Flyers Eke Out A Win

Although Mark Recchi was talking about the Philadelphia Flyers, he could have just as easily been describing the decisive play.

"We got away with one tonight," Recchi said after his near-whiff provided the game-winning goal with a minute left in a 4-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday night.

Recchi scored twice in the third period as the Flyers scrambled back to avoid their third loss in a row and sent the Blue Jackets spiraling to their sixth consecutive defeat.

Recchi didn`t see the puck slide past Columbus goaltender Ron Tugnutt on the decisive shot. He barely got a stick on his shot from the slot, then took a hard tumble on the ice as the puck found the net with 58.6 seconds left.

"He hooked me and I fanned on it," Recchi said, referring to Columbus defender Petteri Nummelin. "He picked up my stick. It was obviously very lucky."

After scoring, Recchi had a wide smile on his face as he celebrated with John LeClair in the corner.

Tugnutt said he couldn`t adjust in time.

"I watched his stick and the shot was going to be headed for my blocker," said Tugnutt, who stopped 27 of 31 shots. "I exploded to make the save on my blocker side and I couldn`t pull myself together again."

The Flyers had tied it at 3-3 when Recchi scored with 11:23 left. He picked the puck off the side of the netting, then slipped it inside the near post and past Tugnutt.

Ruslan Fedotenko assisted on both of Recchi`s goals.

"Recchi`s line had a tough time getting going," Philadelphia coach Craig Ramsay said. "Then they came up with a big goal and started taking control of things."

Outscored 33-9 in the second period this season, the Blue Jackets scored twice in the period to build a 3-1 lead.

"I don`t think we deserved very much tonight but, you know, we`ll take it," Recchi said. "They outplayed us for two periods."

Kevyn Adams` slap shot from the left wing was deflected by Flyers goaltender Brian Boucher, but the puck ricocheted to Serge Aubin in the crease. Aubin easily beat Boucher, who finished with 23 saves.

A Finn playing his first season in the NHL, Nummelin picked up his first goal to give Columbus a 3-1 Columbus lead. After Boucher stopped Jamie Heward`s slap shot, the puck bounced to Nummelin. Nummelin, who turned 28 on Saturday, whiffed on his first attempt, but got off a second shot that slid past Boucher at the 10:35 mark.

Columbus had failed to score on its 19 previous power-play attempts.

Keith Primeau`s one-timer from the slot at 17:10, his seventh goal of the year, started the Flyers` comeback.

"They got a shot in the slot to make it 3-2 and all of a sudden they`re back in the game," Columbus coach Dave King said.

The teams were scoreless in the first period _ except for a 13-second span when Wright and the Flyers` Kent Manderville traded goals.

Notes:
It was the only meeting of the season between the teams. ... The Flyers, the least-penalized team in the NHL, had just nine penalty minutes. ... The Blue Jackets have been outscored 25-8 during their six-game losing streak. ... Philadelphia is last in the league in killing penalties on the road, but Boucher had two saves in the final seconds of a 2-minute penalty that came with 6:45 left. ... Columbus was 6-0-1 when leading after two periods and the Flyers were 0-8-3 when trailing after two before the third-period reversal.

Copyright 2000 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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Author: AP