Football
Associated Press 16y

Richards, Umberger, Niittymaki help Flyers finally beat Ovechkin, Capitals 3-2

WASHINGTON -- The 12 stitches Mike Richards needed in and
around his nose provided a bit of a lift for him and the new-look
Philadelphia Flyers.

Bloodied but unbowed by a fight, Richards returned to score the
tiebreaking goal Friday night, helping Philadelphia finally beat
the Washington Capitals 3-2, even though Alex Ovechkin scored for
the eighth consecutive game against the Flyers.

"I don't look very good right now. I'm not too attractive,"
Richards said after registering his eighth goal, just three shy of
his career high.

Asked if his fight with Brooks Laich late in the first period
inspired him, Richards replied: "Twelve stitches does, for sure.
... It just seemed to get us going."

Daniele Briere and R.J. Umberger also scored for the Flyers,
while Antero Niittymaki made 24 saves in his second start of the
season for Philadelphia, which had not defeated Washington since
February 2006. The Capitals earned the franchise's first sweep of
the Flyers by winning all four games between the teams last season.

But as Capitals coach Glen Hanlon emphasized before the game,
these Atlantic Division-leading Flyers are hardly the same club
that finished last in the NHL in 2006-07.

"They're definitely a different hockey team," Capitals goalie
Olie Kolzig said after facing 23 shots over the last two periods.
"They just seem like they're playing with confidence. They're
definitely a better hockey team, but so are we."

Perhaps, but while Philadelphia is off to an 8-4 start,
Washington has lost eight of its past 10 games after opening 3-0.

"Disappointing but not discouraging," Hanlon said. "We'll
fight on."

Ovechkin's goal, on a slap shot 3 seconds into a power play, cut
Philadelphia's lead in half with a little more than 4 minutes left
in the penalty- and fight-filled game, but Washington couldn't tie
it.

His is the longest active scoring streak by any player against
one team, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Things didn't look good early for the Flyers. The Capitals took
14 of the game's first 17 shots, and the pressure paid off 7½
minutes in, when Tomas Fleischmann scored his second goal of the
season by knocking the puck out of the air from near the right post
to make it 1-0. Rookie Nicklas Backstrom earned his sixth assist.

"That kind of warmed me up a little bit," said Niittymaki, who
evened his record at 1-1.

There was a total of 46 minutes in penalties and no fewer than
four outright fights, plus plenty of pushing and shoving after
nearly every whistle. After fighting with Washington's Brian
Sutherby in the second period, Flyers enforcer Ben Eager appeared
to make a throat-slashing gesture as he sat down in the penalty
box.

"We play the game hard, but within the rules. Other than a
couple of minor blips, we just try and outwork the teams,"
Richards said. "We play a hitting style, a checking style where we
try to turn pucks over. I don't think it's 'Bullies."

He left the ice with blood streaming down his after his skirmish
with Laich. Less than 30 seconds later, Kolzig used his stick to
take a whack at Briere's leg in front of the net, drawing a
penalty.

Briere, booed every time the puck was on his stick because of
his battles with Ovechkin last season, tied it at 1 about 8 minutes
into the second period. Flyers defenseman Braydon Coburn
intercepted the puck and redirected it up to Briere to start a
Flyers rush the other way. Briere passed off to his left to
Umberger, then skated unimpeded between two Capitals to tap in a
return pass for his fifth goal.

Philadelphia went ahead on a similar sequence. Joffrey Lupul
passed to Richards, who sent the puck over Kolzig's shoulder to
make it 2-1 with about 5 minutes remaining in the second period. It
was Richards' third consecutive game with a goal and his eighth
score overall.

Umberger added an insurance goal on a power play 1½ minutes into
the third period.

"We feel like we have a really good skating team. We have size.
We have speed," Flyers coach John Stevens said. "We try to push
people off the puck. Our goal is to do that."

Game notes
Flyers D Randy Jones completed his two-game suspension. ...
The Capitals again were missing three key injured players: D Tom
Poti (groin) and Ws Alexander Semin (ankle) and Chris Clark (ear).ear

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