IS READY FOR OSWALT'S DEBUT
Sensing that a couple of the Flyers' lines had gotten stale, coach Peter Laviolette had Claude Giroux center wingers Scott Hartnell and Danny Briere yesterday against Chicago.
Afterward, Laviolette said he was uncertain whether he would keep that line together for today's game against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
"We moved things around a little bit just because I was looking for more of what I saw," Laviolette said. "More movement offensively, more attack to our game. We had lots of scoring chances, some good looks at their net, and I've been searching for that since we came back from the [Olympics] break. Things seemed a little bit stale. We'll look at it again on tape."
Hartnell and Briere had been playing on Jeff Carter's line. Carter had Ville Leino and James van Riemsdyk on his wings against Chicago. Arron Asham was scratched to open a spot for Leino.
Flyers goalie Michael Leighton acknowledged that the win over Chicago was more special than most because he spent the early part of his career with the Blackhawks, who drafted him in 1999.
"It makes it even sweeter," Leighton said after stopping 39 shots in his 13th consecutive start. "I still know a few of the guys. I know the coaches, so I definitely wanted to play well and perform well, and I couldn't be happier with the way things went."
Leighton was the first Blackhawks goalie to record a shutout in his NHL debut when he blanked Phoenix on Jan. 8, 2003. The game ended in a 0-0 tie.
"We just showed right there we can play with one of the best teams in the league," he said.
The Flyers-Blackhawks game was only the fifth meeting of the teams in the last five seasons. . . . Chicago stars Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews made their first appearances at the Wachovia Center. . . . The Blackhawks' Patrick Sharp, a former Flyer, didn't score yesterday, but he has 13 points (5 goals, 8 assists) in his last 14 games.
- Ray Parrillo
Photos: Flyers 3, Blackhawks 2
