Sam Donnellon: Flyers have to value Carter's contributions

THEY HANDED Mike Richards the Flyers' MVP award before last night's game. Then Jeff Carter went out and accounted for that slim margin that separates playoff teams from those who will finish thisclose this year, scoring a goal, assisting on the other, in a 2-1 victory over Florida that assured the playoffs for the second year in a row.

Carter grabbed a loose puck along the end line and snapped a shot toward the goal.

"I couldn't see a thing,'' he said. "I had [Jassen] Cullimore standing in front of me. So, just shoot it.''

But Carter doesn't just shoot. He snaps. Often there is no load, just a click, and no matter how often you are warned, it continues to surprise. Last night's goal, at 7:32 of the third period, was such a thing, bouncing in off the pads of Florida goaltender Tomas Vokoun, who looked back into the net in disbelief.

"That quick shot surprises a lot of goaltenders, to tell you the truth,'' Richards said afterward. If Richards had an MVP vote, he said, it would have been Carter, which should come as little surprise. The two players were drafted in the first round together, raised through the farm system together, played on international teams and now this one together.

They could write scouting reports on each other.

"Besides [Alex] Ovechkin, he's got one of the best shots in the league,'' Richards said. "He just finds ways to score, finds ways to get in those areas. He's just a natural goal scorer. Seems to find the right spot.''

It's amazing now to think that the guy's name was tossed around in trade rumors as recently as last season, that there was even a thought he would not be re-signed. Carter scored his 45th goal last night, has 82 points this season. Gaudy as they are, there is little waste to those numbers. As Anthony San Filippo of the Delaware County Daily Times pointed out last night, the Flyers are 26-2-6 this season when Carter scores a goal, and 23-0-3 since Nov. 2.

Richards might have won the MVP, and justifiably so, but Carter has been named one of the three stars more than anyone this season. And as good and crucial as Richards is, Carter's emergence in a season in which Danny Briere has been mostly missing and Simon Gagne is still finding his way back from that concussion - well, it's been huge.

What triggered it? Last year's playoff run, in which Carter embraced the role of checker? Or was it simply age? "I don't know,'' Richards said. "Getting more mature, maybe.''

By maturity, Richards added quickly, he meant physically.

"Getting stronger,'' he said. "He's hard to move off the puck now. And his speed is deceptive, I think. A lot of those goals are just powering past defensemen.''

But there is also, undoubtedly, a mental aspect, too. Always a barker, Carter could, in the past, get lost in his frustration. Last night he got his stick chopped in half and was sent to the penalty box early in the third period on a dubious slashing call. Not coincidentally, perhaps, he scored the deciding goal a few minutes after that penalty expired.

And the stickwork? "Not much I could do about it,'' he said. "They kind of got away with one there. I went to tap one in and my stick's no longer there. But there's nothing you can do. You can sit there and yell at the refs all game, which I usually do, but . . . ''

He kept his poise. "Jeff's competitive level now is so much higher than it was early in his career,'' Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said. "And his ability to play in our end is tremendous because of his skating ability and his awareness. He's turned that defensive responsibility into offensive opportunities. I think that's where he gets a lot of his goals. Just by being in good position defensively. He jumps on a loose puck and he has the speed where he can separate himself from a lot of people.''

Carter's goal total is higher than in any season at any level, even juniors. The previous high was 36, he said, "But that was, like, 50 games.''

"I always knew I could score,'' he said, wearing a dismissive smile. Still, this is the NHL. And Carter then was a first-line goal-scoring guy, not a player who shares the shutdown role with Richards on most nights.

"To me, it's kind of amazing that he is able to do that,'' Flyers coach John Stevens said of the goal total. "We couldn't be prouder of what he has done to this point.''

Carter? Eh, not so much. Getting him to talk about all this, to evaluate the game, the season, his shot - well, he might as well speak Czech.

It ain't happening.

Not yet, anyway.

"Obviously it's great, it's what you play for - a chance to play for the Stanley Cup,'' he said. "But we still have a lot of work to do.'' *

Send e-mail to donnels@phillynews.com.