Philadelphia Flyers goalie Ray Emery watches the puck and traffic in front of his net during Friday's game. (Gerry Broome/Associated Press)Goalie Ray Emery made 28 saves in net and the Philadelphia Flyers scored power-play goals 22 seconds apart in a 2-0 road win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night.
Jeff Carter and Mike Richards scored the goals, which came early in the second period after Sergei Samsonov of the Hurricanes incurred a double minor penalty for high-sticking.
It was Emery's first regular season victory in the league since Feb. 23, 2008. His last regular season shutout came on Feb. 28, 2007, also against Carolina.
He now has nine career shutouts.
"He’s looked more comfortable every day,” said Philadelphia coach John Stevens. “He looks alert, he’s finding pucks, he makes saves on effort and he was tremendous.”
Emery, 27, helped lead the Ottawa Senators to the Stanley Cup final in 2007 but was let go after a follow-up season that included discipline issues and erratic behaviour. He spent last season in the Continental Hockey League (KHL) in Russia.
He had a strong pre-season for the Flyers, but said it isn't quite the same as the real thing.
“It’s definitely some preparation, but you never can tell until you actually get out there in the regular season," said Emery.
The netminder stood firm as Carolina's Erik Cole fired four shots on net, with Tuomo Ruutu and Matt Cullen each directing three at net. Like all goalies, Emery benefited from some luck, with two shots hitting posts behind him.
The Hurricanes came up empty on eight power-play chances.
"We definitely had the opportunities, especially on the power play,” said Eric Staal. “I don’t think we moved it around terribly bad. It just didn’t fall for us."
Cam Ward, signed earlier this week to a lengthy extension, finished with 25 saves in the Carolina net.
Ward reacted to a bad bounce off the end boards and thought he had the puck covered on the first goal. Carter, second in the NHL last season in goal scoring to Alexander Ovechkin of Washington, spotted it loose in the crease and buried his shot.
Simon Gagne set up the quick goal that followed, wheeling at the right face-off circle and snapping a shot that Richards deflected past Ward. Flyers rookie forward James van Riemsdyk also assisted on the play.
“Special teams bailed us out tonight,” said Richards. “Penalty-killing did a good job, we scored on a couple of power plays … and that was the difference.”
The Hurricanes missed the net on too many scoring chances, but Emery stayed focused until the end. Late in the third, he followed a bouncing puck that skidded dangerously into the crease, knocking it aside.
The game marked the regular-season debut of Chris Pronger in a Flyers uniform. The big defenceman played just over 18 minutes, incurring four penalty minutes.
With files from The Associated Press
