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Unfortunately for the Flyers, however, their 2-1 lead lasted less than a minute.

To make matters worse, it took a mere 20 seconds for Brandon Prust to tie the game at 2 and center David Desharnais to return the lead to the Canadiens, who carried the 3-2 score into the third period. While he can’t bear all the fault for Prust’s tally, Bryzgalov appeared to duck as Desharnais’ shot flew at him.

The Flyers picked up the pace in the third period, peppering Price with a handful of solid shots. Claude Giroux even got in the mix, getting physical in a small scuffle with Habs center Lars Eller.

Wayne Simmonds tied the game at 3 when he camped out on Price’s doorstep to get a piece of a point shot from Bruno Gervais with his skate. The crowd, newly reinvigorated, got to its feet and got loud.

Just seconds later, Erik Gustafsson gave the Flyers the 4-3 lead.

Jakub Voracek then sealed the victory with an empty-net goal to make it a 5-3 final.

(more coming...)

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667894 Philadelphia Flyers

Flyers keep core of young players intact as deadline passes

April 3, 2013, 5:45 pm Tim Panaccio

“Don’t do anything rash.”

“Don’t waste our young kids on a has-been.”

Those words came directly from a couple of Flyers scouts, who said they would speak their mind on trade deadline day to keep their younger players from being moved.

To that end, the Flyers were entirely successful during Wednesday’s NHL trade deadline. They didn’t move Sean Couturier or Matt Read or Scott Laughton, or even any minor-league prospect in any deals.

That said, the Flyers remained unable to fortify their rather gaping holes on defense for the remainder of the season, but that wasn’t surprising.

Their entire defense can be tackled in the offseason. By then, the Flyers could also have a very high first-round draft pick, depending upon where they finish in the final Eastern Conference standings, to assist them in deal-making.

The only actual trade the Flyers made today was sending backup goalie Michael Leighton to Columbus for backup Steve Mason (see story).

The Flyers had lost confidence that Leighton could actually spell Ilya Bryzgalov and get a win.

Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren feels Mason can do that, although his stats over the past three years really don’t suggest he can be effective with a goals-against average over 3.00.

“I think he’s bounced back a little bit better this year,” Holmgren said, meeting with reporters late Wednesday afternoon.

“Sergei [Bobrovsky] has taken over the spot there. Steve is still a young goalie and has a lot of upside. Jeff Reese, our goalie coach, studies a lot of goalies and likes Steve, thinks something is there. Moving forward, he’s a guy we had an interest in.”

Holmgren dodged the question of whether he saw Mason as simply the backup to Ilya Bryzgalov.

“We see him as one of our two goalies,” he said. “Not only for the rest of this year, but moving forward. We’ll just leave it at that for now.”

Mason is a restricted free agent earning $2.9 million. Given his poor numbers, the Flyers will look to re-sign him for less money.

It’s hard to see the Flyers spending in excess of $8.5 million next season on Mason and Bryzgalov ($5.66 million) combined – assuming Bryzgalov is here.

“There’s a way you can work with Steve and his agent, to get his salary down a little bit,” Holmgren replied, all but saying Mason will have to take a pay cut.

“I don’t think that will be an issue.”

A former Calder Trophy winner, who enjoyed considerable success in junior – 2008 gold medal for Team Canada at the World Junior Championships and MVP – Mason didn’t shine on a number of poor Blue Jacket clubs.

The Flyers feel he’ll do better here. Then again, the Flyers have to improve themselves on defense to really have an impact on any goalie right now.

“I don’t know what’s gone on there [in Columbus], but we liked Steve as a young goalie,” Holmgren said. “I still think there’s tremendous upside there. We’ll bring him in, work with him and try to achieve his goals of being a better goalie, as well.”

In an unrelated move, the Flyers picked up 32-year-old forward Adam Hall off waivers from Tampa Bay (see story). This was an obvious depth move that cost them nothing.

“Max Talbot is out for the year,” Holmgren said, in explaining why Hall is here. “It was an easy decision. Adam’s been around. He’s bigger guy who can play left wing, center, right wing. It’s depth and experience.”

Talbot has a broken left leg.

