Flyers Notes: Betts, Laperriere Help Spare Stars
(from the Philadelphia Inquirer)
By Sam Carchidi
Flyers Notes
October 4, 2009 - NEWARK, N.J. - Keeping stars Mike Richards and Jeff Carter refreshed was one of the Flyers' underlying motives when they signed free-agent veterans Blair Betts and Ian Laperriere.
The latter two veterans give the Flyers two proven penalty- killers and reduce the time that Carter and Richards will spend in shorthanded situations.
In theory, that should help Carter and Richards be more productive, and it worked to perfection in Friday's season-opening 2-0 win in Carolina.
Betts (6 minutes, 13 seconds) and Laperriere (4:54) combined to play 11:07 on the penalty kill as Carolina went 0 for 8 on power plays. Carter (2:54) and Richards (4:01) combined to play 6:55 in shorthanded situations, and each produced a power-play goal.
Coach John Stevens said he was "trying to cut down on their hard minutes" this season.
In the opener, Richards played 19:14 overall, while Carter was on the ice for 17:15.
"Richie was under 20 for the first time in a long time, probably because of Betts' and Laperriere's job on the penalty kill," Stevens said before last night's game against the Devils. "We're playing back-to-back games now, and nobody up front has played 20 minutes...We're coming back with what we think will be an advantageous situation for us."
Breakaways
James van Riemsdyk played just 8:59 in the opener, but Stevens attributed that to the eight times the team was killing penalties. Van Riemsdyk contributed an assist and had three shots. "It was a pretty revved-up game and I thought he did very well," the coach said. "He wasn't overwhelmed by the situation. ... Backup goalie Brian Boucher (lower-body injury) could be ready to play Tuesday, but the Flyers figure to use Ray Emery that night in the home opener against Washington. About 500 tickets remain. ... Further research found that Emery was the fourth goalie to notch a shutout in his Flyers debut, joining Robbie Moore (1979), John Vanbiesbrouck (1998), and Jeff Hackett (2003). ... The Flyers had 18 pairs of back-to-back games last season, and were 14-3-1 in the first game and 8-6-4 in the second.