Slick Play Gets Flyers Past Oilers

Mark Recchi had a goal and an assist and Eric Desjardins scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period as the Flyers beat the Oilers 4-2 Monday night, extending their winning streak to four games.

Keith Primeau and Andy Delmore also scored for the Flyers, who are 6-1-0 in their last seven games.

"Coming in here, knowing how well their hockey team has been playing, our intention was to bottle up the neutral zone and wait for our chances," Primeau said. "We did that. We`ve become accustomed to a certain style of play."

Philadelphia is three points behind New Jersey, a 4-2 winner over Calgary on Monday, in the race for first place in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference.

"It was a big win for our hockey team," Flyers coach Bill Barber said. "It keeps us in the mix, and a little closer to setting up that playoff spot."

Anson Carter and Ryan Smyth scored for Edmonton, which lost its second straight after going 10 consecutive games without a loss.

Edmonton and the San Jose Sharks each have 83 points and are tied for sixth in the Western Conference, two points behind the fifth-place Vancouver Canucks.

"They out-manned us in front of the net," Oilers coach Craig MacTavish said. "They put traffic in front of the net, they went hard to the net. They scratched and clawed and found a way to win."

Desjardins stepped in from the point and ripped a slap shot past Dominic Roussel at 18:09 of the second period to give Philadelphia a 3-2 lead. It was Desjardins` 15th goal of the season.

Delmore made it 4-2 at 6:34 of the third. Delmore scored his fifth goal of the season between Roussel`s legs from just inside the blue-line.

Roussel was starting in goal for the Oilers for the first time since Feb. 16, a 4-2 loss to the New York Islanders and Edmonton`s last regulation loss before Monday night.

Tommy Salo had played in the Oilers` previous 12 games, posting a 9-0-1-2 record. Both defeats were 6-5 overtime losses.

Brian Boucher made 25 saves and picked up his first victory since Jan. 25, a 5-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.

"It feels good to help out," said Boucher. "We knew their team likes to play run and gun in this building. They`re got some dangerous weapons. It was a good effort by our defense -- they blocked a lot of shots."

Primeau opened the scoring at 7:48 of the second period. His wrist shot beat Roussel over the shoulder on a 3-on-2 rush. Recchi assisted on Primeau`s 34th of the season.

Carter tied the score at 9:03 with his 14th of the season. He tapped Smyth`s blind behind-the-back pass into an open side.

Smyth gave Edmonton a 2-1 lead at 13:16, lifting his 25th goal of the season into an open net after Boucher stopped Mike Comrie`s low shot.

Recchi, who has an 11-game point streak, pulled the Flyers even at 14:23 with his 25th goal. Recchi redirected Ruslan Fedotenko`s wraparound pass into an open side. Recchi has six goals and 13 assists during his streak.

Notes:
Six players on the Flyers roster are ex-Oilers: Kent Manderville, Dean McAmmond, Dan McGillis, Michel Picard, Luke Richardson and Peter White, who was the only one not to dress Monday night. ... Daymond Langkow missed the first game of Philadelphia`s four-game road trip due to a fractured left foot and a bruised right foot. ... Edmonton enforcer Georges Laraque failed to earn a point, stopping his scoring streak at five games.

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

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News (AP)