Betts nets 2, Flyers beat Lightning

One night earlier, the lights went out - literally - as Tampa Bay was headed toward an apparent victory in New Jersey.

Last night, it was Blair Betts who unplugged the Lightning. The Flyers' gritty center scored two goals and keyed a flawless penalty-killing unit in a 4-1 win at the Wachovia Center.

The Flyers are 7-1-1 in their last nine games and have moved to within one point (with three games in hand) on Montreal, which is seeded eighth in the East.

Betts knocked in a rebound of an Ian Laperriere shot with 3 minutes, 5 seconds left, giving the Flyers a 3-1 lead. He later added an empty-net goal.

The Flyers killed all five Tampa power plays, and their penalty-killing unit is 30 for 32 in the last nine games - a 93.8 success rate.

Betts and penalty-killing mate Laperriere have played a major role in that success.

"There's a lot of communication, and we want to get to the point where we just read off each other and not much needs to be said," Betts said after his second two-goal game of the season - the other was also against Tampa, on Dec. 23. "At the beginning of the year, we were new with one another; it took a little bit more talk and a little bit more communication, but I think we're kind of getting into a rhythm now."

The Flyers are 17-6-2 with Betts in the lineup; they are 5-13-1 without him.

In addition to Betts, Claude Giroux (power play) and Scott Hartnell scored for the Flyers. Hartnell, who had his long locks trimmed, scored his first goal since Dec. 5.

Michael Leighton, backed by a defense that allowed few opportunities, needed to make just 17 saves as he lifted his record to 7-0-1 in his last nine starts, including one no-decision. He has a 2.07 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage in that span.

"We played great defense again," said Leighton, whose hot streak may make it difficult for Ray Emery to get back into the net. "I can't say enough about how the team is playing in front of me. Lately, I've been good and the team's been great."

Hartnell finished a two-on- one by tapping in a perfect pass from Danny Briere, giving the Flyers a 2-0 lead with 16:24 left. Chris Pronger started the play by making a one-handed pass to Briere on the right wing.

"Probably one of the longest stretches I've ever had without scoring," said Hartnell, who went 17 games without a goal. "Things like that happen, but you stick with your game and go to the net."

In the first period, Mike Richards, from behind the goal line to the right of the net, threaded a pass to Giroux, who one-timed a right-circle shot past former Flyer Antero Niittymaki, giving his team a 1-0 lead.

Simon Gagne notched an assist for his 500th career point on the play. The Flyers had players reach 500 points in their last two home games - Briere did it Wednesday against Toronto. Coincidentally, Briere and Gagne each accomplished the feat in their 626th games.

Gagne became the 13th player in Flyers history to register at least 500 points while with the Flyers - and the first since Mark Recchi in 2002. (Most of Briere's points were with Buffalo.)

"I had a chance to get this one done in Pittsburgh, but the goal was not good," said Gagne, referring to a controversial goal that was disallowed Thursday against the Penguins. "It's a lot more fun to reach 500 here in Philly in front of our fans."

Tampa will be playing its third game in three nights when it finishes Friday's suspended game tonight in New Jersey. The Lightning had a 3-0 lead midway through the second period when the lights dimmed in one part of the arena and could not be fixed.