Flyers edge Rangers

FACE-FIRST. Wham. The sight and sound of Max Talbot's face hitting the boards was as violent as anything you'll see or hear outside of an MMA bout.

It wasn't as bloody as the puck Ian Laperriere took to the face in the 2010 playoffs, but it was still bone-chilling. More like Aaron Rowand running into the base of the Citizens Bank Park centerfield wall in 2006.

The Flyers, unlucky or unskilled depending on your level of cynicism, got a number of breaks in last night's 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers.

From a purely human standpoint, none was bigger than Talbot walking away with just some major bruises on his face and a future consultation with the plastic surgeon.

Just another night at the office for a hockey player.

"I was just thinking about my [family]," Talbot said in relief.

Talbot was skating toward the Rangers' bench late in the second period when he was nudged by Benoit Pouliot as the puck rolled between the players. Talbot faceplanted into the boards as a gasp enveloped the Wells Fargo Center crowd.

"I can't really skate that well," Talbot said. "I just stumbled. I didn't feel like I got pushed [intentionally]. I don't know if the league will review it."

Pouliot received a 5-minute boarding major and a game misconduct. Talbot missed a few shifts and returned with a cottonball stuffed in his nose and the blood wiped off his shield. Break No. 1.

"I thought Pouliot was trying to go shoulder to shoulder and Talbot lost his step a little bit, but obviously fell awkwardly into the boards," said Rangers coach Alain Vigneault, "and they felt he deserved a major and a game misconduct."

One of the Flyers' Achilles' heels this first month of the season has been the powerless power play. They failed to score during Pouliot's major and went 0-for-4 on the night, wasting 11 minutes. They have failed to score 24 of the last 25 times they've had a man advantage. Yet they still won. Break No. 2.

The third period has mostly been a disaster for the Flyers this season. And, even with the inspiration of Talbot's return, the Orange & Black played mostly not to lose rather than grab the jugular.

The biggest moment came when the officials overturned a goal by Rangers center J.T. Miller that really didn't deserve to be reversed. Flyers goaltender Steve Mason directed a rebound onto Miller's stick, which subsequently slid past Mason for what appeared to be the game-tying goal.

"Yeah, I didn't necessarily think I kicked it," Miller said. "I tried to shoot it, and it just caught me off guard. I didn't even know it really went in until everybody was [celebrating]. It just kind of caught me off guard."

Break No. 3.

Not many people had heard of Rangers goaltender Cam Talbot before he made his NHL debut last night. One guy who definitely knew him was Flyers forward Matt Read, who torched Talbot for 12 goals and 12 assists in 15 games in college while Read was at Bemidji State and Talbot was playing for Alabama-Huntsville.

"I got an email before the game [from Flyers media relations director Zack Hill] and I don't really look at my emails on game day, but for some reason I did and I saw that I had a couple goals and an assist against him in college hockey," said Read, who had his first goal of the season, "and I felt tonight could be my night to get back into the groove of things and start helping this team win."

The Flyers still haven't scored more than three goals in a game, a nine-game, season-opening drought last pulled off by the 1964 Bruins. But in some ways, maybe they picked up two wins last night. One was the victory over the Rangers. The other was not losing Talbot except for a few shifts.

"Max is a heart-and-soul kind of guy," said defenseman Braydon Coburn. "He helped us in the third period. He's a very important part of this team."

Vinny Lecavalier returned after missing three games with a lower-body injury. He played 20 minutes and 46 seconds on a line with Claude Giroux and rookie Michael Raffl. They did not hit the scoresheet, but did generate a number of chances . . . The Flyers had 15 giveaways to the Rangers' six and were guilty of too many icing infractions in the third period, coach Craig Berube said.