Jeff Carter and Mike Richards scored their first goals of the series early for a sorely needed fast start. Claude Giroux and Simon Gagne put the Flyers ahead for good in a 6-3 victory over the Penguins on Sunday.

Pittsburgh leads the opening-round series 2-1 and Game 4 is Tuesday night in Philadelphia.

Unlike last season’s Eastern Conference finals when the Flyers flopped at home against the Penguins in Game 3, this year’s team came out charged from the opening faceoff.

Carter, the NHL’s scored-leading goal scorer, scored his first of the postseason three minutes into the game, and Richards made it two goals on two shots for the Flyers 2:15 later.

The Flyers put the pressure on early for the first time and were determined not to get outmuscled against the Penguins. The Flyers, the most penalized team in the NHL, and the Penguins never stopped scrapping and put on quite a show for the energized crowd.

While the shoving and punching invigorated the atmosphere, it was the rapid goal scoring after a punchless first two games that really made the difference for the Flyers.

The two goals in the first period were only one more than the Flyers scored in the first two losses. After the Penguins tied the game with goals 25 seconds apart over two periods, the Flyers came right back at them.

Giroux, the 21-year-old rookie, made a big difference in the second period. Danny Briere swiped a rebound off Fleury’s pad and fed it across the ice to a streaking Giroux, who punched in the puck for a 3-2 lead.

Playing short-handed midway though the second, Giroux controlled the puck behind the net. The Penguins defense swarmed him, but the former first-round pick was able to fend off Kris Letang and slip the puck to Gagne. Gagne scored the short-handed goal to make it 4-2 and their first of the series after they scored 16 that way during the regular season.

Martin Biron stopped 26 shots and played like the goalie who led the Flyers to the conference finals last year. Keeping up that kind of play in net along with the steady scoring and the series could come back to Philly for Game 6.

Jared Ross scored his first NHL goal in the third to make it 5-2 and Gagne added his second on an empty-netter with 1:36 left to secure the win.

Each team spent so much time fighting in the first half, the penalty box could have used a corner man. Philadelphia’s Scott Hartnell tangled with Chris Kunitz in front of the Pittsburgh bench, then Flyers defenseman Andrew Alberts scuffled with Evegni Malkin on the other side.

The bell sounded much to the delight of the sold-out crowd and the Flyers showed they still had plenty of fight left in this series.

By the midway point of the first half, the officials had their hands full. Giroux and Tyler Kennedy mixed it up at center ice, and the refs couldn’t stop Flyers center Darroll Powe and Letang throwing punches along the boards.

The “Rocky” soundtrack blared in the area was timely for once. The Flyers had 30 penalty minutes and the Penguins recorded 28.

The Penguins surprised Biron when Malkin took Ruslan Fedontenko’s feed from the corner and used a slapper on one knee for a goal with 12 seconds left in the first.

Rob Scuderi needed 13 seconds into the second to tie the game at 2 on shot into traffic from the high slot.

Malkin scored his fourth goal of the series to make it 5-3, but the Penguins have yet to really get Sidney Crosby going. Crosby has one goal in three games, though he did have two assists in Game 3.

The 19,975 orange T-shirt-wearing fans erupted when Lauren Hart, the daughter of longtime former Flyers broadcaster Gene Hart, sang God Bless America, alternating lyrics with Kate Smith, who was on a video image. Smith’s rendition of the song has been a rallying anthem for the Flyers since the mid-1970s and team uses the song sparingly.

Hookscenter.com wire report.

Tim Thomas made 45 saves for his career-high 32nd win, Milan Lucic scored two goals and the Bruins held off the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 on Sunday night for their third straight victory.

Dennis Wideman and Mark Recchi also scored, David Krejci added three assists, and Zdeno Chara had two assists for the Eastern Conference-leading Bruins, who snapped a five-game road losing streak Saturday night with a 7-5 victory in Toronto.

Asked if the team was getting back where it was defensively when it won 10 straight games and 15 of 16, Thomas said, “I think it’s a step in the right direction.

