Flyers defeat Blackhawks, 4-1

CHICAGO - It would be stretching the truth to say the Flyers' methodical, 4-1 win over Chicago on Sunday erased the disappointment of their Stanley Cup Finals loss to the Blackhawks in June.

But there was a feeling of satisfaction in the visitors' locker room at the United Center.

"We obviously didn't like the way last year ended," Jeff Carter said after scoring two goals on a new line that produced nine points. "Nothing was said in the room before [the game], but I think each guy individually knew what was going on today, and it was a big two points for us."

Carter conceded that the six-game loss to the Blackhawks in the Finals had been a "great motivation factor for us. Nothing needed to be said. We all knew what went on."

Sunday's victory, in the teams' first meeting since Game 6, "will never replace what happened in the Finals," center Danny Briere said, "but it was a big win for our team to keep moving forward."

Carter, who has 22 goals, was on a line with Claude Giroux and Nik Zherdev. Zherdev was moved to the unit because James van Riemsdyk was sidelined by an apparent groin injury suffered late in Saturday's loss to New Jersey.

Zherdev (goal, assist, plus-3), Carter (two goals, assist, plus-4), and Giroux (four assists, plus-4) were a combined plus-11.

Forty-nine seconds into the second period, Carter opened the scoring after a wild scramble in front of rookie goalie Corey Crawford.

"That was a weird one," Carter said. "We missed it about five times, and their 'D' made about two saves in the crease, and I don't know what the goalie was doing. He was kind of down and out, and he just kind of lay there. It was a lucky one, but a good way to get started."

Zherdev scored on a wraparound 2 minutes, 28 seconds into the third period, and Carter converted a slick Giroux pass to make it 3-0 nearly three minutes later.

Marian Hossa cut the deficit to 3-1 on a penalty shot against Sergei Bobrovsky (30 saves) with 13:11 left.

The Blackhawks, who have lost 10 players from last year's championship team because of salary-cap woes, nearly narrowed the score to 3-2, but Jonathan Toews fired wide of an open net with 12:14 left.

Scott Hartnell's empty-net goal iced the win with 52 seconds remaining.

"They are at the top of the league for a reason," said Chicago coach Joel Quenneville, whose team took advantage of struggling goalie Michael Leighton to win last year's Cup. Sergei Bobrovsky "was strong in net, and their defense was pretty good."

Defensemen Chris Pronger, Kimmo Timonen, and Andrej Meszaros (four hits) each blocked three shots, and Braydon Coburn had five hits.

Pronger, indicted by Chicago fans for literally stealing pucks after playoff games here last year, was loudly booed every time he touched the puck Sunday.

"It was nice to be welcomed," Pronger said with a slight smile.

The Flyers took control by dominating the second period, in which they outshot the Blackhawks, 19-9.

"We didn't bring the speed and tempo to our game like we did" in Saturday's 4-1 win in Detroit, said Toews, Chicago's captain. "In more ways than one, we were too easy to defend."

Coach Peter Laviolette was just happy the Flyers bounced back from a subpar performance in Saturday's 3-1 loss to New Jersey. He downplayed the fact that Sunday's victory was against the team that had ruined the Flyers' remarkable playoff run last year.

"I'm really happy we won the game today, because we maintain our position in first place" atop the NHL, he said. "And it's about looking forward, not back. That's what I get satisfaction about. We came into a loud building against a very good hockey team and played a real sound hockey game."

Especially the Zherdev-Giroux-Carter line.

Flyers blog: http://go.philly.

com/bsbEndText