FLYERS NEWS

After a couple of rough road losses, the Flyers returned to the Wachovia center tonight, desperately needing a win to get back on track, as they began a homestand against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Once again Ray Emery got the call in net and this time he was in much better condition with 25 saves out of the 28 shots he faced. Plus the defense in front of him, for most the part, was much stronger than it had been the last couple games and that helped a lot. Meanwhile, Jeff Carter ensured the Flyer's scoring attack would get off to a quick start, amassing 2 goals, and an assist through the first 2 periods to lift the Orange and Black to a 4-2 lead heading into the 3rd period. Midway through the 3rd period Dan Carcillo scored on a wrist shot to put Columbus away for good in an important 5-3 Flyer's victory.

Carter and Carcillo weren't the only scorers for the Flyers on this night. Chris Pronger and Aaron Asham also scored a goal each. 5 goals seems to be the magic number for the Flyer's this season. I can't remember any games they have lost this season when scoring 5 or more goals. Though he currently leads the Flyer's in points with 42, it's been a rough up and down year for Carter who scored 40+ goals last season. Hopefully this game will be a turning point for him this season as he continues to try to get back to that 40 goal form. Both of Carter's goals today were unassisted, including one he shot in literally right off a faceoff in front of the net. It was really one of those crazy goals you might only ever see once in your lifetime. With the win the Flyers now have 51 points overall which is still only good enough to leave them a point out of 8th in the Eastern conference. They'll to have to take advantage of the rest of this homestand to get themselves rolling again if they still hope get a playoff spot by the end of the season.