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Philadelphia 2, Ottawa 1

Posted: Tuesday October 29, 2002 11:46 PM

Ottawa Senators Related Info: Team Page City Page: • Ottawa

Philadelphia Flyers Related Info: Team Page City Page: • Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Quick starts are becoming a trend for the Philadelphia Flyers.

Keith Primeau scored his second goal of the game late in the second period to snap a tie and lift the Flyers to a 2-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators.

After scoring twice in the first 31 seconds of Saturday's 6-2 triumph over the New York Islanders, Philadelphia grabbed another quick lead as Primeau netted his fourth goal of the season 23 seconds after the opening faceoff.

With the game tied, 1-1, Primeau received a pass at center ice and snuck between defensemen Chris Phillips and rookie Anton Volchenkov. The 6-5 center waited until goaltender Patrick Lalime dropped to the ice before lifting a wrist shot just under the crossbar to keep the Flyers undefeated at home (3-0-1-0).

"It was funny because Rex (Mark Recchi) had a breakaway about two minutes before that, and Simon (Gagne) and I were on the bench trying to figure out what we'd do if we got a breakaway," Primeau said. "It was totally the opposite to what we had said. But (Lalime) laid down and I had to get it up over him."

Goalless in his first four contests, Primeau has five in his last three games.

The victory gave Philadelphia a bit of revenge after being eliminated by the Senators in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals last season, scoring just twice in five games.

"When you get spanked pretty badly and then all the debris that goes on, that emotional baggage was still there," Philadelphia coach Ken Hitchcock said. "But I thought that we could get rid of it pretty quickly. It's one hockey game. I'm not sure how much it meant to Ottawa other than the two points, but it meant a lot to us."

Roman Cechmanek was strong in goal for Philadelphia, stopping 29 shots, including Petr Schastlivy's wrister from just below the left faceoff circle with less than four seconds remaining.

Jason Spezza, the second overall pick in the 2001 draft, provided Ottawa's offense with his first NHL goal.

After carrying the puck into the Senators' zone, Justin Williams dished to Gagne on the left wing boards. Spotting Primeau heading toward the net, Gagne fired a cross-ice pass to the Philadelphia captain, who deposited the puck past Lalime from the doorstep to give the Flyers an early 1-0 lead.

"Part of the identity we're trying to create is one, a 60-minute effort, but two, we're trying to use our building to our advantage," Primeau said. "You come into a building, you're already down one and what better way to do that than be prepared. We let that slide for a couple of games and we're back to that now. We're a better club when we come hard at the start."

With rookie defenseman Dennis Seidenberg serving a holding penalty, Spezza showed Ottawa fans a glimpse of the future four minutes into the second period.

Standing in the bottom of the left faceoff circle, the 19-year-old center received a pass from Daniel Alfredsson and put the puck over Cechmanek for his first tally in three games to knot the game at 1-1.

"It's tough not to get wins," said Spezza, whose team is 0-2-1-0 since his arrival. "We've run into some pretty good goaltending of late. It's not like we haven't played well. We have to start getting some wins and bearing down on our chances. We've played hard the last two games, so it kind of undermines me scoring that first goal. But I'm still happy. It would have been nice to get it in a win."

Both teams missed golden opportunities to take the lead as Lalime made a pad save on Recchi's breakaway attempt, four minutes before Alfredsson came in alone on Cechmanek and fired wide.

"It was a good hockey game tonight," Ottawa coach Jacques Martin said. "It was a hard-fought battle. We gave up a quick goal, which hurt us in the early part. A couple of mistakes cost us a goal. It is tough to get goals. We had some opportunities and we missed on a couple of breakaways."

Cechmanek also got help from one of his defensemen early in the third period when Chris Therien swept away a shot by Todd White that was headed toward an open net.

"They always tell you, 'Go to the middle of the net,' if there is a play like that, especially if you are following the play up," Therien said. "Luckily, there was a loose puck and I was able to get a stick on it at the goal line and get it back out. I guess if it bounces another couple of inches, it's in."