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“We don’t really have that player that’s ready internally, we believe, so this was an easy decision to make today,” Holmgren said.

There were a few calls, though, that Holmgren didn’t return. Many NHL teams were interested in young forwards on the Flyers’ roster like Sean Couturier. Although Holmgren said he was open to improving his team, he wasn’t open for a fire sale.

“We like our young players, both today and moving forward,” Holmgren said. “You’d like to keep them all together to grow and see where it takes you. That’s been the plan. … This year, maybe the expectation levels haven’t been met but I haven’t changed our plan because of that.”

Courier-Post LOADED: 04.04.2013

667901 Philadelphia Flyers

Flyers: 'Comeback kids' grab another late victory

Written by Dave Isaac

Courier-Post Staff

PHILADELPHIA — The double fist pump and a yell from the lungs of second-year player Sean Couturier spoke…well, screamed volumes.

His shot deflected off the stick of Montreal defenseman Lars Eller.

Then off goalie Carey Price’s arm.

Then off Montreal defenseman, P.K. Subban’s left skate and into the Canadiens’ net.

A 27-game goalless drought was over and Couturier got the Flyers on the board for the first time of the night in a 5-3 Flyers come-from-behind win, their third in a row.

“I was talking to him on the bench,” said Simon Gagne, who assisted on the goal. “He felt relief. Sometimes you just need that one to get going. Even before that, he was playing much better, but after that first goal, he started to skate with the puck, be a little more confident and it’s gonna be a big plus for us.”

“It was good for the confidence to get the monkey off the back,” Couturier added. “It’s been a while and it’s nice to find the back of the net.”

Couturier, 20, was the subject of trade rumors for weeks and after Wednesday’s trade deadline came and went and he was still wearing orange and black, he felt relieved and relaxed.

“I’m glad to be here,” he said. “I try to control what I can control, and trades, you can’t really control what’s going to happen.”

All of a sudden, both Couturier and the Flyers are off the schneid.

Five other times this season the Flyers had won two in a row, but came up short when going for the third consecutive victory. This is the first time all year they’ve done it.

“It feels good,” Couturier said. “We need these wins, especially at this time. We’re a little behind in the standings and every game is a must-win for us. We’re just trying to get two points every night.”

With the win, the Flyers are four points back of most of their division rivals. The New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders all have 39 points and are occupying the seventh, eighth and ninth seeds respectively in the Eastern Conference.

For a change, it was resilience in the third period that got the Flyers the all-important win. Entering the night, the Flyers had been outscored by opponents 41-25 in the final stanza. Wednesday, they scored three goals in 4:27 to win the game.

“We’re winning battles and making better decisions with the puck,” said Claude Giroux, who had an assist on the game-winning goal by Erik Gustafsson. “I think it’s huge. We’re having more fun playing that third period. We just want it so bad that we keep working and we got a couple bounces in. It feels good to get another big win like this.”

The Flyers outshot the Canadiens 26-6 over the last two periods of the game and 14-2 in the third period alone. The Flyers say luck was on their side as a product of firing pucks at the net.

Gagne’s goal in the second period came off a deflection off the back boards, giving him an empty net to shoot at. Wayne Simmonds’ goal at 14:54 deflected off his left skate and Gustafsson’s game-winner was actually intended to be a pass to Matt Read.

“They got four pretty lucky goals in my opinion,” Price said. “That’s the difference.”

It wasn’t all good news for the Flyers, though. Zac Rinaldo fought Brandon Prust at 2:15 of the second period. After he served his penalty in the box, he skated off the ice for the last time.

He left the game with a lower-body injury and reportedly won’t even make the trip to face the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight. He was seen after the game in a walking boot.

It’s Another injury for the Flyers, but they’re finding their form, albeit late in games. Wednesday was the second come-from-behind victory in as many games.

“We called ourselves ‘The Comeback Kids’ last year and we are kind of back on that same page,” Read said. “You play with confidence and when you’re down one or two goals you just fight back and it’s another comeback. ‘The Comeback Kids’ win again tonight.”

