3d, 4th lines lift Flyers to win

BUFFALO - Getting surprising production from their third and fourth lines, the Flyers won their third straight last night, defeating the Buffalo Sabres, 5-2, at the HSBC Arena.

The fourth line of Dan Carcillo, Blair Betts and Ian Laperriere was a combined plus-6 before Carcillo's empty-net goal iced it.

Carcillo scored his first goal of the season, Betts set up numerous chances and was an effective penalty killer, and Laperriere chipped in with a pair of assists.

Third-line winger Darroll Powe made it 4-1 with a goal early in the final period against a shaky Ryan Miller, who had looked like a Vezina Trophy candidate while building a 9-1-1 record before last night.

James van Riemsdyk and Chris Pronger added goals for the Flyers, who have scored 16 goals in their last three games.

Goalie Ray Emery played another strong game; he is 8-3-1.

Buffalo got to within 4-2 when Tyler Myers' pass caromed off defenseman Braydon Coburn and went past Emery with 9 minutes, 26 seconds remaining.

If this had been the Stanley Cup playoffs, when close checking usually prevails, you would have liked Buffalo's chances last night.

But things are a little more wide open in the regular season, so the Flyers were hoping their explosive offense - which entered the night with a league-best 3.67 goals per game - would trump Buffalo's NHL-best defense (2.00 goals-against).

The Flyers were missing three key players who were injured - Danny Briere, Simon Gagne and Ryan Parent - and half the team was recovering from the flu.

Maybe that explains why they looked sluggish in the opening five minutes and failed to get any shots during a power play in that span.

The Flyers used their third and fourth lines more than usual in the opening period, trying to evenly distribute the playing time because several players weren't 100 percent healthy.

It was the fourth line that produced the game's first goal and Carcillo's first of the season.

Defenseman Braydon Coburn, closing from the point, fired a shot from the top of the left circle that Carcillo redirected past Miller with 1:21 left in the first period. The play was reviewed, but replays determined that Carcillo's stick was not above the crossbar - as Miller had claimed.

"Great hand-eye coordination by Daniel," said Laperriere, who had an assist on the goal.

Earlier, Buffalo had two good chances midway through the period, but Clarke MacArthur, finishing a mini two-on-one, fired wide from the left circle, and Michael Grier's slot shot was blocked by Betts.

Mike Richards was sent in on a breakaway with seven minutes left in the first period, but a sensational defensive play prevented the Flyers' captain from getting off a shot. Just as Richards was about to make a move on Miller, left winger Tim Kennedy dove from behind and got a piece of Richards' stick. The puck dribbled wide.

Carcillo, Betts, and Laperriere formed the Flyers' best line in the opening period, continually moving the puck into Buffalo's end and creating a handful of scoring chances. The line had five of the team's 11 shots in the first period.

Twenty-eight seconds into the second period, the line helped make it 2-0 as Laperriere and Betts set up Chris Pronger for his third goal of the season, a blast from just inside the blue line.

Buffalo got to within 2-1 on a power-play goal by Derek Roy with 15:32 left in the second period. Roy, skating near the right of the crease, knocked in a rebound of Jason Pominville's left-side shot that caromed off the back boards.

The Sabres' Tim Connolly, a 10-year veteran, was credited with an assist, his 300th career point.

Buffalo nearly tied it, but Emery made his best save of the night, sliding across the net and stopping MacArthur with 5:51 to go in the middle period.

Less than a minute later, van Riemsdyk made it 3-1 on a rare miscue by Miller, who entered the night with a 1.69 goals-against average and .941 save percentage.

Skating deep into the right circle, the rookie put a backhander through Miller's legs; the goalie appeared to be expecting van Riemsdyk to make a cross to Jeff Carter in front.

It was the third goal and 14th point of the season for van Riemsdyk, who entered the night as the NHL's leading rookie scorer. He has points in nine of his 11 games.

No Flyer has won the rookie-of-the-year award since the franchise started in 1967-68.