Wrapup

An old, familiar bugaboo doomed the Flyers tonight: an inability to close out games they're leading after the second period. Down the stretch and even in the playoffs last season, the Flyers suffered coverage breakdowns at the worst possible times.

John Stevens was justifiably annoyed by the way his club played early in the final stanza, noting "we went over the Hamrlik goal three times in the pre-scout" and to get burned on the exact same play was "a lack of attention to detail defensively."

He was also upset about the critical 4-on-4 goal by Lang, noting "when you push the offense 4-on-4 and don't take care of the defensive end, good things don't happen."

The Flyers played a strong opening 40 minutes but that's not good enough against a team like the Habs. Philly had 12 giveaways tonight (to just four by the Habs), with five of the turnovers happening in the third period.

"We were pretty close," says Simon Gagne. "We just stopped playing for about five minutes, and they took advantage of it and scored two quick goals because of it."

Positives from tonight:

* Overall play in the first two periods
* Goals from nucleus players (Richards, Carter, Gagne)
* Another strong effort from Luca Sbisa
* Glen Metropolit contributed a lot of quality shifts
* Two powerplay goals

Negatives:
* Third period breakdowns, especially by the top line
* An average performance by Martin Biron
* Five-on-three went by the wayside
* Flyers were outhit 24-16, had 12 giveaways (to just 4 by Montreal), and had 27 shot attempts either miss the net (12) or get blocked (15). Those aren't usually winning totals, and weren't tonight.
* Team now faces a very difficult road trip

Note: Antero Niittymaki will be in goal tomorrow in Pittsburgh.

*****


Third period

A beautiful pass by Kovalev from the right to a wide open Roman Hamrlik in the left slot ties the game at 2-2 at the 1:18 mark. Nicely executed by Montreal but a terrible coverage breakdown by the Flyers. Hamrlik scored a similar goal the other night.

At 2:02, a Komisarek point shot deflects into the net to give Montreal a sudden 3-2 lead. Saku Koivu and Sergei Kostitsyn get the helpers. Moments later, Sergei Kostitsyn goes off for interference at 2:24.

Flyers are looking disorganized now that they're trailing. It's too early to have forwards try to cheat out of the zone. Philly needs to get its equilibrium back before Montreal cashes in.

Jeff Carter knocks Saku Koivu to the ice with a good hit at 9:30. Twenty three seconds later, Tanguay goes off to give Philly a crucial powerplay. The Flyers start the powerplay with Sbisa on the ice -- a real vote of confidence considering. The Flyers don't capitalize.

Eminger takes a cross-checking penalty at 12:18. A great hustle play by Glen Metropolit creates a potential shorthanded chance, forcing Andrei Markov to take a penalty at 13:19.

Montreal's Robert Lang capitalizes on a big fat rebound left out by Martin Biron on a Sergei Kostitsyn shot at 13:40 to all but seal the game,

Simon Gagne cuts the gap back to one goal a 14:44 with a powerplay goal (second tally of the season). Montreal paid for a flubbed clear, as Mike Richards collected the puck and Gagne eventually potted the rebound of an initial shot by Knuble.

Biron off for an extra skater at 18:44. Mike Richards takes a hit near the blueline to ensure the puck goes in deep.

After an offside, the Flyers take their timeout at 18:54. Montreal's Steve Begin gets the empty netter at 19:26.

Joffrey Lupul and Guillaume Latendresse got fighting majors at the 20:00 mark.

Shots were nine apiece, 32-27 Flyers for the game. Faceoffs were 10-9 for Montreal (37-35 Flyer for the game).


***

Second period notes:

At 0:54, Andrei Kostitsyn makes it 1-0.i Mike Richards is knocked off the puck carrying over the blueline by an Andrei Markov hit. Kostitsyn moves in one-on-one with Timonen and snaps a shot that beats Biron high to the glove side.

Jeff Carter ties it up at 2:46 with his first goal of the season . Scottie Upshall works a give-and-go with Carter, who fires a deflected shot past Price.

