[Phils20]

Niittymaki master of this domain

Flyers goalie extends unbeaten streak against Thrashers, fellow Finn

By CHUCK GORMLEY • Special to The News Journal • January 22, 2009

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PHILADELPHIA -- Someday, perhaps when they are old and gray and sipping lemonade on a porch swing in Finland, Kari Lehtonen will beat Antero Niittymaki, maybe in a game of checkers.

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Until that day, Niittymaki will enjoy having the last laugh against his Finnish rival, beating him every chance he gets.
Wednesday night against Lehtonen's Atlanta Thrashers, Niittymaki had to work up a sweat, especially in the third period, but was one save better than Lehtonen in a 5-3 win in front of 19,766 fans at the Wachovia Center.
Including four wins in the Calder Cup Finals with the Phantoms, the win improved Niittymaki's personal record against Lehtonen to 10-0 and extended his career record against the Thrashers to 12-0.
Among active NHL goaltenders, only Chris Osgood of the Detroit Red Wings has a longer unbeaten streak against a single opponent. Osgood is 17-0 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
"I don't know what to say," said Niittymaki, who turned aside 28 shots and benefitted from three Atlanta attempts hitting his posts. "Sometimes when you feel good about yourself you get lucky. Maybe I'm a little luckier against Atlanta."
Lehtonen said he was confident Wednesday morning that he'd finally turn the tables on Niittymaki and the Flyers.
"We all felt we would stop this losing against Philly," he said. "I guess we have to wait one more game now."
The victory, sealed when Mike Knuble scored back-to-back goals late in the third period, moved the Flyers into a second-place tie with the New York Rangers, three points behind the Atlantic Division-leading New Jersey Devils.
But it didn't come easy.
After building a 3-0 lead early in the second period on goals from Scott Hartnell, Darroll Powe and Randy Jones, the Flyers allowed the Thrashers to rally to tie the score midway through the third period.
An errant clearing pass by Braydon Coburn led to a goal by Eric Perrin, which was followed by a lightning bolt of a wrist shot by Ilya Kovalchuk and a breakaway goal by Chris Thorburn.
The three-goal flurry in a span of 6 minutes knotted the score and forced Flyers coach John Stevens to call a timeout and let his team have it.
"There were no panic buttons being pushed," said Jones, whose second-period goal was his first since last March. "Obviously, the guys were frustrated and ticked off. But the coaches did a good job of getting us relaxed and getting us back in the game plan."
Stevens was animated during the timeout but said his criticisms were pointed.
"I just felt for the early part of the game we did a lot of good things against a team that played the night before," he said. "I sensed in the second period we started to cheat a little bit."
"They have one of the best offensive players in the world [Kovalchuk] and I said, 'Look, to see a three-goal lead evaporate like that going into the break was the last thing we wanted to see.' I'm thankful we stepped up and came right back and scored a goal and now we're heading on the break on a winning note."
The Flyers' five-goal explosion was a welcome relief for a team that ranks fifth in the NHL season with 3.18 goals per game, but had averaged just 2.0 goals since Christmas and had gone 5-4-2 over that span.