Chechmanek Shuts Out Isles

Desjardins broke a scoreless tie with his 10th goal on a 70-footer from well outside the blue line that sailed past goaltender Rick DiPietro`s glove just 2:38 into the third period. "I was just trying to put it on the net," Desjardins said. "Maybe I surprised him a bit. It was a great surprise for me."

The 19-year-old DiPietro, the No. 1 overall pick in last June`s draft, made 26 saves in his second start. He had 29 saves in a 2-1 loss to Buffalo last Saturday.

DiPietro will remember Desjardins` shot for a while. "It was a pretty hard shot. It kept rising," he said. "It`s a save you`ve got to make. It`s something you hope never happens again."

Mark Recchi added an empty-net goal for Philadelphia, which has won six of seven, including a dominating 5-1 victory over Mario Lemieux and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night.

"We were spent from last night, energy-wise and emotionally," Flyers coach Bill Barber said. "But in the third period we found a way to get through it."

The Islanders, coming off a 3-2 victory over New Jersey on Wednesday, were seeking their second consecutive win for the first time since winning their fourth straight on Nov. 1.

"Obviously we miss (Roman) Hamrlik and (Brad) Isbister," Islanders coach Butch Goring said about the two injured starters who are tied for second on the team in scoring. "There is no question we don`t have a lot of offense and when you take two guys out of your lineup, it`s going to have some sort of effect on your team."

The Flyers squandered six power plays -- all in the first two periods -- after scoring at least one goal with a man advantage in eight straight games.

DiPietro made a nice glove save on a shot by Dan McGillis, then a pad save on Chris Therien during a power play in the second period. He stopped McGillis twice on Philadelphia`s sixth power play late in the second.

Simon Gagne hit the far post on a breakaway in the first, the best scoring chance for either team in the first 40 minutes.

"We knew it was going to be a dangerous game," Recchi said. "New Jersey let them hang around the other night and they came back and won."

Cechmanek faced only one shot in the first period, but stopped 13 in the second. He made a nice save on Mariusz Czerkawski with 3:30 left in the game.

The 29-year-old first-year goaltender lowered his goals-against average to 2.00.

Cechmanek, a sixth-round pick who started the season with the AHL`s Philadelphia Phantoms, is heading to Sunday`s All-Star game as a member of the World Team.

"It was one of my better games," Cechmanek said.

Game notes Flyers defenseman Luke Richardson became the 159th player to play in 1,000 games. Richardson is in his fourth season with Philadelphia and 14th overall. ... Terry Murray, who coached the Flyers to the Stanley Cup finals in 1997, rejoined the team as a scout Thursday. Murray was fired by Florida in December. ... The Islanders have the league`s second-worst record on the road at 5-14-4-1. ... Flyers defenseman Andy Delmore was a healthy scratch for the second straight game after playing in every game this season. ... Islanders goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck, a former Flyer, did not dress after making 36 saves in Wednesday`s victory over the Devils. ... Recchi`s goal gave him 400 points as a Flyer.

(Courtesy Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2000.)

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Author: AP