“Offensively we were opportunistic and scored some big goals and we’re getting that part of our game together,” Thomas explained. “We’re making steps forward in the other direction. but I don’t think anybody thinks that we’re completely there. I think it’s a step in the right direction.”

Thomas was especially effective midway through the second period, when he thwarted a Philadelphia two-man advantage for 1:52 and made a brilliant stop on a shot by Scott Hartnell. A few seconds later, he denied Mike Knuble’s attempt from the doorstep.

“It’s frustrating,” Hartnell said. “It would’ve put us right back in the hockey game. It was probably a big motivation shift on their part.”

“It was really good to come out of this weekend with four points, no matter how you get them,” Thomas said.

Claude Giroux, Mike Richards and Simon Gagne scored for the Flyers, who had won four of their previous five games.

Antero Niittymaki, making his first start in seven games, made 27 saves for the Flyers.

“Ready to play, moving side to side, and timing and stuff like that I was a little rusty,” Niittymaki said. “But I’ve felt a lot worse.”

Giroux put the Flyers ahead at 4:56 of the first period, scoring from the side of the net after taking a pass from Arron Asham.

Boston then scored three straight goals to take a 3-1 lead.

“I think our forecheck tonight was better than what we’ve seen in a long time,” Boston coach Claude Julien said. “We were much better defensively, obviously, and had much fewer breakdowns. We’re establishing ourselves as a four-line team again.”

Lucic teamed with Michael Ryder on a 2-on-1 rush to tie it at 10:39.

After Wideman scored with a slap shot through a screen with the Bruins holding a two-man advantage at 13:55, Lucic added his second goal at 17:54, scoring from inside the left circle. Krejci picked up his third assist of the period on the play.

“We wanted to come out hard,” Lucic said. “We got the momentum on our side and we just controlled the second and third period.”

Richards made it 3-2 with 2:11 left in the second period when he redirected Ryan Parent’s long slap shot for his 29th goal.

Recchi reached around Philadelphia defenseman Braydon Coburn to poke in a rebound of a shot by Chuck Kobasew at 4:21 of the third period.

Skating with the extra attacker, Gagne scored on a goalmouth scramble with 1:12 left in the third period to bring the Flyers closer.

Hookscenter.com wire report.

In the arguably one of the toughest matchups remaining, the Bruins will look to maintain their newly regained consistency and try for a fourth straight road win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday night.

Phil Kessel, who has a team-best 31 goals, is expected to miss a second consecutive game with an undisclosed injury, but his teammates responded in his absence Saturday night with a 7-5 win in Toronto. Boston took command with four straight goals to end the second period, snapping a season high five-game road losing streak, and six different Bruins scored with former Flyer Mark Recchi tallying a pair.

Dennis Wideman and Matt Hunwick each had three assists and were among 12 players to register at least a point.

After winning five of six coming out of the All-Star break, Boston went 6-9-4 and allowed New Jersey and Washington to gain ground in the East standings.

Thanks to consecutive victories, the Bruins (48-17-10) have pushed five points ahead of the Capitals and are six in front of New Jersey with eight games remaining in their attempt to grab the conference’s top playoff seed for the first time since 2001-02.

Boston’s schedule appears advantageous with only three remaining opponents currently in playoff contention – the Flyers, New York Rangers and Montreal. In addition to their three straight wins in Philadelphia, the Bruins are 6-1-1 there since Feb. 19, 2004, but have dropped their last two overall meetings with the Flyers.

With his team holding a more comfortable lead in the conference, Bruins coach Claude Julien is focused on preparing his team for the postseason. Boston, which will make its second straight appearance after winning its first Northeast Division title since 2003-04, hasn’t advanced past the first round in 10 years and lost in seven games to Montreal last season.

“Just because we’re in a playoff spot doesn’t mean that everything’s OK. Our play in the last month and a half hasn’t been up to par. We need to get better in our game,” Julien said. “It’s about fine-tuning ourselves and getting some momentum heading into the playoffs.”

