Surprising Tom Sestito leads Flyers over Lightning

ILYA BRYZGALOV joked that Tom Sestito should change his last name to "Sestitov," to sound more like a Russian sniper.

Sestito, who had scored just two goals in his first 31 NHL games, collected two in a matter of two periods on Tuesday night to headline a 2-1, all-around smothering of the Tampa Bay Lightning at an electric Wells Fargo Center.

Sestito shocked the heck out of his Flyers teammates, who gave him a good ribbing in the locker room after the game, with his back-to-back goals. He's normally an oft-overlooked fourth line enforcer, who spends more minutes in the penalty box than on the ice.

"I think he was surprised, too, by the look on his face," Danny Briere said. "It's good to see different guys stepping up and being a part of it. It hasn't been easy since the start of the season for Tom."

Sestito scored both his goals in nearly identical fashion, slipping soft backhands through the five-hole of Anders Lindback.

"I've got one [move]," Sestito said. "Hopefully no goalies catch on to that. I'm going to keep doing it until it stops working."

Amazingly, Sestito is now tied for third on the team in goals this season.

For Sestito, life has been a roller coaster since December. He arrived back in the United States after playing in Sheffield, England, during the NHL lockout and came down with a case of the mumps virus 6 days later. He was quarantined and bedridden for a month, with his facial glands swollen to the size of grapefruits.

All of the hard work Sestito put into being ready for a training-camp battle when the lockout ended was wiped away in a matter of remote-clutching days.

"The mumps are gone," Sestito said. "Thank god."

Sestito, 25, made Peter Laviolette's roster but was a longshot to crack the lineup on a nightly basis. He was a healthy scratch for five of the Flyers' first nine games, before injuries to Scott Hartnell, Zac Rinaldo and Wayne Simmonds opened a door.

He was given more free rein on Tuesday, promoted to the third line with Brayden Schenn and Jake Voracek to start the game. Some said Sestito should request to be moved up to the Flyers' struggling first line with Claude Giroux.

"Maybe I'll go in there and see what he has [to offer], I should have gotten one more for the hat trick, though," Sestito said, adding that he couldn't have dreamed up the night any better. "Maybe in the Stanley Cup finals. It's great to contribute like that and not just fighting the whole time."

"He does a lot for our club," Laviolette said. "For him to get the two goals, it has to make him feel good. Makes us feel good, too. It's great Tom chipped in like that."

Sestito is 6-5 and a big body presence. In just 14 games with the Flyers last year, he racked up 83 penalty minutes. He's got nearly four times the regular-season fights (15) as he does goals (four) on his resume. In some ways, though, Sestito's hands have been underappreciated.

He collected 42 goals in his 19-year-old junior season with Plymouth (OHL) in 2006-07, scoring 15 more times than teammate James Neal, who led the NHL in power-play goals last year with Pittsburgh.

"We see it at practices sometimes, he definitely has great hands," Max Talbot said. "He's a big boy and he's a great player. Sometimes you put him on the fourth line and you expect him only to fight and stuff like that and create the momentum, but he was outstanding out there, making two big moves."

Sestito's first goals since Dec. 23, 2010, when he was a member of the Blue Jackets, just happened to bookend the Flyers' most complete defensive effort of the season.

Tuesday marked the first time all season the Lightning, the league's highest-scoring offense, averaging 4.88 goals per-game, was held under two goals in a game. Bryzgalov was one defensive breakdown away from his first shutout since last March.

Tampa Bay had outscored opponents, 17-7, in the third period heading into the game. Sestito's game-winner came with under 9 minutes to play.

"It was a good, gritty win," Briere said. "It's one of those games, we had to fight through all of the board work. We were winning most of the battles. It's good to see other guys chipping in.

Zac Rinaldo knocked out Tampa Bay forward B.J. Crombeen in a first-period fight. Crombeen, a veteran of 69 career NHL fights, was woozy and needed assistance skating off the ice to the locker room - and not the penalty box. He did not return to the game for "precautionary" reasons . . . The Flyers sold a record 20,271 hot dogs on Dollar Dog night . . . Claude Giroux won 75 percent of his faceoffs, the rest of the Flyers won just 25 percent.

Blog: philly.com/FrequentFlyers