PHILADELPHIA -- Simon Gagne and rookie Jeff Carter
made sure that the Philadelphia Flyers had little trouble
adjusting to life without captain Keith Primeau.
Gagne and Carter scored two goals each as the Flyers skated to
an easy 8-1 victory over the Washington Capitals.
Although the acquisitions of stars Peter Forsberg and Derian
Hatcher grabbed most of the headlines in the offseason,
Philadelphia has received stellar play from youngsters like
Carter and Mike Richards.
The Flyers will need the young duo to step up even more during
the absence of Primeau, who is sidelined indefinitely with a
concussion.
After falling behind by a goal early in the opening period,
Philadelphia benefited from some outstanding special teams play
to take a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.
Jon Sim netted a power-play goal 7 1/2 minutes into the game to
forge a 1-1 and Carter gave the Flyers the lead for good five
minutes later. Carter, who has tallied four times in his last
four games, took a wrist shot from the top of the slot, but
Capitals backup goaltender Brent Johnson turned aside the shot.
Johnson could not control the rebound, however, and Carter
backhanded the loose puck over Johnson to give Philadelphia a
2-1 lead with 7:29 remaining in the first.
Carter doubled the Flyers' lead with less than a minute left in
the session. With Philadelphia killing a penalty, Carter stole
the puck from Washington rookie Alexander Ovechkin and skated
into the left side of the Capitals' zone.
Carter faked a backhand shot before skating across the crease
and snapping a wrister past Johnson with just 25 seconds left.
It was the rookie's first career shorthanded goal.
Philadelphia exploded for four goals in the second session to
extend its home unbeaten streak over Washington to 15 games.
Gagne tallied twice while Forsberg registered a goal and two
assists in the session for the Flyers, who have not lost at home
to the Capitals since January 23, 1998.
Sim finished with two goals, Mike Knuble scored three points and
goalie Robert Esche stopped 29 shots as Philadelphia won its
fifth straight home contest.
Philadelphia defenseman Eric Desjardins left the game in the
second period with a concussion and did not return. Johnson
stopped 35 shots and Chris Clark scored the lone tally for
Washington, which fell to 0-14-1 in its last 15 games at
Philadelphia.