The Flyers come into Sunday’s game looking to maintain their own spot in the East’s playoff race, sitting fourth with 92 points. In winning four of its last five, Philadelphia (41-23-10) has moved one point ahead of red-hot Carolina in the battle for home-ice advantage but is only six in front of Montreal in eighth.

The Flyers, who are also six points back of New Jersey in the Atlantic Division, rallied for a 4-3 shootout victory Saturday night against the New York Islanders. Trailing by two entering the third period, Philadelphia scored three straight goals but allowed the Islanders to tie it at 3-all before prevailing in the tiebreaker.

“We had to battle back and find ways to play better,” said Mike Richards, who clinched the shootout win. “It’s nice that we can come back and win in that situation.”

Scott Hartnell extended his point streak to four games with a goal and an assist, giving him seven goals and 13 points in his last 10. Jeff Carter is on a six-game streak with three goals and four assists in that time.

Hookscenter.com wire report.

Danny Briere and Mike Richards scored shootout goals to lead the Flyers to their fourth win in five games, 4-3 over the New York Islanders on Saturday.

“We had to battle back and find ways to play better,” Richards said. “It’s nice that we can come back and win in that situation.”

Joffrey Lupul scored twice in regulation and Scott Hartnell added a goal for the Flyers, who rallied from a 2-0 deficit and strengthened their postseason chances. Martin Biron stopped 33 shots and beat the Islanders for the 11th straight time, dating to his days with the Buffalo Sabres.

Philadelphia is fourth in East, and trying to hold off Carolina and Pittsburgh for home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

“Points this time of year are tough,” Flyers coach John Stevens said. “I thought our team showed a lot of determination to hang in there and come back like that.”

The Islanders, who beat the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings 2-0 on the road Friday night, got goals from Radek Martinek, Jeff Tambellini and Mark Streit in regulation. Yann Danis turned aside 33 shots for New York, which has the fewest points in the NHL.

The first period was scoreless until Martinek gave the Islanders the lead with 5:48 left. Nate Thompson won a faceoff to teammate Tim Jackman, who fed the puck back to Martinek at the left point. His slap shot got past a screened Biron for his fourth goal of the season.

The Islanders nearly doubled the lead, but Franz Nielsen’s apparent power-play goal was scored just after the horn sounded to end the first period.

New York did go ahead by two goals 3:03 into the second. Kyle Okposo brought the puck into the Flyers zone on the right wing. He sent the puck up in the air, and Tambellini batted it waist-high past Biron into the net.

“For two periods, we weren’t there at all,” Biron said. “In the third period, we made things happen.”

Philadelphia took control in the third period, netting three goals in a 3:55 span to take the lead.

Lupul got the Flyers on the board at 4:24. He skated in on Danis and sent a hard wrist shot from the right side that went in off Danis’ pad.

Hartnell tied it at 6:38 when he knocked in a rebound that Danis left in front of the net. Lupul made it 3-2 at 8:19 on a backhand.

“The first two periods were frustrating,” Lupul said. “We were working, but not making things happen.”

Philadelphia’s lead lasted 32 seconds, when Streit got New York even with his 16th goal of the season.

Even though the Islanders’ season will end on April 12, they are satisfied with the direction the team is headed in a youth movement.

“We’ve been playing a lot better,” the rookie Okposo said. “We know we can win with the guys in this locker room.”

Hookscenter.com wire report.

Expected to make his 11th start in 12 games, the Philadelphia goaltender will try to win his 11th straight over the host New York Islanders on Saturday night.

Biron won five of his final seven starts in 2007-08 and ended the regular season with consecutive shutouts to help Philadelphia finish sixth in the East. The Flyers went on to beat Washington and the East’s top seed – Montreal – but fell to Pittsburgh in five games in the conference finals.

Biron, however, opened this season with four straight losses and was 15-11-5 with a 2.96 goals-against average in his first 32 appearances, forcing Philadelphia coach John Stevens to look to backup Antero Niittymaki for help.

By winning 10 of his last 15 starts with a 2.25 GAA, Biron has regained Stevens’ confidence and will get the bulk of the starts for the rest of the season.