At 3:13, Lang goes off for holding. On the ensuing powerplay, the Flyers score to take a 2-1 lead at .4:15 Daniel Briere moves from the hash marks to the circle and passes back to Mike Richards (2nd of the season) at the point. Richards rips a shot past Price. Martin Biron gets the secondary assist (even though it had been a good 30 seconds since he'd touched the puck).

Riley Cote gets some revenge on Komisarek with a crushing hit behind the net. At the other end, Maxim Lapierre nails Steve Downie. They continue to wrestle behind the play and drop the gloves. Mostly a grappling contest until Downie lands one at the end.

On the next shift, Daniel Briere comes a whisker away from scoring as he comes out from behind the net. The puck hits the pipe and is grabbed very close to (or over) the goal line
by Carey Price. There was no truly conclusive angle, so Kerry Fraser's initial no-goal call stood at 7:09.

Mike Komisarek, obviously with a burr under his saddles from the Cote hit, crunches Scottie Upshall behind the net with a board-rattler.

At 7:32 , Coburn takes an interference penalty. The Flyers kill it off in good shape.

After several minutes of furious action,play settles down for the next 4-5 minutes. A big cheer goes up when they show highlights of the Phillies scoring two runs in the top of the first against Montreal.

O'Byrne off for hooking at 12:10. On the powerplay, Mike Knuble has Price dead to rights at point blank range but pulls his shot wide of the net. Sbisa knocks Lang off the puck with a nice solid hit. The Flyers lose the puck, and seconds later, Kovalev hits the post with a shot that beats Biron cleanly.

Biron makes a phenomenal glove save on Kovalev from the left slot at 15:22.

At 18:45, Gagne nearly gets Daniel Briere decapitated by sending him an unexpected pass in his skates with Mike Komisarek bearing down on him. Fortunately, Briere eluded Komisarek -- but also lost the puck in the process.

Shots were 9 for Flyers (23 through two periods), 10 for Montreal (18 through two periods).
Faceoffs were 17-10 in the Flyers favor (28-25 for the game), including 4-for-4 by Glen Metropolit.

***

First period notes:

Steve Downie misses the net from good shooting position at the 1:20 mark. Philly's first shot (and first shot of the game for either club) is a long-range shot from Braydon Coburn that Carey Price handles cleanly.

Joffrey Lupul makes a nice block of an Andrei Markov point shot at 4:10. Habs generate some forechecking pressure but can't get a scoring chance. No Habs shots through first five minutes,

Flyers with seven of the game's first eight shots through 7:30. The Kukkonen-Eminger pairing has been fine so far and executed a nice breakout with the Metropolit line on the ice, followed by a half-ice transition on their next shift, catching Montreal in an ill-timed line change.

Komisarek nails Riley Cote with a big hit at 8:45.

Simon Gagne takes the game's first penalty (tripping) at 9:40. On the ensuing kill, Montreal gets several shots through from the point but the rebounds are either swallowed by Biron or cleared by the defense.

At 13:40, Scottie Upshall collects a Carey Price turnover along the boards and feeds Jeff Carter for a scoring chance-- the Flyers' best of the period Seven seconds later, Steve Eminger goes off for interference. On the kill, Montreal's Alexei Kovalev hits the post early and Scott Hartnell catches iron late. In between, Carter shows a nice burst of speed to generate a shorthanded rush.

Kimmo Timonen does a stellar job to stop Robert Lang cold on a one-on-one rush at about 16:25.

At 17:04, Komisarek goes off for interference, followed by Plekanec for hooking at 17:32. The 5-on-3 advantage goes by the wayside with only tepid scoring opportunities.

A scrum breaks out around Price's net at 19:57. Tom Kostopoulos and Joffrey Lupul go off on coincidental roughings. At the final horn, another scrum breaks loose on the boards,

Shots in the first period were 14 for the Flyers, 8 for Montreal. Faceoffs were 15-11 for Montreal.

