Without Chris Pronger in the lineup, the Philadelphia Flyers found a way to win back-to-back games for the first time in nine games as they escaped the ACC Centre with a 3-2 victory on Thursday night.

Claude Giroux and his line contributed a goal and three assists while Brian Boucher stopped 27 of 29 shots as the Flyers pushed their lead in the Eastern Conference to four points over the Boston Bruins.

Giroux scored his 22^nd goal of the season at 14:40 in the second period when he fired a touch pass from James van Riemsdyk into an open net. Giroux's goal turned out to be the game winner.

He's the Flyers' leading scorer with 63 points.

In the first period, Giroux picked up an assist on Andrej Meszaros' power play tally at 4:55. With the power play set up, Giroux fed Meszaros a one-timing pass with traffic in front of Toronto goalie James Reimer.

The goal was Meszaros' sixth of the season.


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If you’re following the NHL in 2010-11, you’re hearing about the stellar years that Steven Stamkos, Sidney Crosby, and Daniel Sedin are having.

Sedin leads the league with 69 points while Stamkos is the league leader in goals (39) and is second to Sedin in points (68). Crosby is second in goals (32), third in points (66).

Heck, you’ll even hear about Danny Briere on the national level. Briere, who carried the team offensively during their Stanley Cup run last spring, has tickled the twine 26 times this year, good for sixth in the NHL.

But you’re not hearing about Jeff Carter.

Carter, who signed an 11-year, $58 million contract extension in November, is quietly putting together an outstanding season.

The 26-year-old forward has 25 goals and 23 assists for 48 points in 53 games; second on the team in points behind the team leader Claude Giroux.


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No showdown, but the Flyers pulled out the late win.


Coming into Monday night's game between the Philadelphia Flyers and Montreal Canadiens, much had been made of the blossoming rivalry between Flyers' captain Mike Richards and Canadiens' rookie PK Subban.

In a post game interview following a 3-0 loss to Montreal last Tuesday, Richards had some harsh comments about the multi-talented Subban.

"He's a guy that's come in the league and hasn't [earned] respect. It's frustrating to see a young guy like that come in here and so much as think that he's better than a lot of people. You have to earn respect in this league. It takes a lot. You can't just come in here as a rookie and play like that. It's not the way to get respect from other players around the league."

He wasn't done yet.

"Hopefully someone on their team addresses it, because, uh, I'm not saying I'm going to do it but something might happen to him if he continues to be that cocky."

When ESPN.com asked Subban his opinion on Richards' comments, Subban fired back.

"I think that I'm confident, but I think that there's a lot of players that are confident in this league," said Subban. "I'm not the only person that's confident when I play the game. Maybe the fact that I'm a young guy coming in, maybe people don't take well to that."

"As long as my teammates and the coaching staff are happy with what I'm doing, I'm going to continue to do that."

Less than a week later, the Flyers and the Canadiens squared off for the second time as the orange and black enjoyed sweet revenge with a 3-2 comeback win against Carey Price and Montreal at the Well Fargo Center.

The storyline surrounding the contest was what was going to happen with Richards and Subban. Were the two going to go mano y mano to solve their off the ice matter or was the situation overblown by the hockey world?

Surprisingly, no extracurricular activities took place during the game, which wasn’t expected after how chippy the third period was the last time these two teams played.

Nothing happened between Richards and Subban, neither played dropped their gloves to please the sold out crowd at the Wells Fargo Center. Instead, they both concentrated on playing their games.

"I'm not going to answer, I'm not going to start anything up," Richards said after the game via Delco Times Flyers beat writer Anthony SanFilippo. "It got a lot bigger than I thought it would."

Facing a 2-0 deficit after one, the Flyers once again had difficulties beating Price, who stopped all nine shots faced during the first stanza. However, Philly got to the Habs' net-minder in the second period.

Ville Leino scored a goal from the left circle after being setup by Danny Briere to end a scoreless streak of 164 minutes against Montreal in the last two regular seasons.

Trailing 2-1 in the third period, Claude Giroux provided the Flyers' faithful with another clutch goal as he tied the game at two with a tip-in following some hard work by Darroll Powe on the forecheck. It was Giroux's team-leading 12th goal of the season.

