From: seth@cbnewsh.cb.att.com (peter.r.clark..jr)
Subject: FLYERS notes 1/4
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: na
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 15:00:33 GMT



The FLYERS ended their first 5 game road trip by coming back from a 2-0 deficit
to earn a 2-2 tie in Edmonton and finish with a 2-1-2 record on the trip. Had
you told me before the trip began that they would get 6 points, I would have
been ecstatic. But the blown lead in Washington and the inability to convert
scoring chances against Edmonton leaves me disappointed that they didn't get
more.

Injuries:

Pelle Eklund is day to day with a hip flexor.

Claude Boivin flew back to Philadelphia for examination of his knee.

Lines:

Fedyk-Recchi-Paslawski
Paslawski-Brind'Amour-Dineen
Brown-Acton-Evans
Lomakin-Snuggerud

Galley-Yushkevich
Benning-McGill
Nattress-Carkner
Cronin

Soderstrom gets his 9th straight start, Roussel still a healthy scratch. 

The first period was scoreless. The FLYERS got the better scoring chances
despite being outshot 9-4. How can I say that? Easy, the FLYERS couldn't hit
the damn net. And it continued into the second period. One play said it all
for the FLYERS offense. Brind'Amour goes into the right offensive corner and
ties up Ranford who had come out to play the puck. Dineen intercepts the
puck up the right boards and sends a blind centering pass to nobody, not
even an Oiler, that went through the slot about 5 feet wide of the net.
Only problem was that RANFORD WAS STILL IN THE CORNER! Had Dineen bothered
to pick his head up he would have seen an empty net with not even a skater
in the way. ARGH!

The Oilers finally broke the scoreless tie at 16:35 of the second period.
With ??? and Nicholls in the box creating a 4 on 4 situation, Joseph tried
to clear the puck in the direction of Carkner at the point. Carkner probably
should have controlled it, but had trouble and lost control. Klima picked
up the loose puck in the neutral zone. He skated into the FLYERS zone with
Nattress defending and backing off. When Klima got around the top of the
right circle he just fired a wrister across Soderstrom high to the glove side
and into the net.

The FLYERS got their 4th power play 1:23 into the 3rd period. They got some
good pressure, but failed to connect. As the last seconds ticked off, Kelly
Buchberger stripped Benning at the FLYERS blue line. He carried into the
zone with Benning harrassing him from behind every step of the way. Benning
did all he could, and Buchberger shot from 10 feet with Benning riding on
his back. From what I could see, I don't know if the puck went in on the
initial shot, but Benning and Buchberger went down in a heap and slid into
Soderstrom, and the puck was clearly visible in the net after the collision.
2-0 Oilers.

The FLYERS finally get on the board at 9:30. Brind'Amour got the puck to
Carkner at the left point, and he carried along the blue line for about
10 feet before sliding a pass through to Lomakin waiting inside the left
arc of the right circle. He wrists a shot past Ranford to cut the lead to
2-1.

Then the FLYERS power play, cooled a bit in Calgary, knots the game up at 2.
Benning passes back to Brind'Amour at the right point. He drifts to the center
along the blue line, and finally shoots right up the middle. In the meantime,
Fedyk had been setting up a screen with an Oiler defender. The Brind'Amour
shot came through the two of them and definitly changed direction, although
the replays did not show who or exactly what caused the change. It was enough
to fool Ranford, though, who didn't have time to react.

Both teams came into the game 2-1-5 in OT, the FLYERS loss came from the
Penguins and Oilers loss from Calgary. #1 and #2 overall in the league, so
it takes a lot to beat these teams in OT :-). The Oilers got two huge
chances in the OT, but Soderstrom was equal to save the tie.

Shots were 33-22 Edmonton, FLYERS 1 for 5 on the power play but perfect
killing 7 Edmonton advantages. By my count, they've killed 21 of 23 power
plays since arriving in Los Angeles, and they entered that game worst in
the league.

So the FLYERS return to the Spectrum to meet the Washington Capitols on
Thursday, followed by the Rangers Saturday and the Oilers again on Sunday.
The road trip ends 2-1-2, the FLYERS now 4-13-4 on the road. The Devils
got another tie themselves tonight, so the FLYERS are 7 behind them and
a playoff spot.

That's all for now.

pete clark jr - rsh FLYERS contact