Flyers Repeat History Against Lightning

Cechmanek made 36 saves and Kevin Weekes stopped 27 shots for Tampa Bay as the Flyers and Lightning played to a 0-0 tie Saturday.

It was the first scoreless tie in history for the Lightning, who had snapped a seven game losing streak by beating St. Louis, 3-2, last Tuesday.

The last such game for the Flyers came at home against Montreal on Feb. 11, 1993.

"I`ve never had one in this country," said Cechmanek, a first-year player who was named the outstanding goaltender in the Czech Republic the last six years. "I did once before in international hockey but that was such a long time ago that I don`t remember."

Weekes also had gone a long time between scoreless ties.

"I haven`t played in one since minor hockey, so it`s been a real long time," Weekes said. "I know I`m only 25, but there`s been a whole ton of games between then and today."

The Flyers, who had their five game winning streak snapped at the New York Islanders on Thursday, increased their Atlantic Division lead to three points over New Jersey.

Philadelphia is unbeaten in its last seven games at home (6-0-1).

Cechmanek recorded his seventh shutout, the most ever by a first-year Philadelphia goaltender. One of his best saves came when he smothered a point-blank shot by Fredrik Modin with 3:22 left in overtime. Modin also missed another scoring opportunity when he shot wide of an open net on a rebound attempt late in the first period.

It was the fourth career shutout and second of the year for Weekes.

Weekes` best saves came late in the second period when he stopped back-to-back shots by Mark Recchi and Dan McGillis. Then with 5:20 left in the third when he made a stick save on a power play attempt by Daymond Langkow. He also swept away a last second overtime shot by Chris Therien.

"Both goaltenders were exceptional," Philadelphia`s Keith Primeau said. "But I thought we played hard. We did what we could. We had some chances and Weekes made some key saves on our power plays in the third period. We walked away with a point. And it`s better to walk away with a point than nothing."

The Flyers killed off eight Tampa Bay power plays and held the Lightning without a shot on two-minute, 5-on-3 advantage during a four-minute power play midway through the second period.

"There is nothing you can do about it," Lightning coach John Tortorella said. "We just did not execute. Obviously our power play has been struggling. That is something we need to work on."

Simon Gagne, who leads the Flyers with 27 goals, was forced to leave the game with 35 seconds left in the second period when he injured his left shoulder. Gagne was hammered into the boards by Tampa Bay`s Andrei Zyuzin, who received a roughing penalty on the play.

The Flyers are unbeaten in their last 10 home games against Tampa Bay (7-0-3). The Lightning`s only win in Philadelphia ever was 3-1 on Jan. 9, 1997.

Game notes:
Overall, the Flyers are 12-1-6 at home against Tampa Bay. ... Philadelphia has lost only one of its last 12 home games (9-1-2). ... Tampa Bay had converted only 3 of its last 63 power play opportunities. ... The Lightning have the poorest road record (4-26-3) and have allowed more goals (219) than any team in the NHL.

(Copyright 2001 by the Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News (AP)