Six minutes later, a miracle happened for the Flyers.

James van Riemsdyk, who was the subject of rumors of a possible benching for recently recalled Eric Wellwood, took a crisp pass from defenseman Braydon Coburn on the power play, and sniped the left corner for his first tally of the season.

For scoring his first goal of the year, JVR couldn't have chosen a better time to light the lamp.

With the win, the Flyers move into first place in the Eastern Conference.

*Don't forget to check out 2M2MG's breaking news section! It's an up-to-the-minute running post to keep you informed on all the goings-on around Philly sports. Bookmark it today!

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A 10-year deal likely makes Jeff Carter a Flyer for life.


When the Philadelphia Flyers signed budding superstar Claude Giroux to his three year, $11.25 million contract extension, it led many to ponder whether or not it would affect re-signing 25-year-old sniper Jeff Carter.

No worries, folks, Carter will bear wearing the orange and black for a very long time.

Two sources have told CSNPhilly.com's Tim Panaccio that the Flyers are inching closer to signing Carter to an extension that will keep the center turned winger playing in the city of brotherly love for the next decade.

Panaccio says the deal is expected to be for 10 years, worth in the range of $60 and $63 million for a cap hit in the area of $6 to $6.3 million per season.

If the contract is signed at the numbers that are being leaked, it would give him a slightly higher cap hit than his best buddy, Mike Richards, who's 12-year pact he signed in 2007 has a $5.75 million hit.

It also will ensure he'll be playing with Richards for a major portion of their careers.

Carter, who was drafted with the 11th overall pick by Philadelphia in 2003, is set to become a restricted free agent at season's end if a deal isn't worked out by the start of the summer.

Indications point toward that not being the case as Panaccio is one of the best in the business in breaking news about player movement and personnel decisions.

Bleacher Report's Mark Ritter chewed over the idea that Giroux's deal could spell the end of the line for Carter in Philadelphia. Due to cap circumstances, he figures that someone would fall victim to the cap much like Simon Gagne did this past offseason.

Since Danny Briere and Scott Hartnell each have some sort of no-movement clauses in their contract, and the dollar figures each make, it only made sense that Carter would be the odd man out.

Ritter said that at some point in the season or over the summer, Carter will be traded.

For anyone who is familiar with general manager Paul Holmgren's thought process, they would know that he has no plans to trade the London, Ont. native.

In fact, during this past summer, Holmgren religiously denied rumors that the Flyers were listening to trade offers involving Carter.

The Flyers still view Carter as a franchise player they drafted seven years ago, and want to get him locked up as soon as possible. It's the Flyers mission to make sure he doesn't reach free agent status.

Carter has had a very successful career in his six NHL seasons, recording 153 goals and 291 points while possessing a career +27 rating in 397 regular season games. To add to his already impressive resume, Carter has 19 points in 41 career playoff games.

This year, Carter is tied for the team lead in points with none other than Giroux with 14 points. He has eight goals and six assists in 16 games.

Those numbers don't lie, and the fact that he has yet to enter the stage of his career where players usually hit their prime tells you that he is only going to get better.

Holmgren has realized the importance of building around a core of young players, and he's identified Carter as part of his core.

Look at the some of the best teams in the league the last couple years, they built around a core of a few players.

For example, in Pittsburgh, it's been Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal. In Detroit, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg.

The Flyers hope Carter, Richards and Giroux can provide the same kind of excitement for Philadelphia as Crosby, Malkin and Staal and Datsyuk and Zetterberg have done for Pittsburgh and Detroit.

That is, win a Stanley Cup.



UPDATE: Check our "Breaking News" section for an update on this story! Then bookmark the page and make sure to visit it often as we update it with all the goings-on around Philly sports!

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Claude Giroux is a guy the Flyers couldn't afford to lose.


While everyone thought general manager Paul Holmgren's top priority was re-signing center Jeff Carter to a long term contract, Homer pulled another trick out of his hat.

