Flyers blank Panthers to win fourth straight

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Their forward lines were depleted. They were missing three regulars on defense.

Jaromir Jagrs hip was dicey, so he had to take a powder, going onto the fourth line.

I had to play because there were no other Czechsall the Czechs were out, he kidded. Everybody knows, if there is no Czech in the game, its a boring game.

So boring the Flyers came up with another gritty effort, blocking 18 shots, getting goals from three rookies, plus their second shutout this week from Ilya Bryzgalov, as they trampled the Florida Panthers, 5-0 at Wells Fargo Center.

Thats four wins in succession and this isnt even the Flyers roster youll see once Peter Laviolettes team gets healthy.

Just from a team point of view, guys blocking shots, making smart decisions with pucks, picking up in front of the net and not allowing second opportunities, in that sense it was pretty tight, Laviolette said.

We needed some big saves through the course of the game and Bryz was sharp again.

The last Flyer goalie to get two shutouts the same week was Marty Biron in the final two games of the 2007-08 season. The Russian Bryzly Bear has four shutouts overall this year.

In the final minutes of play, Florida made a push to score. The Flyers defense was fighting ferociously in front of the net while Bryzgalov (28 saves), in his 10th consecutive start, was making diving saves to preserve his shutout.

All 60 minutes it was a great effort by the team, not just the final five minutes, Bryzgalov said. Diving for pucks, blocking, protecting the passing lanes to make my job as easy as possible.

Removing players from the slot to make me see the shot. It was an unbelievable team effort.

Since coming back from missing two games with the flu, Bryz is 7-2 with a no-decision, and has a 2.17 goals against average and .921 save percentage. If you go back to the last start previous to his illness, the numbers are 1.95, .926.

It all starts with Bryz, defenseman Matt Carle said. He made a lot of big stops. We had a few breakdowns. He was always there to make the big save for us.

Laviolettes group pressed the attack the entire game and came away with two power play goals, too.

The win allowed the 5th-seeded Flyers (83 points) to creep within two points of idle Pittsburgh which is holding down the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference.

Its been fun the way weve been playing at home lately, said Danny Briere, who played his 800th NHL game.

Theyve won four of their last five games at Wells Fargo, too.

Were starting to make it a tough place to play in again, Briere said. I dont why it was the other way around earlier in the season. Were getting a little of our swagger back.

The Flyers started strong and never let up. Rookie Brayden Schenn had not gotten a point in his previous nine games. That changed at 10:35 when he scored his ninth goal during a power play.

The bizarre part of this was whether Scott Hartnell intentionally fanned on the play.

It landed on Schenns stick for a one-timer to beat goalie Jose Theodore.

It was a pass across from G, Schenn said. Giroux tried to get it to Hartnell, but he didn't get any wood on it. The puck slid right to me and I kind of had an open cage.

Bryzgalov had a strong period with 11 saves, including back-to-back stops on Shawn Matthias, who snuck behind the defense for two attempts at the right post without a defenseman within the 215 area code.

Speaking of defense, Brandon Manning, playing alongside Andreas Lilja, made his rookie debut as Pavel Kubina was an injury scratch.

Matt Read, who went 12 games without a goal until the month of March began, scored his third goal in four games three minutes into the second period to make it 2-0.

His line with Briere and Wayne Simmonds did yeomans work at the net to keep the puck down low. Read, who leads all NHL rookies in goals, needs one more goal for 20.

There were a couple of quick shots coming out of the corner from Danny, Read said. One was a rebound and Simmer and I were swinging at the puck. I got a stick on it at the end and I think Theodore may have pushed it into the back of the net.

Now, Hartnell might have fanned earlier, but his confidence right now is such that if given a second chance, hes going to bury it.

Which is what transpired at 12:49 when he stripped Panthers winger Tomas Fleischmann in neutral ice for a breakaway, then shot from 27-feet for his 32nd goal of the season, making it 3-0.

Were not doing too many fancy plays in the neutral zone and were scoring some goals, Hartnell beamed. This is the time of year where you have to have everything coming together to make a playoff run. Were building. Every win has been awesome.

Incidentally, Briere, who has now gone 21 games without a goal, played a strong-all around game with a pair of assists, including one on Jagrs power play goal in the third period.

I think Im retiring from scoring goals, he laughed. Its not happening, anymore. The chances are there, I just cant finish these days.

Im not worried about that. Its going to turn around at some point. The last 4-5 games, our line is creating a lot of chances. Thats all you can worry about.

E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net

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