Flyers Squeak By Isles 3-2

The Flyers won the special teams battle last night, converting on two of their four power play opportunities, while killing off all four New York power plays -- and adding a shorthanded goal of their own. The Flyers jumped out to a two goal lead by the end of the first period on goals from Randy Robitaille and Simon Gagne (a real beauty on a shorthanded mini-breakaway with just five seconds left in the period). Mike Knuble tallied the team's second power play goal of the game with a little over a minute left in the second period. The Islanders weren't going to go quietly, however, as they scored with just 30 seconds left in the second and added another goal with about 10 minutes left in the third. It made for a harrowing final 10 minutes, but goalie Antero Niittymaki came up big again and again to stop New York. Defenseman Derian Hatcher logged a season-high 29:27 of ice time last night, a figure he will probably be seeing quite a bit of in the near future. With yesterday's news that Mike Rathje will be out indefinitely -- if not permanently -- along with Joni Pitkanen's day-to-day status, Hatcher becomes the only Flyers' defenseman with significant NHL experience. FLYERS DEFENSEMEN Player Games Played Derian Hatcher 945 Freddy Meyer 80 Randy Jones 57 Alexandre Picard 18 Jussi Timmonen 6 Lars Jonsson 5 Injured Players Mike Rathje 768 Dennis Gauthier 460 Joni Pitkanen 153 I'll be the first to admit that I've been all over Hatcher this season -- see Derian Hatcher Futility Watch -- but I will also admit that he's been playing better as of late. He will still make a lot of mistakes -- like going for an empty net goal, missing, and icing the puck with a one goal lead and less than one minute left in last night's game. He will still never be in the proper position on the ice given his lack of movement. He will also be afforded the opportunity to begin his coaching career a little early, as he will be asked to take no less than five players with 80 or fewer games played under his wing to teach them how to be NHL defensemen. See: Courier-Post See: Daily News See: Inquirer See: Yahoo/AP