“It’s pretty clear Marty is going to carry the load now, and I don’t see any reason why we’d go away from him,” Stevens said on the team’s official Web site. “At this time of the year, I think it’s important that we keep Marty in the net. He’s played well, and we’ll just keep an eye on his rest.”

The Flyers need Biron to shine as they enter Saturday leading Carolina by only a point for fourth in the East and five ahead of eighth-place Montreal after they had a three-game win streak snapped with Thursday night’s 4-2 loss to visiting Florida.

The Flyers offense, which scored 13 times during the streak, failed to respond after the Panthers took the lead 2:38 into the third period. Jeff Carter, however, extended his point streak to five games with his third goal in the last four contests.

Carter, third in the NHL with 41 goals, has more goals (11) and points (26) against the Islanders than any other opponent.

“We did a lot of things right,” Biron said. “We missed a lot of chances. I think we played well at times. We just made too many mistakes, and they took advantage.”

Philadelphia has a strong chance to bounce back against the NHL’s worst team, whom the Flyers have beaten eight straight times. They have also won 11 of the last 12 meetings, and three in a row in Long Island.

Biron has done even better against New York. In addition to his 10 consecutive victories, he has won five straight at Nassau Coliseum dating back to his days with Buffalo and is 9-1-0 in 10 career starts there.

“It’s a team that we’ve matched up really well against over the last few years,” Biron said. “Sometimes, you have good feelings against some teams, good feelings in certain buildings.”

Despite their league-low 58 points, the Islanders (25-41-8) knocked off one of league’s top teams with Friday night’s 2-0 victory in Detroit. Facing his former club, Joey MacDonald made 42 saves for his first career shutout.

“It’s pretty exciting,” MacDonald said. “No better thing than to get your first shutout in the building of the team you used to play for.”

The win snapped a three-game skid for New York, which is 9-3-2 in its last 14 home games.

Hookscenter.com wire report.

In a span of just over 24 hours, the Philadelphia Flyers can take it all away.

The Flyers will look improve their own positioning and complete a home-and-home sweep of their Atlantic Division rivals Sunday afternoon.

Sparked by a coaching change when Tortorella replaced Tom Renney on Feb. 23, the previously reeling Rangers (35-26-8) had won four of five going into the weekend, with their beleaguered offense scoring at least four goals in each victory.

Despite peppering Flyers goalie Martin Biron with 41 shots Saturday afternoon, New York lost 4-2 in Philadelphia, failing to gain ground in a crowded East race. The Rangers are part of a six-team scrum battling for the final four playoff spots.

“Every game right now is important for us,” said New York goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who had won four straight starts before losing Saturday. “We need the points. We did a lot of good things, but it wasn’t enough. We got caught too low a couple of times and they took advantage of it. Their transition game is pretty good. When you lose pucks down low, they’re pretty good turning that into scoring chances.”

Arron Asham converted a pair of his opportunities, scoring his sixth and seventh goals of the season – both in the third period on assists from Claude Giroux and Daniel Carcillo to give the Flyers a three-goal lead.

Biron also was a standout in his fourth straight start for Philadelphia, and he could be taking control of the job after sharing time with Antero Niittymaki for much of the season.

He has won three of the four outings, allowing two or fewer goals each time, and he stopped all 16 of New York’s second-period shots during what Flyers coach John Stevens called his best performance of the season.

“I felt like I was reacting quick on the puck,” Biron said. “It was all about quick reaction.”

The Flyers (37-20-10), trying to solidify their hold on fourth place in the East, now kick off a four-game road trip which includes matchups with playoff hopefuls Buffalo and Pittsburgh as well as West-leading Detroit. They’ve won four of five on the road overall and are 3-0-1 in their last four trips to Madison Square Garden.

Philadelphia lost to New York in its season opener Oct. 11, but it has since won two straight in the series and has now killed all 13 Rangers power plays it has faced this season. These teams play three more times – two in the final week of the season.

While the Flyers rank among the East’s leaders with 3.2 goals per game, offense has been a consistent problem for the Rangers, who rank last in the league in goals and shooting percentage.

