The goalie matchup was Lehtonen vs Niittymaki, Fin vs Fin, chosen for the Olympics vs the one initially left out, goalie rematch of the 2005 Calder Cup.

Niitty stopped 2 more shots than Lehtonen giving the Flyers a 4-2 win. He is undefeated against Lehtonen going back to the Calder Cup, 5-0.
He played pretty good in net. The win is his 20th of the year.

First goal of the game came on the Power Play by Mike Knuble. Jeff Carter, R.J. Umberger and Niko Dimitrakos all scored at even strength. Carter’s goal is his third in 3 games. Joni Pitkanen picked up 3 assists, Eric Desjardins 2. Desjardins now has 300 assists as a Flyer.

Flyers took 9 penalties to the Thrashers 4 and were able to kill off 8 of them. Peter Forsberg has been accused of being a diver, and that might be. After watching Bob Hartley’s Thrashers I can see who he learned from. Diving must be part of the Bob Hartlely coaching system. Seeing one or two questionable falls during a game isn’t uncommon, but the dives in last night’s game were just crazy. When the stick and gloves start flying, one has to wonder.

So another win for the Flyers, but they are still in second in the division. Overall the Flyers played well against a team fighting for a playoff spot.
The next game is against the New Jersey Devils a team in the playoff picture and potential first round opponent.

Peter Forsberg did not play because of a sprained knee. He should be ready to go on Tuesday. With Forsberg out Mike Richards was moved up to center the top line. Although not scoring any goals, that line did have a decent amount of energy in the game.