Streaking Flyers dominate Sens
Last Updated: Thursday, November 12, 2009 | 11:30 PM ET
Michael Coomber, CBC Sports
It was a sweet reunion for (Sugar) Ray Emery as the Flyers defeated the Ottawa Senators 5-1 Thursday night in Philadelphia.
Emery, the former Senator, breezed through his first meeting with Ottawa since their nasty divorce, stopping 22 of 23 shots for his 10th win of the season and the Flyers' fifth in a row.
"These are fun ones to play," Emery said. "Definitely nerves are going. It's a little bit special, a different situation, but it's two good teams and a little personal story for myself. I'm just happy that we won."
Emery has been a good fit in Philadelphia.
"Definitely we're happy for him," Daniel Briere said. "He's been playing well and he's been a great teammate for us so far this year."
It was the Philadelphia offence that shouldered the load.
After a scoreless first frame, the Flyers got on the board at 9:34 of the second.
Claude Giroux's dump-in caromed off the back boards to a streaking Blair Betts, who banked it off Pascal Leclaire for his first goal of the season.
Ottawa (8-6-2) countered quickly.
After Betts took an interference penalty, Mike Fisher beat Emery with a backhander just inside the post for his seventh goal, evening the score at 1-1.
It took only two minutes for the Flyers to reclaimed the lead.
On the power play, rookie James van Riemsdyk took a cross-crease feed from Jeff Carter and buried it for his fourth goal of the year.
The Flyers (10-4-1) added another at 6:56 of the third.
After missing four games with a groin injury, forward Daniel Briere found the scoresheet as he slid the puck by Leclaire, giving the home side a 3-1 lead.
Briere got his second of the contest late in the third as the speedy forward took the puck up the right wing and blasted a slapshot into the top corner. It was Briere's seventh goal this season.
Darroll Powe also scored for the Flyers.
Young star shines
Van Riemsdyk continued his hot start finding the back of the net for the third time in five games.
The rookie, who was expected to spend the season with Philadelphia's farm team in Adirondack, has become a major contributor to the Flyers' attack.
He registered his fourth goal and 15th point of the season in the win.
Entering Thursday's contest with Ottawa, Philadelphia had the best power play in the league, with a 25.8 per cent success rate.
The Flyers did not slow with the man-advantage, going 2-for-4 in the game.
With files from The Associated Press