Courier-Post LOADED: 04.04.2013

667902 Phoenix Coyotes

Phoenix Coyotes decide time to sell is now, even with playoff hopes still flickering

By Sarah McLellan, columnist Wed Apr 3, 2013 7:08 PM

The Coyotes haven’t been able to yank down the for-sale sign for almost four years, but they had no problem finding buyers at the NHL trade deadline for their on-ice goods.

They advertised grit, speed and experience and got returns on all three, dealing forwards Raffi Torres, Matthew Lombardi and Steve Sullivan for a compilation of draft picks and a prospect.

Even a win Tuesday night against the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings that, at the time, moved the Coyotes two points back of the eighth seed in the Western Conference couldn’t convince the Coyotes brass to remove the seller tag that probably began to stick in the midst of that crippling seven-game losing streak.

But hope for a fourth straight playoff berth hasn’t been extinguished. The Coyotes still have a chance, albeit a slim one, because despite the heavy subtraction, the core of the team was untouched.

“The balancing act that we tried to do today was maximize the return on some of our unrestricted players right now without impacting our roster as best we could,” said Assistant General Manager Brad Treliving, who was manning the phone at the team’s headquarters on Wednesday while General Manager Don Maloney dealt with the recent death of his father.

The exodus at the deadline was uncharacteristic during coach Dave Tippett’s watch, but the reasoning behind it was actually the same one that’s guided the Coyotes amid ownership uncertainty.

Take the safe approach and do more with less.

That’s what the Coyotes did in dealing away three impending unrestricted free agents, recouping assets instead of letting all three sign elsewhere once free agency opens July 5.

“You cannot continually get to a point at the end of the season where people walk away from your team and you get nothing in return,” Treliving said.

As much as the Coyotes tried to alleviate Sullivan’s responsibilities by not labeling him as a wholesale replacement for veteran Ray Whitney’s offensive production, Sullivan never could shake that comparison. With five goals and only 12 points, he underperformed, and since the Coyotes had no plans to re-sign him, they sent Sullivan to the New Jersey Devils for a seventh-round pick in 2014.

“We would both agree it probably didn’t go as well as we all hoped,” Treliving said.

Same can be said for Lombardi, who landed with the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for minor-leaguer Brandon McMillan.

Lombardi joined the team three days before the season started and seemed to solve the Coyotes’ ongoing problem at center but never recaptured the effectiveness he had during his first stint with the team, from 2009-10.

A shoulder injury further complicated his transition, and he was also unlikely to return after this season.

“He never really seemed to get a rhythm,” Treliving said.

Torres’ departure is the hardest to digest because not only is it to a Pacific Division rival — the San Jose Sharks, who will face the Coyotes two more times this season — but his value only rises as the playoffs approach.

That no doubt made him one of the more coveted Coyotes on deadline day, with the Coyotes eventually pulling a 2013 third-round pick (the market price for a depth forward) away from the Sharks. The pick is actually Florida’s, handed off to San Jose via the New York Rangers in Tuesday’s Ryan Clowe swap, so the chance of it translating into an impact player is decent.

The Coyotes were unsure if they’d be able to agree on a new contract with Torres, and his physicality and energy and quick release, packaged within the rules of the game after a reforming 21-game suspension, will be missed.

But to feel encouraged, look at the deals that weren’t consummated.

The defense wasn’t razed with Keith Yandle and Derek Morris still intact and very much vital pieces on the blue line.

And the Coyotes retained two other upcoming unrestricted free agents, goalie Mike Smith and center Boyd Gordon despite, again, running the risk of having them leave for free agency in the summer.

“Neither of those players do we have anything done or imminent, but they’re important parts of our team,” Treliving said. “Those are guys that we want to have with us beyond this year, and we’ll continue to work at that.”

The Coyotes recalled forwards Chris Brown and Chris Connor from their American Hockey League affiliate with McMillan reporting for duty there.

It’ll be somewhat of a patchwork effort to end the season, but the Coyotes have had successful stretches as a rag-tag bunch.

That isn’t a guaranteed precursor to a magical finish, but today’s roster does more closely resemble the one that went to the Western Conference finals.

