One goal enough for Thrashers in shutout of Flyers

THE HOCKEY GODS must be peering down from Canada and snickering at Philadelphia.

The Flyers, who have desperately fought and clawed for the No. 1 seed and the accompanying home-ice advantage in the first three rounds of the playoffs, have not won in South Philadelphia in nearly a month.

The Flyers, who had won 14 straight against lowly Atlanta at one point, have beaten the Thrashers just once in their last eight tries.

And for having the third-best goals-for, goals-against ratio in the NHL, the Flyers have outlasted all 29 other teams to be the only one without a shutout to their credit.

Last night, as the Flyers were shut out themselves for the seventh time this season, all three of those ugly streaks continued as they dropped a 1-0 decision to visiting Atlanta.

Except one: For the first time since mid-February, the Flyers followed up a strong effort with another. They blasted 43 shots at the Thrashers' net and had another 19 attempts blocked, but Chris Mason stopped every one of them.

About the only thing the Flyers could blame was their six penalties that disrupted their offensive momentum gained.

"We had some really good looks and good opportunities," Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said. "I thought the chances were more than two-to-one in our favor; we just had a tough time getting it by him tonight."

With that, the Flyers blew a chance - since Pittsburgh lost in Tampa Bay - to be in a position to clinch their first Atlantic Division title since 2004 tonight in New Jersey when they face the Devils.

Instead, their magic number to win the division has dropped to four points won or lost by the Penguins, and their magic number against Washington to win the East remains eight points.

The only difference last night was a fluke goal that beat Sergei Bobrovsky off Nik Antropov's skate, which needed to be reviewed in Toronto before it was called a goal.

"It's tough when you throw everything at the net and they get a lucky bounce and get a goal," Flyers captain Mike Richards said. "I thought we played all right. I think we probably could have stayed out of the penalty box and created more with our chances and been a little bit hungrier around the net with the second and third opportunities."

Despite having the second-best road record in the NHL, the Flyers haven't been able to gain any spacing in the standings when playing at home. They are just 1-4-3 in their last eight games at the Wells Fargo Center. Interestingly, the Sixers have a better record at the center, 24-12, than the Flyers' 22-12-6.

"That's disappointing," Laviolette said. "It's probably a little more disappointing and frustrating than concerning. It's certainly not the way we want the results to go here. We expect to win at home, and we haven't in a while."

Defenseman Sean O'Donnell suggested that the Flyers "maybe take things for granted" playing at home. Atlanta didn't have that same luxury - it would have been eliminated from playoff contention with a loss.

"It seems like we bear down a little bit more on the road," O'Donnell said. "I don't know if we think it's going to be a tough grind and we play accordingly. But we've got five [games] left and we've got to turn this thing around at home before we hit the playoffs."

But last night, O'Donnell said, wasn't one of those nights where the Flyers didn't play well enough to win.

The Flyers' best recipe this season may not be more shots. Last night was the most shots the Flyers have fired in a shutout loss since Dec. 21, 1980, when they fired 44 bullets at Washington in a 6-0 loss at the Spectrum.

The Flyers are just 7-6-2 this season when they hit the net 38 or more times.

"You'd like to think, 'What more can I do?' but then you realize that you need to move on to the next game," O'Donnell said. "We did get a lot of shots, but they didn't give us a whole lot."

Defenseman Kimmo Timonen returned to the Flyers' blue line last night after missing the third period Tuesday in Pittsburgh with a lower-body injury. It is believed he was suffering from a lower-back injury. Timonen, who logged nearly 24 minutes last night, is one of just five players to skate in all 77 games.

Prized Merrimack College prospect Stephane Da Costa, who we reported would not be signing with the Flyers, ended up inking a 2-year, entry-level contract with the Ottawa Senators.

Da Costa, 21, posted 45 points in 33 games for Merrimack this season, leading the team to its best season in school history. He is expected to make his debut for Ottawa tomorrow night against Toronto. If he finishes the season with Ottawa, it will burn one of those 2 years on the contract, essentially making it a 1-year deal.

For more news and analysis, read

Frank Seravalli's blog, Frequent Flyers, at

www.philly.com/FrequentFlyers. Follow him on Twitter at

http://twitter.com/DNFlyers.