Flyers Outlast Rangers

Roman Cechmanek had no trouble staying awake in this game. Cechmanek got standing ovations for his play, and Dan McGillis scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period as the Philadelphia Flyers beat the New York Rangers 2-1 Saturday.

Kent Manderville also scored for Philadelphia, which has won five of six games. The Rangers, who got a goal from Radek Dvorak, fell to 1-6-1 this month.

"I felt good. I was awake the whole time," Cechmanek said.

After making 15 saves and registering his league-leading ninth-shutout in a 3-0 victory over Minnesota on Thursday, Cechmanek joked that he fell asleep during the game from lack of activity.

He didn`t have a chance to catch up on his nap time as the Rangers took 31 shots, including six point-blank opportunities in the third period.

"You talk about your goaltender making the saves he has to make. Unfortunately, he had to make saves he shouldn`t have made," Keith Primeau said.

After failing to score on their first four power plays against the team with the league`s worst penalty-killing unit on the road, the Flyers capitalized on their fifth. McGillis took a shot from the left circle that deflected off the skate of Rangers defenseman Kim Johnsson and trickled between the feet of goalie Guy Hebert for a 2-1 lead with 22 seconds left in the second period.

Hebert made 18 saves in two periods, but was replaced by Kirk McLean at the start of the third after straining his groin.

Cechmanek, one of the biggest surprises in the NHL this season, improved to 32-11-5 and lowered his goals-against average to 1.98 with a spectacular display. He is 18-2-2 when he faces 27 or more shots.

The 29-year-old first-year player made a sprawling pad save on Jan Hlavac following a 2-on-1 breakaway early in the third, then made a nice stick save on Brian Leetch minutes later.

"I saw the two Czechs (Hlavac and Petr Nedved) coming and I waited until the last second," Cechmanek said.

Cechmanek electrified the sellout crowd by stopping the Rangers on three consecutive 2-on-1 breakaways midway through the period. He stoned Nedved, Valeri Kamensky and Mark Messier, and received two standing ovations in the process.

"He was awesome the whole game," Rangers coach Ron Low said. "He was the difference in the game."

The Rangers took a 1-0 lead on Dvorak`s 24th goal, just 3:27 into the game. Dvorak`s wrist shot from the left circle hit Cechmanek`s shoulder, glanced off the post, bounced off Cechmanek`s back and went in the net.

It was New York`s first shot of the game, and only reason to celebrate.

"Cechmanek is no fluke," Leetch said. "He`s done this all year."

Manderville tied it 97 seconds later by directing a rebound of a shot from Michal Sykora. It was Manderville`s second goal in three games. He went 122 games without a goal before scoring against Pittsburgh on Feb. 7.

"Your goaltender is your best penalty killer, your best guy defensively in odd-man rushes, he carries a lot of the load," Flyers coach Bill Barber said. "I admired the way he played."

Notes:
Cechmanek`s 32 victories are the most by a Flyers goaltender since Ron Hextall won 37 in 1986-87. .... Philadelphia captain Eric Desjardins returned to the lineup after missing two games with a concussion. ... Flyers forwards Simon Gagne (shoulder), Justin Williams (hand) and Daymond Langkow (foot) remained out with injuries. ... Mark Recchi has at least one point in 10 straight games. ... Dvorak has played in 258 games, the third-longest streak in the NHL. ... The Rangers fell to 25-20-4 in games in which either Dvorak, Nedved or Hlavac score a goal. ... McGillis tied his career-high with his 45th point on the second-period goal. He had 45 points in 1998-99. ... Rick Tocchet played his 600th game with the Flyers. ... The Rangers fell to 2-11-3 in the Atlantic Division, the worst division record of any team in the league.

(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News (AP)