Sean Avery scored his second goal in as many games Saturday and fellow newcomer Nik Antropov also scored, but New York still managed two or fewer goals for the 14th time in 20 games. The team is 0-10-4 in those games, and 6-0-0 over that span when it scores at least three goals.

“I thought we were outstanding for 30-35 minutes (Saturday), but then I think we struggled with some basic stuff for a number of minutes so it’s just consistency,” Tortorella said. “We did some good things for a number of minutes, but it’s not good enough to get a win.”

Hookscenter.com wire report.

Mike Richards and Scott Hartnell also had goals for the Flyers, who improved their hold on the No. 4 spot in the Eastern Conference with their third win in four games.

Nik Antropov and Sean Avery had goals for New York, which could have moved into a tie for fourth with Philadelphia by sweeping the home-and-home weekend series. The top four teams get home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Instead, the Rangers are in a fight a playoff spot. Five teams were separated by four points near the postseason cutoff going into Saturday’s games.

Biron had another strong performance in his fourth straight start, strengthening his case to be the Flyers’ No. 1 goalie down the stretch. Biron earned “Marty! Marty!” cheers with several stops during a Rangers power play in the second period. Antero Niittymaki is expected to start in goal for Philadelphia when the teams meet at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

Richards put the Flyers ahead 2-1 when he scored his 27th goal of the season in the second off a 2-on-1 breakaway. Kimmo Timonen’s pass to Simon Gagne started the odd-man rush. Henrik Lundqvist stopped Gagne’s shot and the initial rebound attempt by Richards, who put it in on his second chance.

Heavyweights Riley Cote and Colton Orr dropped the gloves a few minutes later, inciting the sellout crowd. The Rangers’ Orr landed a couple hard shots early before Cote got a few jabs in and drove his opponent to the ice.

The Rangers had the tying goal waved off in the second because the puck hit off Scott Gomez’s glove and knee before going in.

Asham gave the Flyers a two-goal cushion early in the third, scoring off a perfect, behind-the-net centering pass from Claude Giroux. He fired a slap shot past Lundqvist to make it 4-1 later in the third. Avery’s goal cut it to 4-2 with 3:41 remaining.

The Rangers went ahead 1-0 early in the first when Antropov capitalized on a turnover by Flyers defenseman Matt Carle.

Antropov blocked a shot by Carle at the Rangers blue line and went the other way, outracing Gagne on the breakaway. Antropov faked a backhander and beat Biron with a forehanded shot for his second goal since joining the Rangers before the trade deadline.

Hartnell scored his third goal in three games to tie it at 1 in the first. Joffrey Lupul started a 2-on-1 breakaway by flicking a backhanded pass to Jeff Carter, who streaked down the right side with Hartnell opposite. Lundqvist stopped Carter’s shot, but the rebound kicked out to Hartnell. He fired it in for his 25th goal, tying a career-best.

Hookscenter.com wire report.

Great positioning for the reigning MVP, big mistake for Philadelphia.

A quick Flyers turnover behind the net led to one more goal for Ovechkin and another road win for the Capitals. He scored his NHL-leading 48th goal, added an assist and helped the Washington Capitals beat the Flyers 2-1 on Thursday night.

Flyers goalie Martin Biron never saw Ovechkin’s 10th game-winner of the season.

“Ovechkin’s the last guy you want alone in front of your goalie,” Flyers coach John Stevens said.

Is he ever.

Ovechkin was held in check by the Flyers in their first three meetings this season, with only one goal and three assists against the team that eliminated Washington from last year’s playoffs.

He had an assist in the first period, then scored the go-ahead goal in the second to lift the Capitals to their fifth straight road victory. Washington hadn’t won five straight on the road since Feb. 14-March 6, 2001 — when Ovechkin was 16.

“On the road, we’re not trying to impress anybody. We’re just trying to win,” Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau said. “At home sometimes you get too cute and try to make the great play. Whatever the situation is, I’d like to continue this formula.”

