Danny Syvret News

The Flyers' Carolina connection was at work last night against the Hurricanes at the RBC Center.

WHEN GOALTENDERS Ray Emery and Brian Boucher went down with the Flyers in the middle of a 3-13-1 stretch, Ian Laperriere was left scratching his head.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. With usual extra defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen out with a knee injury, the Flyers have gambled by playing the last couple weeks without an available body.

When a goaltender has played only 80 NHL games over the span of six seasons, it's safe to place a "backup" tag on him.

It's been quite some time since either the Philadelphia Flyers or New York Islanders could lay claim to three-game winning streaks.

RALEIGH, N.C. _ You can look at the Flyers' 4-3 shoot-out win in Carolina Saturday two different ways.

Adirondack Phantoms defenseman Danny Syvret was holding court with reporters in a hallway on the ground floor of the Glens Falls Civic Center after a recent game when he stopped in mid-sentence. "Hey, Sammy!" he yelled in the direction of assistant coach Kjell Samuelsson.

Around 9:30 yesterday morning, after Braydon Coburn skated and was cleared to hop on a plane to Pittsburgh, Danny Syvret was still stuck in the Albany, N.Y., airport.

The Flyers added veteran goalie Michael Leighton yesterday, grabbing him from Carolina on reentry waivers to serve as Brian Boucher's backup.

BOSTON _ Maybe it was just a fluke. Maybe the Flyers will return to their bad habits Tuesday in Pittsburgh.

Danny Syvret was originally called up from Adirondack to replace Ole-Kristian Tollefsen in the lineup tonight in Pittsburgh.

Left winger Dan Carcillo, who sat out four games because of an NHL suspension, returned to the Flyers' lineup last night in a 3-1 victory against the Boston Bruins.

Toddling after his big brother was all Ryan Potulny knew. He followed Grant to the same high school in Grand Forks, N.D., the same college in Minnesota, he even followed him to the NHL draft and the American Hockey League.

Usually it takes time for a rookie to make an impression on his NHL bosses. For Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Oskars Bartulis, it took just 10 games.

It was worth a point, the likes of which have been scarce lately, but it still went down as another crummy ending for the Springfield Falcons.

James van Riemsdyk has answered all the questions. Back at Flyers training camp in September, some wondered about the 20-year-old winger's competitiveness, given his decision to play college hockey for two years.

That didn't take long, did it? Oskars Bartulis has only been in the National Hockey League for 23 days but has already earned his first contract extension.

Buffalo Sabres' Tim Connolly, right, works the puck for a goal against Philadelphia Flyers goalie Ray Emery in the third period of an NHL hockey game, in Philadelphia.

Buffalo's Tim Connolly scored twice in the third period and added two assists to help the Sabres defeat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 and snap a four-game losing streak Friday afternoon.

Usually the Flyers are having records set, or milestones made, at their expense by the New Jersey Devils.