You sensed the Flyers weren’t going to be terribly active on trade deadline day, and although they made a number of calls to teams looking toward the future, they didn’t make any impact moves.

“We did a lot of whistling the last few days, but didn’t push hard for anything to happen,” Holmgren said.

Actually, the Flyers were in it to the end for Ottawa goalie Ben Bishop before he was moved to Tampa Bay. They also inquired about Phoenix defenseman Keith Yandle, a player who was available at last summer’s NHL draft on the very day the Flyers made the JVR trade for Luke Schenn.

An Ottawa source said the Senators wanted Sean Couturier for Bishop, a price the Flyers felt was too high. Indeed, it was because the Flyers may very well need to move Couturier this summer for a defenseman.

“We like our young group,” Holmgren said. “I think we can still make a little push here [in the standings] and we’ll see what happens over the final 13 games.

“We have a lot of good, young players that we like and I think a lot of other teams like them, too.”

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667895 Philadelphia Flyers

Flyers acquire goalie Steve Mason from Columbus

April 3, 2013, 2:30 pm Tim Panaccio

They couldn’t get Ben Bishop.

So the Flyers settled on trading for Columbus goalie Steve Mason on Wednesday at the NHL trade deadline.

Not even an hour after Ottawa traded Bishop to the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Flyers went out and got Mason in exchange for Michael Leighton and a 2015 third-round draft pick.

A goalie, you ask? Not a defenseman? Yep.

The only other move the club made Wednesday was claiming 32-year-old veteran forward Adam Hall off waivers from Tampa Bay (see story).

Mason carries a $2.9 million cap hit. He’ll be a backup to Ilya Bryzgalov right now but, what happens this summer when he’s up for renewal as a restricted free agent?

Don’t be surprised if the Flyers go after another goalie this summer as their new starter and amnesty Bryzgalov with Mason as the backup.

General manager Paul Holmgren was vague on Bryzgalov's role with the team in the future when asked if he saw Mason as simply a backup goalie.

“We see him as one of our two goalies,” Holmgren said. “Not only for the rest of this year, but moving forward. We’ll just leave it at that for now.”

It’s hard to imagine the Flyers will invest over $8.5 million into one position given Bryzgalov's cap hit is $5.66 million.

The Russian has been worn down this season without an adequate backup that coach Peter Laviolette feels can win on any given night after being a healthy scratch for games in succession.

Mason can certainly do that, but his numbers have been awful for three straight seasons.

“I’m really excited and going to a new organization with a fresh opportunity to play with some players I have a history with from World Juniors there. Just really looking forward to meeting the new guys and starting off fresh,” Mason said in an interview with TSN.

“I’m more than thrilled to have this new opportunity. With the way Sergei [Bobrovsky] has played, he’s taken the ball and really run with it.

“Every goaltender wants a fresh start and not be sitting on the bench. I’m going to a new organization to re-establish my career and really looking forward to that.”

Mason has been poor in Columbus, posting a 2.95 goals against average and .899 save percentage for the Blue Jackets in 13 games.

Ironically, the former Flyer Bobrovsky took his job.

Think about it. The Flyers trade their backup goalie to Columbus; he becomes a star; then the next season, the Flyers trade for the Blue Jackets' backup, who lost his job to the ex-Flyer backup.

This stuff can only happen in Flyerdom.

The 24-year-old is a former Calder Trophy winner as NHL Rookie of the Year (2008-09), when he won 33 games for Columbus with a 2.29 goals against average and .916 save percentage under ex-Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock.

“I put a lot of expectations on myself and when bad things happen and seem to snowball, I just couldn’t get out of it,” Mason said of his play since 2008-09. "You forget all the negative things and go into a new, positive situation and try to make the most of it.

“Going to Philadelphia and working with Bryzgalov, I’m looking forward to working with him and moving forward with things.”

Roughly an hour before the deadline, the Ottawa Senators dealt Bishop – a player the Flyers had definite interest in acquiring – to Tampa Bay for talented rookie Cory Conacher and a fourth-round pick this summer.

Conacher immediately became the Sens’ No. 1 points guy with 24.

