Everything Falls Apart for Flyers

All kinds of things went wrong for the Flyers on Thursday night in Philadelphia, but the wounds, according to captain Eric Lindros, were self-inflicted.

“We didn’t play very well,” Lindros said after the Flyers lost, 3-1, to the Tampa Bay Lightning, ending the NHL’s longest unbeaten streak since 1993 at 17 games (14-0-3). “We weren’t supporting one another, and that’s it.”

Non-support reached its peak in the third period when Dino Ciccarelli scored what proved to be the game-winning goal, snapping a 1-1 tie when he beat Ron Hextall with a 25-foot slap shot between the legs with 6:58 to play.

Patrick Poulin, who scored Tampa Bay’s first goal, added an empty-netter with 21.6 seconds left. The Lightning is 5-1-2 in its last eight games and won for the third time in a row on the road.

Poulin’s first goal, on a slap shot 36 seconds into the second period, gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead and marked the first time the Flyers had trailed at home since Dec. 1.

That the winning goals came in the third period was also unusual. Philadelphia had outscored opponents, 62-33, in the third during the streak.

Coach Terry Murray said his team couldn’t break through the Lightning’s version of the neutral-zone trap.

“We didn’t seem to be sharp mentally,” he said. “There were a lot of turnovers through the neutral zone, and that gave them a lot of confidence in what they were doing defensively.”

Chief among the defensive standouts was Lightning goalie Corey Schwab, who stopped 30 shots in his first start since Dec. 21. He definitely outplayed Hextall, who was 10-0-1 in his last 11 games.

“Schwab played one whale of a hockey game,” Lightning Coach Terry Crisp said. “That’s the best I’ve seen him play since he joined us. It’s the best goaltending I’ve seen in a long time for us.”

Colorado 2, Ottawa 0--Patrick Roy turned back 33 shots and recorded his NHL-leading sixth shutout for the injury-riddled Avalanche, which extended its unbeaten streak to nine games with a victory in Kanata, Canada.

Adam Deadmarsh scored the winning goal on a power play early in the second period, then helped set up Eric Lacroix’s insurance goal 3:18 into the third period.

Boston 5, Montreal 4--Jozef Stumpel scored with 1:58 to play to give the Bruins their first win in Boston against Montreal in their last five meetings (3-1-1).

Stumpel’s wrist shot from just above the faceoff circle, in the slot, was his 12th of the season and first game-winner. He added two assists.

Washington 2, N.Y. Rangers 0--Olaf Kolzig had 25 saves in his second shutout in three games for the Capitals, who won in Landover, Md., to extend their unbeaten streak to four games (3-0-1) in January after a miserable 2-9-2 December.

Kolzig played in 56 NHL games before his first shutout, which came Friday against Phoenix. He then gave up one goal in a tie against Hartford before becoming the first goaltender to blank the Rangers this season.

Detroit 5, Phoenix 4--Igor Larionov scored 58 seconds into overtime for the Red Wings, who snapped a four-game winless streak--their longest in three seasons--with a victory in Phoenix.

Calgary 3, Hartford 2--Jarome Iginla one-timed a centering pass from Dave Gagner past Whaler goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere with less than six minutes to play to give the Flames their third win in a row in a game in which they trailed in the third period.

St. Louis 4, San Jose 3--Pierre Turgeon broke a 3-3 tie with a power-play goal with 26 seconds to play to give the Blues a win in San Jose.