Rookie helps Flyers send Pens a message

PITTSBURGH - After a recent winning surge against mostly mediocre to lousy teams, the Flyers looked to make a statement last night against the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

And that's just what they did.

Rookie left winger James van Riemsdyk had the first two-goal game of his career as the Flyers defeated the Penguins, 7-4, before the 141st consecutive sellout at Mellon Arena.

Jeff Carter also scored a pair of goals, helping the Flyers notch their first win in four tries against the Penguins this season - and just their third victory in Pittsburgh in their last 14 regular-season games.

The third line of van Riemsdyk (two goals), Darroll Powe (two assists), and Arron Asham (two assists) combined for six points.

"Our line's been playing great the last four or five games," said Asham, who made two pristine passes to set up van Riemsdyk's breakaway goals - both on backhanders that went through two different goalies' legs.

"It's huge for us, chipping in on the third and fourth lines to give our top two a little break," he said.

The Flyers, who also got a goal and two assists from defenseman Matt Carle, are 6-1-1 in their last eight games. They had eight players register at least two points last night, and have scored a total of 19 goals in their last three wins.

None of the victories was more significant than last night's triumph.

"They're definitely one of the top teams in the NHL, and we had our struggles with them this year, and coming in here and stealing two points is huge," Asham said after the Flyers won back-to-back games on consecutive nights for the fourth time this season.

"It's a big stepping-stone for us," he said. "We've been playing great hockey the last couple weeks, so hopefully, we can keep it going."

A statement win?

"I think so. It definitely helps with what we're trying to do," Carle said of the victory, in which the Flyers were 2 for 2 on the power play and thwarted all three shorthanded situations. "It all depends on how we come out the next game. We can't be satisfied with this."

Carle's goal was his first in the last 32 games.

"It felt good to chip in," said Carle, who along with defensive partner Chris Pronger was a plus-3. Pronger had a goal and an assist.

"I don't remember the last time I scored a goal," Carle said. "It seemed I was getting close the last few games, and it felt good to finally see one go in the back of the net."

Pittsburgh was missing three key injured players: defenseman Sergei Gonchar and left wingers Chris Kunitz and Ruslan Fedotenko.

Van Riemsdyk's two goals helped the Flyers build a 5-2 lead early in the second period.

His second goal of the game was scored on the first shot against Brent Johnson, who had relieved Marc-Andre Fleury. It gave the Flyers the 5-2 lead with 17 minutes, 4 seconds left in the middle period.

Fleury, a Team Canada selection, surrendered four goals on 15 shots and was replaced after Pronger scored on a rocket point drive with 18:18 remaining in the second period. Van Riemsdyk scored 1:14 later.

The Flyers have been starting to grasp new coach Peter Laviolette's system.

Penguins coach Dan Bylsma has noticed.

"They're forcing teams to make plays quicker, and that's led to more turnovers," he said.

When the teams met here on Dec. 15, the Flyers were in disarray. The Penguins scored three first-period goals en route to a 6-1 romp.

"We didn't play well in the first, second, or third period," Laviolette said before the game. "We've got to come out with some attitude that we're going to play our game."

They did, getting early goals from Carter (on the power play) and van Riemsdyk 31 seconds apart to take a 2-0 lead. The tone had been set.

Van Riemsdyk had not scored a goal in 10 straight games before striking in Wednesday's 6-2 win over Toronto. He has three goals in the last two nights.

"I didn't have to do much; I just got open and Ash gave me two great passes," said van Riemsdyk, who has 10 goals. "I owed him a couple for not burying a couple tap-ins he gave me" in earlier games.

Sam Carchidi's Flyers blog: http://

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