Sid Crosby scored the game winning goal in OT on a breakaway to get the Penguins a 3-2 win in Philadelphia. Pitkanen scored the Flyers two goals.
For the second time this season a Flyers opponents starting goalie has been injured in warm-ups. Jocelyn Thibault was scheduled to start for Pittsburgh, but was hit in the throat in warm-ups with a puck giving Marc-Andre Fleury the start.

Hitchcock on the breakaway goal.”One defenseman went down, and the other defenseman, instead of protecting the middle of the ice, was over on the one side. … Those things happen.”

Crosby, Forsberg and Pitkanen were the three stars.
While neither goalie received a star, both Fluery and Nittymaki played exceptionally well.
The Flyers have loss two in a row and their home win streak stopped at nine. First game this year the Flyers were held scoreless after two periods.
Turner Stevenson returned to the lineup recovered from hip surgery recording just over 7 minutes of ice time and 3 hits. Eric Desjardins in an interview said he is cleared to practice, he is recovering from a concussion. Brian Savage was a healthy scratch.

The Flyers try to rebound from a mediocre played loss to the Lightning against Pittsburgh tonight in Philadelphia. Nittymaki will get the start in goal. Turner Stevenson has been cleared to play and might see some ice time tonight.
Pittsburgh is coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to the Islanders on Monday.
Super Mario will not be playing, out with a stomach virus.
The Flyers won the only meeting of the year between the two teams, in Philly 6-5 OT.
Game is on OLN tonight.

The desperation to break a six-game losing streak can be powerful medicine for a hockey club.
Last night at the St. Pete Times Forum, it was plenty powerful for the Tampa Bay Lightning, who ended their skid as well as the Flyers’ six-game winning streak with a convincing 5-2 decision. [.continue.]

Problems the Flyers have had recently finally caught up to them in the win lose column.
The Flyers have been losing key face offs, currently ranked 26th in the league in face off wins. 34 percent won against the Lightning. Penalty kill, they are dead last in the league. The Flyers gave up 2 power play goals on 6 penalty kills. The proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back last night was turnovers. The Flyers had a hard time moving the puck out of their zone. Something the Flyers worked hard on in practice today.
Forsberg scored the only two Flyers goals.
Prospal, Forsberg and Boyle were the three stars.

The Philadelphia Flyers are looking to push their winning streak to seven games. They can do so by dealing the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning their seventh consecutive loss.

The Flyers have won 2 of 5 road games this year.
The Lightning is coming off a 2-5 lost against the Thrashers.
The last time the teams had met, the Lightning beat the Flyers in the Eastern Conference finals to go on and win the Stanley Cup.
Esche will start in goal.
Therien is expected to play after leaving Saturday’s game early with back spasms. Desjardins, Primeau, Stevenson and Kapanen are still out with injuries.

The Lightning will be playing without Martin St. Louis who broke his finger in practice on Sunday.

If I was a Panther’s fan, the game really would have made me hit the hard stuff afterward.
Mike Knuble scores the Flyers second short handed goal of the night with 3.2 seconds left in the game to win 5-4.

“That’s a little bit of karma. The puck [on the non-goal call] was still loose, and I’d had a good poke at it. So I guess it was karma that I could get one back.” said Knuble

Knuble had two goals, Gagne, Carter and Pitkanen each had one goal. Carter’s goal is the second short handed for him this season.

Knuble, Jokinen and Gagne were the three stars.

I guess since the Flyers keep winning and scoring shorthanded goals, Hitchcock is not going to worry being dead last in the league on the penalty kill.
The Flyers are averaging a short handed goal almost every other game.

The Flyers look to extend their home unbeaten streak to 9 against the Panthers tonight in Philly. The Panthers have not won in the last seven games, losing last night to the Hurricanes 1-0.
Sim’s left ankle was swollen to the size of a grapefruit after taking a shot off the skate boot against the Islanders. The ankle is sore, but not fractured. Sim is expected to be in the lineup tonight against the Florida Panthers.
The Flyers won in OT 5-4 in the only meeting with the Panthers this year, with Forsberg scoring his first goal for the Flyers.

Much has been discussed about having no captain on the ice. Hitchcock wants Gagne to wear the C. Gagne has so far refused citing that Primeau is the captain. Gagne is not comfortable wearing it since it is really unknown when Primeau will be back. To me this shows how much character Gagne has and how much respect Gagne has for Primeau and the position.

Kapanen has set the November 30 game against the Devils as a target return date.

The Flyers come back from two goals down to beat the Islanders 3-2. Flyers were out shot 20-5 in the first period, they played like crap. Kudos to Richards for stepping up and fighting one of the Islanders tough guys, but isn’t that what Brashear is for? In the new NHL I don’t think Brashear has enough skating skills to be in Philly long term, unless fighting starts to make a come back.
Carter had a goal and Sharp had two, some of the younger players were stepping up. I have always been a big supporter of Sharp. He is a solid third or forth line player who is not afraid to drop the gloves and can take care of himself.

“A lot of young guys really played well tonight. They helped us come back [with] some of the physical play from guys like Umberger and Sim. Sharp played a heck of a hockey game. They gave us energy tonight.” – Ken Hitchcock

Nittymaki did have a solid game stopping 38 out of 40 shots. The Flyers were out shot again with only 30. Both Islanders goals came on the power play.
The Flyers were last in the league on the penalty kill going into the game.
The three stars were Sharp, Carter and Nittymaki.

The Flyers play the Islanders at home tonight, trying to extend their home unbeaten streak to 8 games.
Antero Niittymaki will get the start in goal.
Three players did not practice yesterday. Gagne had what was apparently tightness in his midsection, Michal Handzus was still nursing a sore elbow, and Robert Esche continued to have tenderness in his groin.
The Flyers won the first meeting with the Islanders 5-1 in Philly almost a month ago. The Islanders are coming off a 4-1 win over the Devils on Tuesday.

Have to give blair from the Flyers Usenet group for that headline, quite appropriate. Flyers come from behind scoring late in the third forcing OT and winning in OT 4-3 over Boston in Philadelphia.
The game play was about even most of the game, although I do think Boston had a small edge overall until about 11 minutes left in the third. At this point the Flyers started to outwork and outplay Boston. Pitkanen tied the game with 24 seconds remanding in the game with Esche on the bench.

“That pass and that goal at the end of the third period was unbelievable,” said Hitchcock. “The goal was great but the pass was unbelievable.”

Pitkanen then scored in overtime giving the Flyers the win. Esche had another solid game, winning his fifth straight start. Gagne and Knuble had the other goals for the Flyers.
Flyers still need to improve their faceoffs, won only 38% against Boston.
Pitkanen, Thorton and Knuble were the three stars.
Forsberg should have picked up the third star instead of Knuble. Knuble did deflect the puck to score the first goal, but Forsberg picked up three assists including the great across ice pass to Pitkanen to tie the game.

Flyers have scored a powerplay goal in each of their last 10 games.
Gagne, Forsberg and Pitkanen have 6 game point streaks going.
Umberger recorded his first NHL point, assisting on the game tying goal.
Forsberg is leading the league in points and assists, Gagne is leading in goals, and Pitkanen is leading in plus/minus.
The win gives the Flyers the division lead, tied with the Rangers with 3 games in hand.

Desjardins, Primeau, Stevenson and Kapanen still out with injuries.