Flyers fall in shoot-out

OTTAWA, Ontario - The Flyers missed a chance to clinch a playoff spot and fell into a tie for fourth place in the Eastern Conference with last night's 4-3 shoot-out loss to lowly Ottawa at Scotiabank Place.

The loss left the Flyers tied for the No. 4 spot with surging Carolina, which has played one more game than Philadelphia.

Pittsburgh is just two points behind the Flyers and Hurricanes.

"I thought we showed a lot of poise and resilience," said Flyers coach John Stevens, whose team overcame a 2-0 deficit. "We played and traveled [Friday] night and found a way" to get a point. "I think at the end of the day, it's going to be a pretty important point."

Mike Fisher, the fifth Ottawa player in the shoot-out, fired a shot past Antero Niittymaki to give the Senators the win. Danny Briere was the only Flyer to connect in the 2-1 shoot-out.

The Flyers can clinch a playoff spot if Florida doesn't score a regulation win against Pittsburgh tonight. Otherwise, the Flyers would need only one point in their last four games to secure a berth.

Ottawa had many more chances in the overtime - outshooting the Flyers, 7-2 - but Niittymaki stood tall.

"He gave us a chance to win, and that's what you want from your goalie," Stevens said. "That's why you hate the shoot-out. He played a solid game and ended up losing it, and I'm sure he feels a little bit dejected, but he shouldn't. He's a big reason we got a point here."

Simon Gagne scored his 33d goal 28 seconds into the third period to give the Flyers a short-lived 3-2 lead. Just 3:47 into the period, Jason Spezza scored his 31st goal after a Jeff Carter turnover.

When the Flyers acquired the NHL's penalty leader, Dan Carcillo, general manager Paul Holmgren said the club needed him to be disciplined on the ice. For the most part, he has stayed away from senseless penalties. But not last night.

Carcillo's two-minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and game misconduct came at the same time Carter was called for hooking, so Ottawa had a five-on-three advantage for two minutes.

"I don't think you can ever show emotion toward a referee; they're out there trying to do their job, and your emotion has to be on the ice and against your opponent," said Stevens, who talked to Carcillo after the period.

Ottawa scored just 21 seconds later as Nick Foligno tapped in Spezza's goal-mouth pass with 9:18 left in the first period.

Earlier in the period, Carcillo, who has zero goals in 16 games with the Flyers, compared with six goals in 15 games for Scottie Upshall, the player Phoenix acquired, appeared to give the Flyers a spark.

Ottawa, which has won seven straight at home, controlled the first five-plus minutes until Carcillo checked Filip Kuba and was given a borderline boarding penalty. Jarkko Ruutu went after Carcillo and received four minutes for roughing, so the Flyers ended up on the power play.

The Flyers had several good chances turned aside by Alex Auld, but they clearly had established the momentum. That is, until Carcillo's second penalty.

Trailing 2-0, the Flyers got to within a goal when Darroll Powe scored on a penalty shot, awarded when he was hooked from behind by Kuba. Powe scored on a clever backhand with 17:02 to play in the second period.

"A little panic set in," Powe admitted about his penalty shot. "Everyone said for me to just take a deep breath. It's just like practice. You take a million penalty shots in practice."

Mike Richards' 30th goal, on the power play, tied it at 2-2 midway through the second period. That gave the Flyers four 30-goal scorers, a feat matched only by Detroit.

"It's a point we needed," Richards said. "Two would have been nice, but we played well in battling back and we'll take the one point right now."