BOX SCORE
RALEIGH, N.C. -- He won 167 games and a Stanley Cup as coach of the Carolina Hurricanes.
Perhaps it was apropos then that Peter Laviolette celebrated his 100th win as the Flyers coach Tuesday with a 2-1 victory over his former employer at the RBC Center.
I didnt know that until before the game when someone said that to me, Laviolette said. Im happy to be here as a Flyer. I hope theres 500 more.
The victory marked the halfway point (41 games) of the season. The Flyers are in fourth place in the Eastern Conference with 54 points, four behind the top-seeded New York Rangers.
Rookies Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn picked up the scoring slack on Tuesday, but more importantly, the team played better defensively in the third period after carelessly giving away two points Sunday in Ottawa.
The Flyers did a good job of picking off passes and blocking shots (17) in the crease before they could reach goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.
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The ones that come in, our defensemen do a good job of fronting, Laviolette said. The ones out high on the points, like in Ottawa, we need to do a good job.
We talked about a lot of things and showed some video on different things. We took a step in the right direction, but we can still be better.
Bobrovsky was stellar in net with 35 saves in earning his ninth win. Though he speaks English, he would not consent for interviews since there wasnt a Russian translator available, despite a request from goalie coach Jeff Reese that he speak with the media.
Couturiers seventh goal turned into the game winner, breaking a 1-1 tie at 3:23 of the third period. Fellow rookie Harry Zolnierczyk got the assist as Couturier swooped into the Canes zone and beat goalie Cam Ward high, stick side.
It was a faceoff that went the other way in our zone and I was trying to get into the shooting lane and block it and luckily, it took a good bounce forward and I tracked it down and made a play back to Coots stick, Zolnierczyk said.
Couturier, who went 21 games without a goal, has two goals in his last two outings.
Zolnierczyk did a great forecheck to cause a turnover and drove hard to the net and that gave me some space and time and take a look for a good shot, Couturier said. I saw a little hole and tried to put it there.
Despite a tongue-lashing from Laviolette about coming out with some jam, as the coach is fond of saying, the Flyers had no umph whatsoever against Carolina in the opening period.
Start to finish, the first period was dreadful, except for Jakub Voraceks slapper in the final two minutes off Wards glove hand that trickled behind him, then veered away from the right post.
The Flyers were outshot 10-4 at one point with Bobrovsky making some nice stops. He was aided by five intercepted shotspasses into slot, a result of the coaching staffs emphasizing better defense in front of the Flyers net.
Good teams block shots, Kimmo Timonen said. Its not just the defenseman or goalies, its everybody out there. We had a meeting about it yesterday. Our forwards usually are in the lane, If they can block the shots, we get turnovers. Maybe we get a couple goals along the way.
Anytime you play tight defense, you win games. Everybody knows we can score goals. Thats not a problem. These 5-4, 6-4, thats not us or our game. Youre happy to get two points, but you wont win a Stanley Cup playing like that.
Play picked up in the second period as Schenn pounced on a Wayne Simmonds rebound to make it 1-0 at 4:20.
We had a 2-on-2 and I made a pass to Simmonds, Schenn said. He threw a backhander on net and the rebound popped out to me and I had an open net.
The Flyers are now 10-1-2 when scoring first on the road. Obviously, Schenns goal, the second of his career, was an omen.
His goal broke a string of five, straight road games in which the Flyers had allowed the games first goal.
Eight minutes later, the Canes tied it as Carolina rookie Jerome Samson became the fifth player this season to score his first NHL goal against the Flyers. Samson found an opening on Bobrovsky off a rebound to make it 1-1.
That was all Bobrovsky would give up, though Samson had a team-high five shots in the game.
And unlike Sundays 6-4 fiasco in Ottawa, once the Flyers led in the third period, they kept it against the 14th worst team in the East that wont make the playoffs.
At the second intermission we talked that we need these points, Timonen said. Who knows? At the end of the year these two points might be crucial.
Obviously, the other team, they dont need these points. We need them.
E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net