Ian Laperriere News

Pardon the Flyers if they don't weep any tears over Alex Ovechkin's absence from Saturday night's game at the Wachovia Center.

In the middle of perhaps the rockiest road in his 4-year tenure as Flyers coach, John Stevens is staying on course.

A losing streak - or a string of five losses in six games - is not the product of one problem.

For four days they have talked about a willingness to pay the price in front of their opponents' net.

Athletes across sports get hurt all the time; that's no surprise. But there's a pain threshold and a toughness level in hockey that is worth marveling over.

Several Flyers strongly defended coach John Stevens on Monday, saying he and his staff are not the reasons the club has lost five of its last six games and has fallen into a ninth-place tie in the NHL's Eastern Conference.

No Flyers forward puts his body in front of vulcanized rubber more often than Ian Laperriere.

The Flyers' Jared Ross and goaltender Ray Emery block a shot in the opening period.Ross later suffered a head injury when he was sent into the boards by Patrick Kaleta.

Johan Hedberg stopped 34 shots to record his first shutout of the season, as Atlanta snapped a 14-game losing streak against Philadelphia with a 1-0 triumph at Philips Arena.

The Flyers' already long injury list grew when right winger Ian Laperriere and center Jared Ross suffered first-period injuries in the 4-2 loss to Buffalo yesterday.

Buffalo's Tim Connolly scored twice in the third period and added two assists to help the Sabres defeat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 and snap a four-game losing streak Friday afternoon.

Scott Hartnell scored from the high slot with 5:27 left, and Brian Boucher made 28 saves in Philadelphia Flyers' 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders on Wednesday night.

For the first time in almost a year-and-a-half, both Matt Carle and his brother David have had a chance to settle down.

The forwards were recalled from the AHL's Adirondack Phantoms and in the lineup last night against Colorado.

Colorado was not a hospitable host, making the Flyers feel unwelcome in the Pepsi Center from the drop of the puck.

The Flyers' Ian Laperriere, right Philadelphia is Ian Laperriere's fifth NHL team, so he has been through "first-game-back" nights before.

When Betts is healthy, everyone knows the impact he can have as a defensively responsible faceoff and penalty killing expert.

Usually the Flyers are having records set, or milestones made, at their expense by the New Jersey Devils.

The Shark Tank has been a House of Horrors for the Flyers. Last night, Dany Heatley - skating with the NHL's top scoring line with partners in crime Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton - bit the Flyers with a hat trick to give the Sharks a convincing 6-3 victory at HP Pavilion.

LOS ANGELES The Flyers' winning ways continued on Tuesday night as they hung on for an important 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings at the Staples Center in the opening battle of a five-game road swing.