The Flyers appeared to have tie it game midway though the third when Kimmo Timonen’s slapper sailed past goalie Jose Theodore, but the goal was waved off by officials when forward Mike Knuble was whistled for interference.

Theodore was stout from there and finished with 35 saves. Theodore said a simple shift in the game plan has the Capitals building on their road successes.

“We were trying too hard to score goals and now we’re focusing on our defensive game and it’s paying off,” he said.

Theodore was primed to face Simon Gagne on a breakaway, but Mike Green caught him from behind and pried the puck loose. The fans howled in protest, hoping for a penalty that was never called.

“He slowed me down just enough to give them time to get me,” Gagne said.

The Flyers had Danny Briere back in the lineup after a two-game absence because of lingering groin injuries, but their two-game winning streak was snapped.

Martin Biron took the loss, but made 28 saves and continued to solidify himself as Philadelphia’s No. 1 goalie down the stretch and into the playoffs. He followed 27- and 31-save efforts in back-to-back wins with another good effort that included 11 saves in the second period.

He just couldn’t stop Ovechkin.

“They made some big hits against us, but we knew it was going to be a hard game,” Ovechkin said. “It’s going to be a physical game and we were ready for it. We didn’t want to try to play like them.”

That was a good idea in the second.

Ovechkin’s goal was as much the fault of Flyers mistakes than anything Biron did. Darroll Powe appeared to try to clear the puck out from behind the net, when it was picked off by Alexander Semin. Semin made a quick pass in front to Ovechkin, who buried the wrister high past Biron for the 2-1 lead.

“He’s not going to put it in my belly, he’s going to put it under the bar and that’s what he did,” Biron said.

Ovechkin had an assist on Brooks Laich’s 17th goal in the first period. Laich redirected Ovechkin’s shot from the circle past Biron for a 1-0 lead with 4:03 left.

The Flyers tied it midway through the second on a nicely executed 2-on-1. Mike Richards faked a slapper, and directed a perfect cross-ice pass to a streaking Knuble for his 24th goal.

That was all the Flyers could muster as they lost against Washington in regulation for the first time this season.

“I thought we created an awful lot of good chances and could have won the game,” Stevens said.

Hookscenter.com wire report.

The Capitals seek their longest road winning streak in eight years Thursday night when they face the Philadelphia Flyers in a game pitting two of the league’s top goal scorers, Alex Ovechkin and Jeff Carter.

It’s the final regular-season matchup between the young stars – Ovechkin tops the NHL with 47 goals and Carter is third with 38 – but it’s possible they will meet again in the Eastern Conference playoffs. These teams played in the first round last season as Philadelphia won in seven games, and they could be headed for a semifinal series next month considering the Flyers are fourth in the East while Washington is third but only one point behind New Jersey.

A conference-best 25 home wins are a big reason the Capitals (41-21-6) are in that position, but they began this month with a four-game losing streak – each of those contests coming at the Verizon Center. That skid ended Tuesday as they went back on the road, winning 2-1 at Nashville in overtime on Sergei Fedorov’s goal.

“It was a good character win for us, and something we need to shake things up,” Fedorov said.

It’s been more than 15 years since Fedorov scored in Philadelphia (36-19-10) – he’s only played there six times since that goal – and an injury kept him out of the Capitals’ lone visit this season as they lost 7-1 on Dec. 20. The margin of defeat was Washington’s largest since losing by the same score to Toronto on Nov. 24, 2006.

However, the Capitals have reeled off four consecutive road victories, matching their best such streak from last season. They haven’t had a longer one since winning five straight road games from Feb. 14-March 6, 2001.

Tuesday’s victory began a two-week stretch in which Washington plays seven of eight games on the road, where the Capitals are 11-3-2 in their last 16.

“We’ve had a bit of a struggling streak, so it was a good game for us to play, and it was a great team effort,” said Nicklas Backstrom, who scored Tuesday. “I think it was one step forward. It’s something we have to continue to start winning games again.”

