassisted goal.

The onslaught continued in the 2nd period, but with Jeff Carter taking center stage. Carter snapped a shot from a sharp angle along the icing line past Biron as the goalie was hugging the post. The Flyers worked the puck down to Carter as he maneuvered to the net while on the power play. At 7:04 of the 2nd, Carter struck again, corralling a bouncing puck in front of Biron after a shot point shot from Timonen fluttered to the netminder's left. That goal put the Flyers up 4-0 before the game was half over.

Rookie points leader John Tavares countered with 2 power play goals of his own about four minutes apart beating Brian Boucher. On both of Tavares' goals the Flyers had a defenseman in the penalty box, Braydon Coburn on the first and Chris Pronger and Briere both off for a 5 on 3 advantage on Tavares' 2nd goal. Right winger Claude Giroux restored some confidence to the Flyers squad, by beating Biron late in the period with a Philadelphia's 4th special teams goal, they had 3 power play goals as well as Richards' shorthanded marker.

Early in the 3rd period, Giroux tipped in his 5th of the year on Scott Hartnell's goal crease pass to give Philadelphia a 6-2 lead. The win moves the Flyers ahead of both the Islanders and the idle New York Rangers into 3rd place in the Atlantic Division although all three teams have 29 points, Philadelphia is 3rd due to more wins, or fewer losses. The Flyers also have games in hand on both of their divisional rivals.

One note: Flyers starting goaltender Ray Emory is out for up to 6 weeks after being diagnosed with an abdominal muscle tear that will require surgery. Brian Boucher, who got the win, is the designated starter. This was the first win behind the Flyers' bench for new head coach Peter Laviolette.

The Islanders continue with a long road trip, heading to Toronto to battle the Leafs on December 9th, while the Flyers face the Ottawa Senators on Thursday.