Friday, November 13th, 2009
Emery makes 22 saves in first start against former team, Flyers beat Sens 5-1
Ray Emery may have felt anxious facing his former team, but the Philadelphia Flyers' offence made sure he had nothing to worry about.
Emery made 22 saves in his first start against his former team, and Danny Briere scored two goals to help the Flyers beat the Ottawa Senators 5-1 on Thursday night for their fifth straight victory.
"These are fun ones to play. Definitely nerves are going," Emery said. "It's a little bit special, a different situation but it's two good teams and a little personal story for myself. I'm just happy that we won."
Blair Betts, James Van Riemsdyk and Darroll Powe also scored for the Flyers. Jeff Carter, Kimmo Timonen, and Chris Pronger each added two assists.
Mike Fisher scored for Ottawa. The Senators have lost two straight and four of their last six games.
Emery was with Ottawa for five seasons, three as a regular starter, but several run-ins with teammates and management saw the Senators cut him loose after the 2007-08 season, the year after he led the them to the Stanley Cup final. He played in Russia last season.
"I've never really played on a bad team," said Emery, 10-3-1 this season. "With this team I know we are going to get our goals and I just have to do my part and play solid."
Elsewhere in the NHL it was: Detroit 3 Vancouver 1; Montreal 4 Phoenix 2; Florida 1 Boston 0 (SO); Atlanta 5 New York Rangers 3; New Jersey 4 Pittsburgh 1; Tampa Bay 4 Minnesota 3 (SO); Nashville 3 St. Louis 1; and Dallas 3 San Jose 2 (SO).
At Philadelphia, Ottawa's Pascal Leclaire also stopped 22 shots.
Briere said that the Flyers realized that it would be a special night for Emery to face his former team for the first time.
"Definitely we're happy for him," Briere said. "He's been playing well and he's been a great teammate for us so far this year."
Flyers coach John Stevens said that he senses that the team believes in their new goaltender.
"I really think there is a fondness or affection, and when he gets in a situation like he did tonight, I think there's a little more urgency in their play," Stevens said.
"Everyone's happy to see him (Emery) back in the league," Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson said about his former teammate. "He played OK. We weren't able to test him too much when we needed a couple of goals in the third period."
Betts, who signed as a free agent before the season and later missed seven games with a shoulder injury, scored his first goal to put Philadelphia ahead on a power play at 9:34 of the second period. He poked the puck into the net after a dump-in by Claude Giroux took a strange bounce off the boards.
Ottawa tied it on a power play at 14:49 on Mike Fisher's one-timer off a backhand, cross-ice pass from Alex Kovalev.
Van Riemsdyk, who went into the game tied for the NHL rookie points lead, made it 2-1 on another power play at 16:23, scoring from inside the left circle.
Briere increased the lead with a spectacular rebound goal at 6:56 of the third period, batting Carter's shot out of the air. Powe made it 4-1 with a wrist shot at 11:47, and Briere scored on a slap shot 1:52 later.
Ottawa coach Cory Clouston said that he thought the Senators "played very well" for the first 40 minutes.
"I don't know if we can play much better on the road than that,"he added.
Red Wings 3 Canucks 1
At Detroit, Henrik Zetterberg scored midway through the third period and Jimmy Howard made 31 saves for Detroit. Roberto Luongo made 26 saves for Vancouver in his first start since aggravating a broken rib against Detroit on Oct. 27.
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Canadiens 4 Coyotes 2
At Glendale, Ariz., Marc-Andre Bergeron and Glen Metropolit scored 1:02 apart in the third period, and Carey Price made 18 saves for Montreal.
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Panthers 1 Bruins 0 (SO)
At Boston, Tomas Vokoun stopped 40 shots for his third shutout of the season, and Cory Stillman scored in a shootout to give Florida a victory over the Bruins.
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Thrashers 5 Rangers 3
At New York, Ilya Kovalchuk had a goal and two assists in his first game back from a foot injury, and Rich Peverley also had a goal and two assists for Atlanta.
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Devils 4 Penguins 1
At Pittsburgh, Niclas Bergfors had a goal and two assists and New Jersey closed within a victory of tying the NHL record of 10 consecutive road victories to start a season.
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Lightning 4 Wild 3 (SO)
At Tampa, Fla., Ryan Malone tied it with 14.7 seconds left in regulation, and Vincent Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos scored in the shootout for the Lightning.
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Predators 3 Blues 1
At St. Louis, Jordin Tootoo scored on a wrist shot with 3:43 left to lift Nashville past the Blues.
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Stars 3 Sharks 2 (SO)
At San Jose, Calif., Stephane Robidas scored the only shootout goal to lift Dallas after James Neal and Mike Modano tied it with goals in a 1:45 span in the third.