***

Pregame update: 6:00 PM

* Andrew Alberts has been given uniform number 41, at least to start. Lasse Kukkonen is in the lineup tonight.

* The greatest winger in Flyers' team history is back in the fold. The Flyers announced today that Hall of Fame member Bill Barber has been hired as a scouting consultant. Barber, of course, spent 30 years in the organization as a player (1972-1984), scout (various stints), NHL and AHL head and assistant coach, and director of pro scouting (1988-1996).

In a statement released by the Flyers, Barber said, "It's great to come back home where I belong. I spent 30 memorable years with the Flyers organization and, personally, everything was great. I had great experiences and a great association with the Flyers. It's nice to get back to family and familiar faces.

"I'd like to thank Mr. Snider, Peter Luuko, Paul Holmgren and the Flyers for giving me this opportunity. Hopefully, I will be of some help to Paul. I think he's done a great job. The team is heading in the right direction."


* Tonight's officials are referees Kerry Fraser and Brian Pochmara and linesmen Tim Nowak and David Brisebois.


***
Update: 11:00 AM-- The Flyers have acquired defenseman Andrew Alberts from the Boston Bruins for Ned Lukacevic and a conditional 2009 fourth-round pick. If Alberts re-signs with Philly after the season, the fourth-rounder becomes a third-round pick.

Alberts, you may recall, was the player on the receiving end of the Scott Hartnell hit that got the Flyers' forward suspended last year. He's now back to 100% health.

The 27-year-old Alberts is a big (6-foot-4, 216 pound) defensive D who is at his best when he plays a simple, physical game.

I assume his arrival means that Lasse Kukkonen is relegated to the seventh D role. I'm not sure as of this writing if he'll be able to join the team tonight.

***

When the Flyers (0-1-0) last saw the Montreal Canadiens (1-0-1), the teams were in a handshake line at the end of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Minutes earlier, Scottie Upshall scored the series-clinching goal in Game 5, and Mike Knuble added an insurance goal in the final 50 seconds.

Tonight, the rivalry resumes anew at the Wachovia Center. The Flyers no longer have R.J. Umberger, who was a one-man offensive wrecking crew in the playoff series last year, but they may still have a psychological edge over Montreal.

The Habs held a territorial advantage for much of the series and often outchanced the Flyers 2-to-1 over long stretches of play.

The stellar goaltending of Martin Biron and some shaky goaltending from young Carey Price was the single biggest factor that decided the series. It also didn't help Montreal's cause that only a few players battled to go to the net rather than dangle around the perimeter. The few who did -- particularly Saku Koivu -- found some success.

Philly will likely go into the game with a shoot-first mantra, trying to test Price early to see if he will leave out rebounds and give up short-side goals.

On the flip side, the Flyers had a miserable time trying to protect leads against Montreal in the series last year. The Habs won't panic if they get behind, and they know how to protect leads.

The Flyers have changed their second and third defensive pairings tonight. Luca Sbisa will play with Braydon Coburn and the Flyers will hope that Steve Eminger and Lasse Kukkonen each bounce back from poor opening night games.

I understand the point Tim made in his blog about the Flyers needing to build something positive before embarking on a very challenging road trip. The Flyers certainly don't want to dig themselves a hole in October, and there are definite concerns about the blueline. The club also has an especially brutal October schedule, with a pair of games against both San Jose and the Devils. They are going to have to crank up some good efforts, or catch the other teams at the right time.

They can't start setting a pattern where Kimmo Timonen has to play 30-plus minutes every night and the only top line shows consistency on a shift-in and shift-out basis. But there were some hopeful signs in the second and third period of Saturday's game. The team needs to pick up where it left off, with better play from the supporting cast and a better performance from Martin Biron.

However, there's really no such thing as a must-win game in early October, nor is it a foregone conclusion that the Flyers will go 0-3 in Pittsburgh, Colorado and San Jose. These games will scarcely resemble the stretch run or playoffs -- it's just the nature of early season hockey, especially after the first game or two. If a team has, say, 2-5-1 stretch in mid-November, the sky isn't falling.