The Flyers were in it till the end on Bishop. One Ottawa source said Senators general manager Bryan Murray was asking for Sean Couturier.

Given they got Conacher from the Lightning, it would make sense that Ottawa wanted Couturier.

The Flyers felt that price was too high.

The team needs to restock its blue line after the season and find a young, franchise defenseman -- if it can. Those are the toughest deals in hockey, as the Flyers found out last summer with Ryan Suter and Shea Weber.

For now, the Flyers are holding onto the very few valuable chips they have until the summer when they reshape the club.

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667896 Philadelphia Flyers

Flyers claim forward Adam Hall off waivers

April 3, 2013, 12:45 pm

Tim Panaccio

Having lost Max Talbot for the remainder of the season with a broken left leg, the Flyers added depth today at the trade deadline off waivers.

Veteran forward Adam Hall, who’s gone through waivers a few times this season already, was claimed from Tampa Bay.

In March, he had previously been claimed by the Hurricanes from Tampa Bay, then traded back to the Bolts for Marc-Andre Bergeron on Tuesday.

A 1999 draft pick of Nashville, Hall has bounced around the NHL. This will be his seventh club.

He played 20 games with four assists for Tampa Bay this season and six games with Carolina and registered no points.

Hall, a center who wins more than 50 percent of his draws, might also be used on the penalty kill, which was one of Talbot’s specialties.

His cap hit is $650,000 and he is a unrestricted free agent this summer.

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667897 Philadelphia Flyers

Flyers staying alive, vying for season-best streak

April 3, 2013, 11:00 am Tim Panaccio

A season first.

That’s what is at stake Wednesday night at the Wells Fargo Center as the Flyers host the Montreal Canadiens (see game notes).

Peter Laviolette’s club is attempting to win three games in succession for the first time this year.

“Montreal has been playing very good this year,” Flyers captain Claude Giroux said. “It’s going to be a good test for us. They’re a fast team. They find a way to win a lot of games.”

On Sunday, the Flyers were two points behind the eighth-seeded Rangers. Since then, the standings have changed again in the Eastern Conference as the Flyers have fallen further behind.

The Islanders now occupy the eighth seed, six points ahead of the Flyers.

“It’s nice to win two in a row,” Scott Hartnell said. “It’s been a long time since that happened. We’re feeling good where we are. Our play is a lot better in the last couple games.”

There is different feel lately in the Flyers' dressing room. Confident smiles have replaced concerned brows.

Though the Flyers may not be in a playoff spot and their chances still remain slim, they believe they’ve straightened some things out and are actually competing in games, despite the staggering loss on the back end with defensemen Andrej Meszaros and Braydon Coburn done for the season, while Nick Grossmann remains day to day with an upper body injury.

“It’s do or die right now and it’s fun hockey – this is what it is all about,” Hartnell said. “Focus on catching teams ahead of us in the standings.

“Seems every night we will have a chance tie or pass a team it’s such a close race. This is where you decipher between boys and men, and hopefully we come out on top.”

Goalie Ilya Bryzgalov will make his 20th consecutive start tonight.

“Bryz looks good,” Laviolette said. “We’ve tried our best to give him some rest. We understand where we’re at as a group. Bryz has played well for us.

“We don’t have the luxury of picking games or looking at back-to-back sets where maybe [we] can get Michael [Leighton] in there. Every game is so important to us right now.

“We have to get Bryz back out and have tried to manage his time as best as we can on the ice with practices and days off.”

Bryzgalov, who has started all but two games, is third in the NHL in minutes played at 1,899:31.

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667898 Philadelphia Flyers

Flyers-Canadiens: What you need to know

April 3, 2013, 9:30 am Tim Riday

Flyers vs. Canadiens – 7:30 p.m., CSN

Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia

Records

Flyers: 15-17-3 (Last in Atlantic Division, 13th in Eastern Conference)

Last meeting

In the last matchup between these two clubs, the Canadiens handled the Flyers in a 4-1 win in Montreal on Feb. 16. Danny Briere potted the Flyers’ lone goal, while four different Canadiens found the back of the net. Brendan Gallagher, David Desharnais and Tomas Plekanec each beat Ilya Bryzgalov before Rene Bourque sealed the victory for the Habs with an empty-net marker.

