Flyers slip up Canadiens in Montreal

Sometimes, you need a little luck on your side. The Flyers soon found this out as they knocked off the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 at a raucous Bell Centre on Saturday night. Simon Gagne, who had to buy many tickets for friends and family members for the game, was the shining star for the Flyers.

It was a rocky first period for Philadelphia, as the Canadiens fed off the energy from their home crowd. They were coming off a big win Friday night over the Sabres in Buffalo when Sheldon Souray scored the game winning goal. But for the second straight night, Antero Niittymaki stepped up and stole a game for his team. Niittymaki stopped 29 of 31 Montreal shots, 20 of which were fired his way in the second and third periods.

Alexei Kovalev scored first for the Canadiens 8:04 into the game. There were a few bounces that went the Flyers' way in the period, including a shot from Janne Niinimaa, the former Flyer who had been scratched in the four previous Montreal contests. The puck tipped off a stick in front of the net and just a bit wide, and Montreal failed to extend their lead.

The Flyers came to life in the second period, scoring three goals on backup goaltender David Aebischer, who was giving a break to starter Cristobal Huet. Huet had won 7 of his last 8 starts, so head coach Guy Carbonneau must have tussled with the decision to start Aebischer for a while. The Flyers outshot Montreal 15-10 in the second frame, as Sami Kapanen, Mike Knuble, and Simon Gagne all lit the lamp for Philadelphia. Gagne's 12th goal of the season came with just 11.9 seconds left in the period, giving the Flyers an early jump on the third period momentum.

Montreal quickly disposed of that momentum by getting on the board quickly to start the third. After a tripping penalty on Eric Meloche, Saku Koivu tipped in a pass from Kovalev just eight seconds into the power play to make it a 3-2 game just three minutes in to the period.

After a missed call from the referees in which Kapanen was clearly cross checked in the face by Souray, the Flyers capitalized and sealed a victory. Shorthanded, the Flyers believed they should have been skating 4 on 4 after Kapanen was knocked down. Nonetheless, Gagne stole the puck in the defensive zone and skated up ice with Knuble on his wing. Gagne lost the puck, but regained control in front of the net as he was about to head back up ice. Aebischer, who was down on the ice, could not get back up, and Gagne went top shelf to put the Flyers in front 4-2. The final two minutes ticked down, and although Gagne was deprived of scoring on the empty net, it was a successful game for the hometown kid.

The Flyers will take on the Nashville Predators Wednesday night back at home. The Predators will continue to be without center Jason Arnott, who will be out 4-6 weeks after arthroscopic surgery on his knee. Even without Arnott, Nashville is a deadly team that can run four lines deep at the Flyers. They will have to be carfeul not to be caught up in the neutral zone either, because the speed of Paul Kariya and Steve Sullivan is far and above league average speed.