LINES AND SCRATCHES

Gagne - Richards - Briere
Upshall - Carter - Knuble
Hartnell - Metropolit - Lupul
Cote - Downie - Asham

Timonen - Väänänen
Coburn - Sbisa
Kukkonen - Eminger

Biron
[Niittymäki]

Scratches:
Downie (knee) or Ross (healthy)
Jones (IR, hip surgery)
Parent (IR, shoulder surgery)
Hatcher (LTIR, knee)

****

ON THE FARM


Phantoms (1-1-0 -- Next games: Friday (H) vs. Hershey, Saturday (H) vs. Binghamton)

* After scoring the game-winner in the Phantoms' opening night victory, Claude Giroux was held pointless and his line with Jonathan Matsumoto and Boyd Kane was minus-three in the loss to Wilkes Barre/Scranton.

* Matsumoto scored in the game against the Penguins.

* Andreas Nödl scored in a losing effort against the Penguins.

* Danny Syvret reportedly had a tough game in Wilkes Barre/Scranton, even apart from going minus-two.

* Patrick Maroon is still looking for his first regular-season point after a good offensive preseason.


NCAA

* James vanRiemsdyk scored a goal in UNH's season-opening 5-1 win over Wisconsin.

* Goalie Brad Phillips backed up senior Jordan Pearce in Notre Dame's 5-2 opening night loss to Colorado.

* Defenseman R.J. Anderson scored a goal in Minnesota's 3-1 exhibition win over University of British Columbia on Friday. The regular season kicks off this Friday and Saturday with a pair of games against St. Cloud State.


OHL/WHL/QMJHL


* Marc-Andre Bourdon tallied a pair of assists in Rouyn-Noranda's 4-1 win over Val d'Or yesterday. He now has nine points (3 G, 6 A) in seven games.

* Jacob DeSerres got roughed up again (for the fourth time in five appearances) in his last start for Seattle. On Friday, the Flyers' 2008 third-round pick yielded five goals on 33 shots as Everett cruised to a 5-2 win.

* Zac Rinaldo's Mississauga St. Michael's Majors team was shut out on Friday, losing a 1-0 tilt to Peterborough. The team bounced back the next day with a 2-1 win over Belleville. Rinaldo did not play in either game. I'm checking up to see if he was injured.

* Joonas Lehtivuori's rehab is going well and he hopes to be back in the Ilves Tampere lineup by the weekend.

* Kevin Marshall's Quebec Remparts team downed Baie-Comeau, 4-1, on Saturday. For the season, Marshall has three goals (all powerplay), one assist, four points, 10 PIM, and a plus-six rating in seven games.


EUROPE

* Denis Bodrov's HC Lada team got shut out, 3-0, by Atlant on Saturday. He apparently did not play in the third period, and finished minus-one in 11:28 played. Not sure if he suffered an injury of some sort, but it seems as though he might have gotten banged up. I'm looking into it. HC Lada next plays on Friday.

* Jocke Eriksson posted two shutouts in three starts last week for the Brynäs J20 team. In his last start, he dropped a 2-1 decision to Luleå. In eight starts to date, "Sunshine" has a 2.00 goals against average and .922 save percentage. The squad's next game in on Saturday in Örnsköldsvik against the Modo J20 team.

* Mario Kempe scored his first Elitserien goal last week on a play he described as "more of a scrum than a skill goal." His Rögle BK team is back in action tomorrow against Linköping. He has one point in seven games.

* Goalie Jakub Kovar has not played in either of HC Mountfield's two most recent games. Veteran Roman Turek lost, 2-1, to Slavia Prague in the last game.

* Andrei Popov was temporarily dropped to the fourth line in Traktor Chelyanbinsk's most recent game. After a solid start, he's struggled a bit of late. For the season, he has two goals and four points in 15 games.