“We know it’s a tough climb here the remainder of the season,” Treliving said. “But we hope our group can continue to push forward.”

Arizona Republic LOADED: 04.04.2013

667903 Phoenix Coyotes

Phoenix Coyotes trade away Raffi Torres, Matthew Lombardi and Steve Sullivan

By Sarah McLellan azcentral sports Wed Apr 3, 2013 12:53 PM

After adding players on or before the NHL trade deadline in the last three seasons, precursors to three straight playoff berths, the Coyotes took a different approach at Wednesday’s deadline by trading away forwards Raffi Torres, Matthew Lombardi and Steve Sullivan.

All were pending unrestricted free agents, and the Coyotes secured a return rather than letting these players walk for nothing in the summer.

The Coyotes sent Torres to Pacific Division rival San Jose in exchange for a third-round pick in 2013. Lombardi will go to Anaheim, another division opponent, and the Coyotes receive center Brandon McMillan in that deal. McMillan, taken in the third round by the Ducks in 2008, has played six games with the team this season after splitting time the last two seasons with the Ducks’ American Hockey League affiliate.

And the Coyotes took a seventh-round pick in 2014 from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Sullivan, who signed a one-year contract with the Coyotes last summer as a free agent. The 38-year-old winger never really panned out, unable to fill at least part of the offensive void left by Ray Whitney. Sullivan scored five goals – including a hat trick – and added seven assists.

The Coyotes honored him for becoming the 285th player to reach the 1,000-game milestone before Tuesday’s game.

Lombardi was another pick-up before the season that didn’t help the Coyotes like they hoped. The center seemed to give the team the depth up the middle they’ve constantly been looking for, but Lombardi struggled after an early-season shoulder injury. He had four goals and four assists in 21 games and was recently a healthy scratch after falling down the depth chart.

That was surprising because he had the best season of his career in 2009-10 with the Coyotes, scoring 19 goals and 53 points.

Torres’ tenure with the Coyotes was more effective. In 107 regular season games with the team, he scored 20 goals, 38 points and 96 penalty minutes. Of course, his time with the Coyotes will be synonymous with a 21-game suspension handed down in the first-round of the 2012 playoffs for his hit on Marian Hossa of the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Sharks will be the seventh stop for Torres, who will add grit, a physical presence and scoring ability to their playoff push.

Arizona Republic LOADED: 04.04.2013

667904 Phoenix Coyotes

Slow start builds to a fast finish at the trade deadline for Coyotes

Sarah McLellan

The Coyotes management staff convened at 5 a.m. Wednesday at their office in Glendale to start entertaining and placing calls on potential deals, but all three of their transactions weren’t completed until right before the noon trade deadline hit.

“Each year the supply of players gets less and less and as the day goes on and you get closer to the witching hour, the prices in a lot of cases start to get more defined and people that were maybe kicking tires throughout the day either pick up or drop off and things come into a little more focus,” said Assistant General Manager Brad Treliving, who was the team’s mouthpiece on deadline day with the recent passing of General Manager Don Maloney’s father.

The Coyotes were active sellers, moving forwards Raffi Torres, Matthew Lombardi and Steve Sullivan for two draft picks and prospect Brandon McMillan.

Torres, Lombardi and Sullivan were all set to become unrestricted free agents at the end of the season.

“You’d like to get those commitments from those players in terms of a contract extension prior to the trade deadline,” Treliving explained. “The uncertainty still surrounding our team — some players are still not prepared to commit. They don’t know if the team will actually still be in Phoenix or if it’s going somewhere else, how is it all going to work? So it’s been a challenge. You have to do what you think is right for your organization.”

For the Coyotes, that was obtaining a third-round pick in this year’s draft from San Jose (Torres), a seventh-round pick in 2014 from New Jersey (Sullivan) and forward Brandon McMillan from Anaheim (Lombardi).

The third-round pick from San Jose is actually Florida’s, and it was flipped to the Sharks via the Rangers in the deal that sent Ryan Clowe to New York Tuesday. With Florida sitting in the basement in the Eastern Conference, it’s a promising pick.

