Briere lifts Flyers over Hurricanes

PHILADELPHIA (AP) Danny Briere was thinking pass before he made a wise choice to shoot instead.

Briere scored 1:47 into overtime to lift the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.

Jakub Voracek, Matt Read and Brayden Schenn also scored for Philadelphia, which went 3-0-1 on a four-game homestand.

Joe Corvo scored the tying goal in the third period, and Jiri Tlusty and Jeff Skinner also had goals for the Hurricanes, who had won two in a row.

Briere skated down the left side, made a move around the circle and fired a shot that hit the far post and trickled past goalie Cam Ward. The game went to overtime because Ward stoned Read on a point-blank shot at the end of regulation.

``When I cut to the middle, like I did at first, my plan was to drop it,'' Briere said. ``I realized that their defenseman was up, and the second defenseman and forward were backchecking, lunging to go toward Kurtis (Foster), as well, so I decided to keep the puck. There was a little opening in the slot to shoot it in.''

The Flyers have gone 24-4-4 against the Hurricanes since Nov. 28, 2003. Philadelphia is 5-6-1 at the quarter point of the lockout-shortened 48-game schedule. Carolina fell to 5-4-1.

Ilya Bryzgalov made 30 saves in the victory and earned his third assist of the season.

Corvo scored his first goal of the season 7:58 into the third period to tie it at 3. After a flurry of shots on Bryzgalov, Corvo ripped a slap shot that appeared to bounce off Flyers defenseman Foster and behind Bryzgalov.

``We talk about playing 60 minutes, and then some of the first starts are not right, not where we want them to be and we've got to mentally push 60 minutes. By the third, you're really starting to skate better and with spirit,'' Hurricanes coach Kirk Muller said. ``We were skating better and moving the puck better and playing at a higher tempo.''

Voracek put the Flyers up 3-2 only 15 seconds after Skinner's goal tied it in the second. Schenn took an outlet pass from Bryzgalov, skated down the left side, and made a perfect centering pass to Voracek, who beat Ward with a backhand redirection for his third goal.

``I thought we played pretty solid for two periods and then they got better a little bit in the third,'' Voracek said. ``I think we were a little bit lucky to get it to overtime. Again, we were better in overtime, and Danny scored a big goal again so it's huge.''

Skinner scored off an outstanding individual effort. His shot from the left side was stopped by Bryzgalov, but he skated behind the net, spun around, and lifted a shot over Bryzgalov, who was slow going side to side, for his sixth goal.

``We carried the momentum into the overtime,'' Skinner said. ``But in overtime anything can happen. So, I think it was a good job battling back.''

Read gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead 93 seconds into the period when he scored his fifth goal and first against a team other than Florida. After a turnover by Eric Staal, Mike Knuble passed the puck to Read, who wristed a shot from inside the right circle over Ward's glove and just under the crossbar.

After failing to score during a 5-on-3 advantage, the Flyers tied it at 1 on an even-strength goal by Schenn in the first. He deflected Kimmo Timonen's shot from the left point past Ward.

A five-minute major on Carolina's Tim Wallace for boarding followed by a tripping call on Bobby Sanguinetti gave Philadelphia a two-man advantage, but they couldn't get a shot past Ward. Timonen and Claude Giroux each hit the post on Philadelphia's two best chances.

``We got what we wanted, but the pipe got in the way,'' Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said.

Tlusty gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead just 17 seconds into the game, putting in a rebound for his first goal of the season. Corvo ripped a slap shot from the top of the right circle that Bryzgalov kicked away. The puck bounced out to Tlusty, who lifted it into the top left corner.

NOTES: Wallace also was ejected for his hit on Tye McGinn. ... Flyers F Wayne Simmonds was back in the lineup after sitting out three games because of a concussion. ... Former NHL MVP Peter Forsberg, who played parts of two seasons with the Flyers, was in attendance. ... The Flyers are 38-9-11 against the Hurricanes since they moved to Carolina from Hartford. ... The Hurricanes are 2-2 in the first four games of a season-high, six-game trip. ... Staal's point streak was snapped at seven games.

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