Ovechkin is riding an eight-game point streak during which he has five goals and five assists. He’s scored 20 goals in his last 23 games, helping the Capitals go 14-6-3.

Ovechkin had no points in the first two matchups with Philadelphia but had a goal and an assist in the most recent one, though the Capitals lost 4-2 on Feb. 24 in a chippy game that included 17 penalties.

Carter scored the go-ahead goal in the third period and has seven points versus Washington this season. Linemates Scott Hartnell and Joffrey Lupul have added six points apiece in the season series.

That line keyed the Flyers’ 5-2 win over Buffalo on Tuesday as Carter scored twice off assists from Lupul and Hartnell, who also had two goals. Carter had gone five straight games without scoring.

“We cut back on being too fancy,” Carter said. “If you go for cross-ice passes a lot, sometimes they get picked off.”

Philadelphia is 10-4-1 in the past five weeks. Four of those defeats have come at home, but the Flyers have won at the Wachovia Center in their last two games.

Hookscenter.com wire report.

Carter scored two goals in the third period, Scott Hartnell also had a pair and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-2 on Tuesday.

Martin Biron made 27 saves and Mike Richards added a power-play goal for the Flyers, who strengthened their hold on fourth place in the Eastern Conference with their second straight win and eighth in 12 games.

Carter is third in the NHL with 38 goals, but he found the net just twice in the previous 12 games. Flyers coach John Stevens said part of the problem was Carter wasn’t shooting enough.

“Sometimes when you aren’t scoring, you don’t shoot and you wait for the perfect opportunity,” Stevens said. “He shoots the puck so well that if he keeps shooting it, good things happen.”

Carter agreed with Stevens’ assessment that he and linemates Joffrey Lupul and Hartnell were trying to be too creative with their passes.

“We cut back on being too fancy,” Carter said. “If you go for cross-ice passes a lot, sometimes they get picked off.”

Maxim Afinogenov and Jochen Hecht scored for Buffalo, which is locked in a tight race for a playoff berth. The Sabres are 10th in the East, but came in only three points out of a playoff spot and four points out of fifth.

“It was a tight game and then in the third period we made some mistakes that we shouldn’t have made,” Afinogenov said. “A couple of mistakes cost us.”

Carter and Lupul combined for two goals during a span of 6:17 in which the Flyers scored three times to snap a 1-all tie.

The Flyers carried momentum from a fast-paced second period into the final frame. Just 27 seconds in, Lupul found Carter streaking toward the net and put a perfect pass on his stick. Carter slid a shot past Patrick Lalime for a 2-1 lead.

“If I have a chance to shoot, I’m going to shoot it,” Carter said.

A few minutes later, Richards redirected Kimmo Timonen’s slap shot for his 26th goal.

Then, Carter and Lupul did it again on a 2-on-2 rush. Lupul skated in from the blue line and slid a pass through two defenders to Carter, who beat Lalime for his 38th goal.

Lalime was replaced by Mikael Tellqvist after giving up the goal. Lalime made his seventh straight start filling in for Ryan Miller, who is out indefinitely with a high left ankle sprain.

Hartnell scored his second goal when the puck bounced off his chest and went in late in third.

“You get in trouble when you go east-west and make cute passes,” Hartnell said.

The Flyers again were without center Daniel Briere, who sat out his second straight game after aggravating a groin injury last week. Briere has missed 53 games in his second season since signing a $52 million, eight-year contract with Philadelphia. He practiced Monday and was hoping to play against his former team.

The Sabres took a 1-0 lead on Afinogenov’s goal just 1:52 in. Teppo Numminen’s shot from along the boards deflected off Afinogenov’s left skate and bounced over Biron’s shoulder.

Afinogenov had a chance at another goal later in the period, but Biron gloved his point-blank one-timer.

“We gave ourselves a chance to win in the third period, but we came out not very good,” Sabres forward Thomas Vanek said. “It’s disappointing because there are so few games remaining.”

Hartnell’s power-play goal with 12 seconds left in the first tied it at 1. Claude Giroux set it up with a nifty cross-ice pass.

Hookscenter.com wire report.