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Flyers get win in Stanley Cup rematch

CHICAGO -- Aside from an Amstel Light commercial, the Flyers found out on Sunday that it's impossible to head to the Windy City without hearing the Blackhawks' famed Chelsea Dagger goal song.

After hearing it blasted through the United Center s speakers a full 15 times during the Stanley Cup Finals last June alone, you could empathize with the Flyers for not wanting to hear it.

Besides, they were looking for their first shutout of the season on Sunday - and the first shutout of Sergei Bobrovsky's young career - in their Cup Finals grudge match with the Hawks in front of a national television audience.

They can thank Braydon Coburn for being re-introduced with their [least] favorite song.

Coburn covered up a puck with his hand in the Flyers' crease midway through the third period, awarding Chicago's Marian Hossa with a penalty shot - which he converted for the Blackhawks' first successful home penalty shot since 1987.

As such, the Flyers and Toronto remain the only teams in the NHL to not pitch a shutout this season.

No matter.

The Flyers threw the biggest dagger on Sunday afternoon, picking up a 4-1 win at the United Center in their only matchup with the Blackhawks this season, behind two goals from Jeff Carter.

Nik Zherdev, though, ended up with the game-winning goal after Hossa's penalty shot erased what would've been Bobrovsky's first shutout. That's the sixth time this season that Bobrovsky had a shutout killed in the final 20 minutes.

Scott Hartnell added an empty-netter to cap the scoring.

With the win, the Flyers regained the top spot in the NHL's points race and increased their lead on the Eastern Conference to 5 points over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Sunday's win also put the Flyers over .500 against the Western Conference for the first time this season. The Flyers are 5-4-3 against the West this year and a phenomenal 27-8-2 against the East.

In fact, the Flyers are 39-13-2 against the Eastern Conference since last year s playoff run started.

But Sunday wasn't about the Flyers' sweet success against the East. It was about settling some unfinished business from last June - even if it was just another regular-season game.

SLAP SHOTS: Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk missed the game with a lower-body injury. He is day-to-day according to the Flyers ... That meant that Dan Carcillo returned to the lineup for the first time since Jan. 11. Carcillo was a healthy scratch in each of the last 6 games. In his first game back, Carcillo had a spirited scrap with Chicago tough guy Jake Dowell in the second period. Carcillo won the fight but needed to be stitched up after Dowell caught him early in the fight with a right hand. Carcillo returned later in the period.