Scoring depth - not star power - is key to Flyers' winning ways

ST. PAUL, Minn. - This is how deep the Flyers are these days: Their top two scorers - Mike Richards and Claude Giroux - didn't manage any points Wednesday, but the team still erupted for six goals.

"We're not a team that relies on one guy or two guys, and we also don't have an [Alex] Ovechkin or a [Sidney] Crosby on our team," center Danny Briere said after the surging Flyers' 6-1 win over Minnesota.

"If you look down our lineup, we can throw many waves at you that can beat you, and I think that's why it's tough for teams to match up against us."

For just the second time in the last 24 years, the Flyers (15-6-2) have at least 15 wins in their first 23 games.

The Flyers, who will host struggling Calgary on Friday afternoon, lead the NHL with 84 goals. In their last eight games, they have scored 39, an average of 4.9 per game.

"We try to play with a little bit of an edge, drive the net, and play physical," winger Andreas Nodl said after the first two-point game of his career highlighted the win over the Wild. "Right now, things are going our way. It's Hockey 101."

Briere's line, which includes Scott Hartnell and Ville Leino, has scored in eight of the last nine games.

Even the fourth line, which mostly included Blair Betts centering Jody Shelley and Darroll Powe on Wednesday, produced three points against the Wild. Shelley, known more for his fists, had his first goal of the season.

Rookie goalie Sergei Bobrovsky faced just 16 shots Wednesday, but he was solid. Minnesota's lone goal deflected off Flyers defenseman Andrej Meszaros.

Bobrovsky sat out the previous two games in favor of Brian Boucher.

"I feel refreshed," Bobrovsky said.

Ditto James van Riemsdyk, who has two goals in his last two games after not scoring in his first 17 contests, and the emerging Nodl.

Nodl scored on a shorthanded breakaway to give the Flyers a 4-1, third-period lead Wednesday and take the heart out of the Wild. He has five goals and four assists in his last 10 games.

Said Nodl, who struggled to score in his first two stints with the Flyers: "It all starts on the defensive side. If you're not defensively responsible, you're not going to be out there. When you're out there with [Richards], you're going to be out against top players."

The Flyers will try to extend their winning streak to four when they host the Flames, who have lost their last five road games. Overall, Calgary is 2-8-2 in its last 12 games.

Conversely, the Flyers are 12-2-1 in their last 15. Even that stellar record did not give them a day off on Thanksgiving. They practiced in Voorhees.

"If you stay away, you stiffen up and lose your focus a little bit," coach Peter Laviolette said, explaining why he held practice. "To their credit, the players wanted to come in as well. It's about winning a hockey game [Friday]. Holidays are great and all, but we have a big game that we want to win."

Singer Michael Bublé, on stage at the Wells Fargo Center, interrupted his performance Wednesday night to tell his audience: "In Vancouver, where I'm from, when we celebrate Thanksgiving, we give thanks that we don't play your hockey team too often. By the way, Jeff Carter just scored to make it 2-0 over Minnesota." . . . Calgary is coming off a 2-1 shoot-out loss in New Jersey, a game in which the Flames allowed just 15 shots in regulation. . . . Sean O'Donnell leads the NHL at plus-17. . . . The Flyers' power play is 1 for its last 26. . . . Nik Zherdev played most of Wednesday's game on a line with Giroux and Carter. . . . The Flyers have the league's best goal differential, plus-28 - 84 goals for, 56 against.

Read The Inquirer's Flyers blog, "Broad Street Bull,"

by Sam Carchidi at http://go.philly

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