On Monday, Holmgren announced that 22-year-old superstar Claude Giroux agreed to a three-year, $11.25 million contract extension. It'll break down to $2.75 million for 2011-12, $3.5 million for 2012-13 and $5 million for 2013-2014.

Giroux will continue to make $765,000 until his entry-level deal runs out at the end of this year. He would have been a restricted free agent had the Flyers not extended him during the season.

Through 15 games, Giroux is the Flyers leading scoring, netting 14 points (7 goals, 7 assists). He's first in the NHL in shorthanded goals (3), and tied for first in the league in game-winning goals (3).

His early season success was not the reason why Holmgren decided to re-sign the youngster.

"I'm not sure if we had waited longer if the numbers change," he said. "It's something now where Claude can just concentrate on playing, the kind of thing that we don't need to be concerned about either for a few years."

The Flyers will now move their focus off the ice towards extending Carter to a very long deal, and re-signing Ville Leino, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
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Sergei Bobrovsky has been a key to the Flyers' success.


With the recent top-notch play of the Philadelphia Flyers, one cannot help but have a little bit of deja vu. This team has been in slumps before and have risen out of them like a hungry man trapped in the basement of a McDonald's.

All of the play-makers that the Flyers need to step up are indeed stepping up: Jeff Carter, Danny Briere, Mike Richards, and Claude Giroux to name a few (hey, that rhymes!).

Let's not forget about Bob. This dude, who speaks no English, is tearing it up in net. He is playing so well that, if I were Peter Laviolette, I'd tell Brian Boucher to go kick buckets and make Michael Leighton the backup goaltender.

But that is most likely why I'm sitting here writing articles and Lavvy is coaching a professional team.

The power play was a main concern at the beginning of the season. The Flyers were only converting about 9 percent of their power plays. That number has since increased to 17 percent.

Why the sudden change? They are putting pucks on the net and creating more chances. The hesitation is minimal.

The Flyers take on the second seed in the Atlantic division Thursday night, the New York Rangers. The always frustrating Henrik Lundqvist may not play since he was dome-pieced during practice by a slap shot.

That's a very good thing. Guess who the backup is? You guessed it -- Martin Biron (Jim Jackson voice). The main guys to watch out for are Brandon Dubinsky, Brian Boyle, and Ryan Callahan.

But to be honest, I'm not too worried.

All of this aside, I still predict that after Thursday night's game, the Flyers will undoubtedly be charged with rubber-puckular manslaughter and be sentenced to the number one seed in the Atlantic divison. Oh wait, we're already there. Cheers!
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Carter will be a Flyer for years to come, just give it time.


Tim Panaccio of the CSNPhilly.com reported Wednesday that talks between the Flyers and center Jeff Carter have taken an "upswing after weeks of slow but determined negotiations."

The Flyers want to re-sign Carter in-season before he becomes a restricted free agent on July 1, something the organization usually does with key players.

For example, general manager Paul Holmgren signed captain Mike Richards to his 12-year, $69 million deal during the 2007 season. Carter, who was the 11th overall pick in 2003 by the Flyers, will be seeking his third pro contract after his three-year, $15 million pact expires after this season.

On his current deal, Carter is lined up to make $5 million in 2010-11.

Any extension will likely have Carter earning anywhere in the range of $5-6 million. Carter will almost certainly ask for a raise from his current deal based on his offensive production in the last few years.

Over the past three seasons, the 25-year-old sniper has accumulated 108 goals and 198 points in 238 games with the Flyers. In 2008-09, the first year of his extension, Carter potted 46 goals and finished second behind Alex Ovechkin for the league lead in goals.

It's no secret that Holmgren wants Carter to don the Orange and Black for a very long time, but during the offseason, rumblings around the NHL had the Flyers open to trading Carter.

Holmgren, however, continually denied them.

Now, Homer told Panaccio that "sooner or later it’s going to get done." Folks, Carter is going to be a Flyer beyond this season, whether you like it or not.

What does this mean for the best Flyer, Claude Giroux, who is also a restricted free agent this coming summer?

Don't worry, the Flyers plan on inking him to a juicy extension.

When asked about the cap situation around re-signing both, Holmgren simply replied: "We have space."
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