“We didn’t know if we were going to be able to re-sign (Torres) come the summer time, and we think we’ve got a really good asset,” Treliving said. “That third-round pick, again, depending on how things turn out can turn into an excellent asset for us. It opens up opportunity, and I know the players that are going to come up here are going to inject some energy and we hope that we can get on a little bit of a run here and push forward.”

After the trades, the Coyotes recalled forwards Chris Brown and Chris Connor from the American Hockey League. The development of the youth there was another reason why the Coyotes were able to move three forwards.

“The recalls are not guys you’re going to sit here and say, ‘You’re going to be our savior,’” Treliving said. “They can add to different parts of the game. Offense is obviously a part we think some guys can bring to the table, but we think we can add some energy. We think getting (goalie) Mike (Smith) back, that’s a big thing for us. Trying to get our No.1 goalie back is going to make us a better team, but we can’t just rely on people coming up from Portland to be the answer. We need a little more from everybody in the room here. The group this year, right now, we need a little more from everyone that’s here, and we’re going to hope and push the people that come up from Portland bring some energy, offense and, again, anybody that follows our team, we don’t rely on one or two guys. We’re going to need everybody.”

Among the players dealt, Torres seemed like the most likely to return with the Coyotes beyond this season and moving him to a division opponent, especially one that the Coyotes will encounter twice in their final 12 games while they battle for a playoff spot, seemed peculiar. But it was the strongest return they were offered.

“There’s a reason why we went out and got Raffi and liked him here,” Treliving said. “Maybe it’s not ideal that you put him in your division. He’s a UFA at the end of the year. We’ll see where that goes but, again, as we completed this, it was to get the best asset we could.”

The Coyotes didn’t have any other possible trades on the table.

“I wouldn’t say we were close on anything else or anything was framed up that went away,” Treliving said.

Speculation built in the days leading up to the deadline that the Coyotes would deal a few of their other impending UFAs, most notably Smith and center Boyd Gordon, but the team is still hopeful it will be able to re-sign both players.

Regarding Smith, Trelivign said, “We hope that Mike is going to continue to be with us for a long time.”

And as far as McMillan, he’s in his third-year pro and has split time between the Ducks and their AHL affiliate all three seasons. He’s been in six games with the Ducks this season, adding an assist.

McMillan scored 11 goals and 21 points his rookie season and is a versatile forward that adds depth to the Coyotes organization.

“He has a lot of attributes that we value,” Treliving said. “He’s a competitive player, plays fast and we really like him going back to his draft year.”

Arizona Republic LOADED: 04.04.2013

667905 Phoenix Coyotes

Uncertainty looms for Coyotes on trade deadline day

Sarah McLellan

The Coyotes made one final plea to remain intact past today’s NHL trade deadline by beating the Kings 3-1 Tuesday, jumping up a spot into 12th in the Western Conference and sitting only two points behind the eighth-seeded St. Louis Blues.

“The biggest thing is we’ve got a pretty close group of guys here,” defenseman Derek Morris said. “You never want to see anyone go anywhere, that’s for sure. Obviously the other part of it there’s nothing we can control. Whatever management does is what they think will make this organization and this team better but that being said, we don’t want to see anybody in this locker room move.”

With a crew of nine impending unrestricted free agents, including all three goalies used this season, it’s highly unlikely General Manager Don Maloney is inactive. Based on his track record, his staff can usually be counted on to make a move. The Coyotes didn’t pull a deadline-day trade last year, but they acquired center Antoine Vermette five days before that.

“It can be exciting, and it might not be exciting for a lot of teams around the league,” goalie Jason LaBarbera said. “Everybody’s interested in what happens and what goes on. It’s part of the business, and everybody knows what day it is. It’s just a matter of what happens.”

Leading candidates to be dealt include winger Raffi Torres, who has reformed his style this season after a 21-game suspension and yet is still a gritty agitator with a scoring touch, and center Boyd Gordon, a faceoff specialist that kills penalties and blocks shots. Gordon, however, would like to stay in Phoenix.

Morris is another player being batted around in trade rumors, but he’s also hopeful he remains with the Coyotes. Unlike Torres and Gordon, who would be classified as rental acquisitions, Morris is under contract for next season with a $2.75 cap hit.

