Flyers win Cup rematch in Chicago

CHICAGO - After listening to "Chelsea Dagger," the Blackhawks' unforgettable goal song, being piped through the United Center exactly 15 times during their three games in Chicago last spring during the Stanley Cup finals, the only time the Flyers wanted to hear that tune was in an Amstel Light commercial after the game.

And, for the most part, the Madhouse on Madison - Chicago's hockey cathedral - was quiet yesterday in the Flyers' grudge match with the defending champs.

The Flyers threw the biggest dagger yesterday against the re-tooled Blackhawks, picking up a 4-1 win behind a career day from Claude Giroux and a nearly perfect outing from Sergei Bobrovsky.

While the win could not atone for last June's sins, to say that yesterday's matinee with Chicago - in their only matchup with the Blackhawks this season, as NBC's first national telecast of the season - was just another January road game would be selling it a little short.

"We were pretty excited for this game," Giroux said after posting an assist on all four of the Flyers' goals. "I don't know if we thought we had anything to prove, or something like that, but every guy on the team showed up."

"We obviously didn't like the way last year ended," Jeff Carter said. "It was a great motivating factor. I think each guy individually knew what was going on. Nothing needed to be said."

After being outworked in an embarrassing loss to the NHL's worst team a little less than 24 hours earlier at home, the Flyers employed a different, more laid-back defensive approach yesterday.

The Flyers usually play an aggressive style of the left-wing lock under Peter Laviolette. Yesterday, they patiently trapped and waited for the Blackhawks to come to them in the neutral zone - sometimes with all five guys behind the red line - ready to pounce.

And the Flyers - led by Carter's line of Giroux and Nik Zherdev - turned their tricky defensive posture into offense, which is surprising for a trio of guys who aren't known for their defensive bravado.

"A lot of it comes from good defense and breaking plays up," Carter said.

Carter scored twice and his line accounted for nine points. Zherdev was credited with the game-winner. As a plus-4, it was Carter's highest plus/minus rating in a single game since April 3, 2009. And yesterday was Zherdev's fifth multi-point game of the season.

Giroux, meanwhile, set career highs in assists (four), points (four), and plus/minus (plus-4) in a single game. He also took over the team lead in points from Mike Richards with 46.

"When we first started playing together, we didn't have any chemistry," Giroux explained. "Not that we didn't want to. It just wasn't working. Now, we know what the other player is going to do. And I just go to the net because I know he is going to shoot it."

The only negative was that Bobrovsky couldn't nab the Flyers' first shutout of the season - and the first of his career - because of a penalty shot in the third period. Braydon Coburn was charged with closing his hand on the puck in the Flyers' crease, which resulted in a mandatory breakaway chance.

Marian Hossa not only evoked the echoes of "Chelsea Dagger," but also kept the Flyers and Maple Leafs as the only NHL teams to not have blanked an opponent this season. It was the Hawks' first successful penalty shot at home since 1987.

It was the second time this season that a Bobrovsky shutout was foiled on a penalty shot; Frans Nielsen also did it for the Islanders in a 6-1 Flyers win on Oct. 30. Prior to that, the Flyers had never been solely denied a shutout by one of the game's rarest plays.

It was the sixth time Bobrovsky had a shutout this season going into the third period and lost it.

"We'll get one of those, maybe, one day," Laviolette said. "We didn't give up a whole lot."

Regardless, Bobrovsky earned his fifth straight win and out-dueled fellow rookie Corey Crawford in the process. He seemed to see every puck well and was rarely out of position.

"He played very well," Chris Pronger said. "Not only [saving] the point-blank shots, but to me, getting back to play the pucks and to stop the pucks, he was getting back there pretty quick. I think he's starting to get that part of the game, setting things up for us. He's starting to get more comfortable. That's only going to improve his game."

While exacting revenge, the Flyers moved back into the top spot in the NHL's points race and increased their lead in the Eastern Conference to five points over Pittsburgh.

"We came into a loud building against a very good hockey team and played a real sound hockey game," Laviolette said. "That's what I get satisfaction about. It's about looking forward, not back."

The Flyers were only charged with three missed shots yesterday - shots missing the net without being blocked - which was a season-low . . . The Flyers' penalty kill, which was 2-for-2 against the league's top power play yesterday, has killed off 11 of its last 12 opportunities . . . Braydon Coburn had a team-high five hits . . . Jeff Carter, Claude Giroux and Nik Zherdev accounted for 14 of the Flyers' 34 shots on goal.

For more news and analysis, read Frank Seravalli's blog, Frequent Flyers, at

http://go.philly.com/frequentflyers. Follow him on Twitter at

http://twitter.com/DNFlyers.