[Phils20]

Well, a close game turned into a blowout in the third, as the Flyers chased out the Tampa goalie with 3 goals!

And the Tampa goalie had a total meltdown on the ice! WOW, I haven't see a goalie come unglued like this since Hextall was with the Flyers!

And Tampa did get hosed out of a goal by Recchi. They also had a close one waved off in the third.

Flyers trounce Tampa Bay, 6-1

By Sam Carchidi
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
TAMPA, Fla. - Two days ago, when discussing his scoring drought, Mike Richards said he didn't think he was playing too poorly, but conceded he needed to take his game "a little step higher."
Tonight, in the Flyers' 6-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at the St. Pete Times Forum, that's exactly what Richards did.
The Flyers' captain scored two goals - his first multi-goal game since Dec. 2, also against Tampa - and set up another score (by Randy Jones) to trigger the victory.
"A little Florida sun gave us a little energy, and I thought the guys played well," Richards said. "The puck kind of followed me tonight a bit. I was getting the chances before, but I just wasn't getting the results."
Two Tampa goals were disallowed - one because it was ruled (incorrectly, according to replays) that the puck had been kicked in, and the other because it was scored by Steven Stamkos' high stick with 12 minutes, 54 seconds remaining.
"It's not often you see your team get two breaks like that, but I think we were due for some breaks," said coach John Stevens, whose team killed eight of nine penalties. "Our team worked hard tonight, and it's nice to see us capitalize on the breaks."
Two minutes before Stamkos' goal was disallowed, Flyers goalie Antero Niittymaki stopped Martin St. Louis on a penalty shot to keep the Flyers ahead, 3-1. Niittymaki made 41 saves and notched his second career assist in 149 games.
"I felt pretty good," Niittymaki said. "I'm more happy that I got an assist than the one goal [allowed]."
With the win, the Flyers moved into the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference, sliding ahead of Montreal.
Jeff Carter contributed two goals - he now leads the NHL with 32 - and Scott Hartnell netted his 18th.
In the last few weeks, Richards, who is one of the league's top grind-it-out players, hasn't been playing at his early-season level. Maybe it had something to do with a sore left shoulder. Maybe it had something to do with fatigue.
Whatever the reason, the all-star break couldn't have come at a better time for the Flyers' captain.
"I feel reenergized," he said.
Before tonight, Richards had scored just one goal in his last 12 games. He was asked about the drought on Thursday.
"I read Richie's responses to the questions, and he's a standup guy who's out front taking all the bullets," Stevens said. "I just had this feeling he would have a good game today, because sometimes when a player gets in that position, they're going to deflect the blame somewhere else - and he never does. He always takes the blame himself, and he always wants to make a difference.
"There's a reason he's the captain; he can lead."
Richards scored on a breakaway tonight to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead after 7:03.
The 23-year-old center took a pass from Mike Knuble, faked a slapshot from the slot, and got Mike Smith to commit before going around the goalie and tucking the puck into the open net while being closely pursued by defenseman Paul Ranger.
With 2:05 left in the period, Tampa Bay got the equalizer when former Flyer Vinny Prospal scored from the top of the right circle on a power play.
Less than a minute later, Tampa scored another power-play goal, but it was disallowed when it was somehow ruled that Mark Recchi, another former Flyer, had kicked the puck into the net from out front.
After about a five-minute video review, Recchi and Tampa coach Rick Tocchet protested loudly when the goal was erased. They appeared to have a legitimate gripe, based on replays.
With former Flyer Steve Eminger in the penalty box for tripping Glen Metropolit, Richards set up Jones' power-play goal to put the Flyers ahead, 2-1, with 11:55 left in the middle period. From the right circle, Richards slid a pass to Jones, who scored from the left circle.
Richards, with Joffrey Lupul setting a screen in front of Smith, made it 3-1 on a left-circle drive with 5:19 to go in the second period. It was Richards' 18th goal and third multi-goal game of the season.

[Full Cougar]

You guys will still have to keep winning more to catch my Rangers!

[Phils20]

I think the Flyers have some games in hand!

At least they did at one point!

Either way, the Devs, Flyers, and Rangers are all very strong, and this should make things very interesting as the playoffs get closer!

[Full Cougar]

Deffenitley. The Rangers need to keep going though. I can sense them starting to get sluggish but I really want a team to win it all for me this year. You guys already got the Phillies.