“It’s nothing I can control about it,” Morris said. “If they feel they can better their team by moving me, then I’m sure that they’ll do it. I think that’s the way Donnie looks at it. He looks at an opportunity to improve this team at all times and whatever happens happens.”

Morris has a limited no-trade clause, but he has a list of eight teams he’ll waive it for submitted to management.

“Last time I’ve had a list of teams before, too, and it’s never worked,” he said with a laugh. “Obviously, I love it here. Everybody knows that, and I hope to stay here but whatever happens with this team and whatever Donnie chooses, he’s the GM and he has to do what he feels best for his team.”

Arizona Republic LOADED: 04.04.2013

667906 Phoenix Coyotes

LaBarbera finds comfort zone for Coyotes

Craig Morgan

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Jason LaBarbera was gushing with a long-forgotten feeling Tuesday against the Los Angeles Kings.

Confidence.

“It’s gratifying to get that feeling again,” said LaBarbera, who stopped 39 shots in a 3-1 win at Jobing.com Arena. “It’s been a while since I’ve had that.”

In a condensed season where numerous Western Conference teams have employed a two-goalie approach to keep things fresh, LaBarbera has been a mainstay at the end of the Coyotes bench, waiting and wondering when his next chance would come.

Following a three-game stretch early in the season where he replaced an injured Mike Smith and went 1-2 while allowing nine goals on 87 shots, LaBarbera made just one start over the next 26 games.

Was it the right move?

On the one hand, LaBarbera’s shaky play early this season may have felt like a carryover from last season’s so-so performance, understandably shaking the coaching staff’s confidence in him.

Coyotes goalie coach Sean Burke and coach Dave Tippett have stood fast by the notion that playing Smith regularly gives the team the best chance to win. But Smith’s struggles this season have been well-chronicled, and he has talked openly about the mental challenge of playing so regularly.

Other goalies -- Vancouver’s Cory Schneider, Los Angeles’ Jonathan Quick and Chicago’s Corey Crawford -- have espoused the two-goalie approach in this lockout-shortened season because it has allowed them to stay at the top of their game.

So if the Coyotes didn’t have confidence in LaBarbera, why didn’t they acquire another backup to share the load? And if they didn’t feel it was necessary to give Smith more help, will they rethink that belief at the end of the season if they miss the playoffs?

All of this analysis is easier in hindsight, of course, but after watching LaBarbera shine on Tuesday, it is fair to wonder what would have happened if the staff hadn’t been so quick with the hook on its longtime backup.

“Barbs is a battler,” Tippett said. “He’s in there trying hard. Barbs was really good.”

LaBarbera made his fifth consecutive start on Tuesday with Smith still on injured reserve with what has been reported as whiplash-like symptoms. LaBarbera is 2-1-2 in that stretch and has stopped 170 of 184 shots (92.4 percent).

With the Coyotes needing a win in the worst way to have anything close to a realistic shot at the playoffs – and to give general manager Don Maloney pause before he sells off pieces at the Wednesday trade deadline -- LaBarbera was at his best, stopping every shot except one that deflected off defenseman Michael Stone’s chest and into the net.

L.A. had scored 15 goals in its last four games, but given a chance to establish a rhythm by playing several consecutive games, LaBarbera said it was easier to rise to the task.

“It’s way easier,” he said. “It’s tough when you play once a month and you put a lot of pressure on yourself.

“That’s been my role for the last few years. I’ve had ups and downs at it, but it’s kind of been nice the last week and half to get some games and feel good about yourself.

“It kind of makes me feel like I did when I was a little bit younger and I played a lot.”

foxsportsarizona.com LOADED: 04.04.2013

667907 Pittsburgh Penguins

Listless Penguins drop 2nd consecutive game

By Josh Yohe

April 3, 2013, 10:27 p.m.

Updated 5 minutes ago

NEW YORK — The Penguins don't lose often, but when they do, they follow a familiar script.

Like 24 hours earlier, the Penguins took untimely penalties, failed to kill them and looked generally lifeless in a 6-1 setback Wednesday against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.