Feb 26 2009
Flyers shutout Kings; Sixers snap four-game skid
It was a pretty good night for Philadelphia sports. Martin Biron recorded his 25th career shutout as the Flyers beat the Los Angeles Kings 2-0 to move within four points of the Atlantic Division-leading New Jersey Devils. In addition, the Sixers won for the first time in two weeks and snapped a four-game losing streak as they slipped past the hapless Washington Wizard 106-98. It was the second consecutive night that a Philly team left our nation’s capital with a victory. Good times.
Let’s start with the Flyers. There wasn’t a ton of action or excitement in their game with the Kings, but a win is a win. Jeff Carter put the Flyers ahead with a power play goal late in the second period when he cleaned up a rebound from Joffrey Lupul’s shot. Somehow the puck found its way through a lot of traffic and past L.A. goalie Erik Ersberg, who made 18 saves on the night. The goal was Carter’s 36th of the year, which moves him into sole possession of second place in goals behind Alexander Ovechkin. Simon Gagne sealed the victory by scoring an empty-netter with one second left in the game.
The star of the game was Biron, who stopped all 34 shots that he faced to earn his second shutout of the season. At this point, both Biron and Antero Niittymaki appear to be playing well, so who knows which one will emerge as the starter for the playoffs. It really doesn’t matter at this point and the most important thing right now is to try to get catch the Devils. Maybe two hot goalies are better than one?
One interesting thing to note about last night’s game is that Florida Panthers GM Jacques Martin was in attendance and will also be at Friday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens. With the Flyers extremely interested in acquiring Florida defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, maybe Martin was getting an up-close look at what Philly has to offer. However, in order to acquire the defenseman, the Flyers would need to put together a package equal to or more than Bouwmeester’s $4.875 million dollar salary. As a result, players that could be included in a package are Lupul ($2.3 million cap number jumps to $4.25 next season), Matt Carle ($2.9 million cap number this season, which escalates to $3.5 million in each of the next two years and $3.8 million in 2011-12), and Braydon Coburn (one-year remaining on a contract with a $1.3 million cap hit).
The Flyers will return to the ice tomorrow night when they host the Canadiens, who are in fifth place in the Eastern Conference and trail the Flyers by four points. These two teams could meet in the first round of the playoffs and Danny Briere is supposed to make his return after missing 35 games, so it should be a good one.
Let’s Go Flyers!
Now, onto the Sixers, who picked up their first post-All-Star break win by defeating the Wizards 106-98. The victory also moved Philly back to .500 and gave them a four-game sweep of the 13-44 Washington squad. I don’t know how impressive it is to sweep an awful team since everyone seems to beat the Wiz, but I’ll still take it. The game was close until the third quarter, when Philly outscored Washington 26-14 to take a 15-point lead into the final quarter. From there, the Sixers didn’t look back and held on for the win.
As has become the norm, Andre Iguodala led the way for the Sixers and came oh-so-close to a triple-double with 22 points, 11 assists, and nine rebounds. The other Andre came to play too as Miller netter 17 points, dished seven assists, and pulled down four rebounds. Samuel Dalembert picked up his third double-double in four games with 11 points, 13 rebounds, and three blocks. Willie Green was also in double figures for the second straight night with 12 points. Louis Williams provided a big lift off the bench by pouring in 16 points, while Reggie Evans scored 11 points and hauled in eight boards.
Caron Butler led Washington in scoring with 17 points, but Dominic McGuire had a big night with 14 points, 14 rebounds, and three blocks. Antawn Jamison and Mike James added 16 points and 15 points, respectively. Javaris Crittenton was the Wizards’ high man off the bench with 11 points.
The Sixers will wrap-up their four-game road trip tomorrow night in Madison Square Garden when they take on the high-scoring New York Knicks, who have scored at least 100 points in 18 straight games. Coincidentally, the last time that N.Y. did not break the century mark was during Philly’s last visit to the Garden on January 17th. Hopefully, the Sixers’ offense shows up since they’ll need all of the points that they can get.
Go Sixers!