Wednesday will mark the second of three meetings between the Flyers and Canadiens this season. The two teams will play once more in 2013 on April 15 in Montreal.

Previous games

Ruslan Fedotenko scored for the second time in as many games and the Flyers rallied for a furious 5-4 overtime victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday. The Flyers went down 4-2 in the third period, but Claude Giroux and Kimmo Timonen each scored before Fedotenko ended the game in OT with his third tally of the season. The win did come at a cost, however, as Max Talbot, who scored the Flyers’ first goal, suffered a broken leg in the second period.

After scoring just one goal in 12 contests, Max Pacioretty tallied two markers to help the Canadiens upend the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-1, on Monday. Habs netminder Carey Price turned aside 18 saves in his 300th career NHL game. After beating Carolina, Montreal has won all 10 games its played against Southeast Division opponents this season.

Who's hot

Claude Giroux has been playing like a man possessed over the past six games. The Flyers’ captain has recorded three goals and six assists during that span and has vaulted himself into a tie with Jakub Voracek for the team-lead in points with 35.

For Montreal, P.K. Subban has posted six points in his past three games. The Canadiens’ defenseman has 10 goals and 18 assists for the Habs this season and is tied with Minnesota’s Ryan Suter and Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang for the league lead in points amongst defenseman with 28.

Who's not

A year after scoring a career-high 37 goals, Scott Hartnell has struggled offensively in this lockout-shortened season. The winger has tallied just three points – all goals – in his last 10 contests and is on pace to record seven markers and 12 points in 2013.

Price hasn’t had much success against the Flyers as of late. In his last six starts versus the orange and black, he’s gone 1-5 with a 3.38 goals-against average.

Keep an eye on...

Time is running out for the Flyers. They have 13 games left to put together a run for a playoff position and enter Wednesday trailing the New York Islanders by six points – with two games in hand – for the eighth seed in the East.

Montreal, which is currently riding a three-game winning streak, holds a one-point lead over the Boston Bruins for the top spot in the Northeast Division. The Habs also enter this contest with one of the NHL’s best road marks at 12-3-2.

The Flyers, who have won two games in a row five times this season but have yet to put together a three-game winning streak, will complete a five-game homestand on Wednesday night. They have gone 2-1-1 in their last four contests at the Wells Fargo Center and have won two straight after a 0-2-2 skid.

The NHL’s top power-play unit will be facing off against one of hottest penalty-kill units on Wednesday. The Flyers have gone 6 for 9 on the man advantage in their last five games and are a league-best 24.8 percent on the PP. Montreal, however, has been lights out while a man down, successfully killing off 21 of their past 23 penalties.

Did you know?

The Flyers have outscored the Canadiens 15-6 while winning their last four matchups in South Philly against Montreal.

Injuries

Flyers: Another game, another injury for the orange and black. Talbot will be out indefinitely after sustaining a broken left leg on Sunday.

Briere (concussion), Braydon Coburn (separated left shoulder), Jody Shelley (left hip surgery) are all on injured reserve and are also out indefinitely.

Nicklas Grossmann, who has missed the last five games with an upper-body injury, is listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game.

Andrej Meszaros (left shoulder) is expected to miss the remainder of the season.

Canadiens: Ryan White has missed Montreal’s last five games and is questionable to play against the Flyers on Wednesday.

Bourque (concussion), Colby Armstrong (lower-body), Yannick Weber (knee) and Raphael Diaz (concussion) are all on IR.

Sound off

Will the Flyers win their season-best third straight game?

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667899 Philadelphia Flyers

Couturier scores first in Flyers win

Apr. 3, 2013 10:18 PM

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 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 on the night in a 5-3 Flyers win, their third in a row.

Both Couturier and the Flyers are 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.

Couturier’s goal tied the game at one apiece at 4:47 of the second period, when the Flyers decided to take over. They outshot Montreal 12-4 in the second stanza and got going thanks to a couple of tough guys.

Wayne Simmonds and Zac Rinaldo tried to put some fight in the game by dropping the gloves.

Simmonds fought Travis Moen off a faceoff and on the ensuing draw, Rinaldo dropped the gloves with Brandon Prust.

Two minutes and 32 seconds later, Couturier got the Flyers on the board. Simon Gagne put the Flyers up a goal at 15:43 of the second period off a back-boards pass from Ruslan Fedotenko.

“It was good work by our line,” Gagne said. “There was good cycling of the puck and keeping the puck on the wall. I got a lucky rebound from the board right on to my tape. I think Carey Price was looking at the other side so I had a pretty much open net. It was a lucky bounce, but I'll take it."

The win for the Flyers is the second consecutive come-from-behind effort. They did it Sunday against Washington, too.

Montreal threatened with two goals in 20 seconds from Prust and David Desharnais in the waning minutes of the second period.

Third periods haven’t been kind to the Flyers, but they scored three goals in five minutes to put the Canadiens, the Eastern Conference’s second seed, to bed.

Goals by Simmonds at 14:54, Erik Gustafsson at 16:24 and an empty netter by Jake Voracek at 19:21, gave the Flyers three consecutive wins for the first time all season.

Empty netters

Rinaldo didn’t return to the game after his fight with a lower-body injury. … Nick Grossmann practiced with the team in the morning skate, but missed his sixth consecutive game with an upper-body injury. … Center Danny Briere missed his sixth as well with a concussion, but he skated by himself Wednesday morning. …Former captain Chris Pronger was in attendance as a guest in GM Paul Holmgren’s suite.

Reach Dave Isaac

Courier-Post LOADED: 04.04.2013

667900 Philadelphia Flyers

Notes: Flyers' Plan B is a goaltender

Apr 4, 2013 | Written by Dave Isaac

Courier-Post Staff

PHILADELPHIA — Paul Holmgren did a lot of listening as Wednesday’s trade deadline approached. When the clock ticked closer and closer toward the 3 p.m. deadline, the Flyers general manager decided to pull the trigger.

He’d been working on a deal for two weeks. When Ottawa traded highly coveted goalie Ben Bishop to Tampa Bay, Holmgren went with Plan B.

He picked up a goalie from the Columbus Blue Jackets.

But he didn’t trade for the guy he let go last year for a second-round draft pick and a pair of fourths. He acquired Sergei Bobrovsky’s backup in exchange for a 2015 third-round pick and Michael Leighton.

Steve Mason, 24, was the NHL’s rookie of the year in 2008-09, but has struggled since. In 13 games this season, Mason has a 2.95 goals-against average and .899 save percentage. He carries with him a $2.9 million cap hit and is a restricted free agent after this season.

So, he’s got to be the backup, right?

“We see him as one of our two goalies,” Holmgren said. “Not only for the rest of this year, but moving forward.”

How did Ilya Bryzgalov react to this when he was told? The Russian goaltender is under contract until 2020.

“I didn’t know it was gonna happen,” Holmgren said. “And to be honest, if I knew, I wouldn’t have talked to him anyway. His job is to stop the puck while he’s in the net. It’s not to worry about other things like that.”

What the new goalie is worried about is reviving his career. He’ll have some friends around as he tries. He played with Claude Giroux, Luke Schenn and Wayne Simmonds on the 2008 gold-medal-winning Canadian World Junior team. Jake Voracek was a teammate in Columbus.

“He’s got great talent and great potential,” Voracek said. “Everybody knows he hasn’t had the same year as he did the first year. Obviously he’s a great goalie and a big guy and he was working really hard when I was in Columbus.”

As a restricted free agent-to-be, Mason’s qualifying offer is $3.2 million, but Holmgren thinks he can get a discount. He’s already begun working on an extension with Mason’s agent.

“I think there’s a way you can work with Steve and his agent to get his salary down a little bit,” Holmgren said. “I don’t think that will be an issue.”

Earlier in the day, Holmgren didn’t need to make a trade call for what he thinks is a valuable short-term addition.

Future unrestricted free agent Adam Hall was waived by the Tampa Bay Lightning Tuesday and the Flyers picked him up to help offset the loss of Max Talbot, who is out for the year with a broken left leg. Both Holmgren and Peter Laviolette know the center from Kalamazoo, Mich. through USA Hockey.