By WAYNE FISH
phillyBurbs.com

October 31, 2005

OTTAWA - With their captain gone, the Flyers knew they needed other players to come up big.

None stood taller than Robert Esche.

After learning that Keith Primeau would not be playing due to concussion-like symptoms, the Flyers went into Sunday night's game against the Ottawa Senators with a circle-the-wagons mindset.

Leading the way was Esche, who played his best game of the season.

The Flyers took a 5-2 lead early in the third period and then watched Esche perform like it was the 2004 playoffs again.

He faced 21 shots in the third and stopped 20 of them. Most of those were of the quality variety fueled by five Ottawa power plays.

Unlike the debacle in Carolina on Friday night, the Flyers refused to buckle and came away with a 5-3 win over the Senators at the Corel Centre.

"He was outstanding, he was good the whole game," coach Ken Hitchcock said. "He just looked like the Robert Esche of '04."

Esche looked fired up all night. After he was screened for the second time resulting in an Ottawa goal, the Flyers called timeout early in the second. Esche skated over and told the bench, namely the defensemen, to stop blocking his view.

"He should have been [animated]," Hitchcock acknowledged. "We crossed over his path again, and he had no chance to see it. He's supposed to have a look at those things. If he has a look, they don't go in. Those are things we just have to get better at."

Esche downplayed the exchange at the bench.

"I wasn't yelling at anybody, I think I was as fired up as anybody," he said. "I was a little upset when goals go in. It's not a finger-pointing thing. It's just a process to move ahead and make sure it doesn't happen again."

But it seemed like no coincidence that the Flyers took off from there and scored the next three goals.

Overall, Hitchcock was pleased with the bounce-back effort after the 8-6 unraveling in Raleigh.

"We did a lot better things," he said. "We played the same way for 60 minutes as we did for 45 in Carolina (before a five-goal meltdown in the third). We fought hard. I was happy with the way everyone gritted it up."

After giving up yet another two-goal lead, the Flyers came back with a pair of power-play goals to take a 4-2 lead into the second intermission.

Mike Knuble scored the first of two goals at 16:21 when Eric Desjardins' point shot deflected off him past Dominik Hasek.

Then, with just 19 seconds to the break, Michal Handzus showed good patience in the left corner, holding until he found Jon Sim for a one-timer at the right hash marks.

Knuble gave the Flyers more breathing room with a goal at 1:14 of the third.

Ottawa picked up a power-play goal at 9:58 from Wade Redden, but Esche was able to hold off the Senators from there.

For the second straight game, the Flyers took a 2-0 lead, this time on goals by Jeff Carter (9:20) and Simon Gagne (14:52).

Ottawa, coming off an 8-0 clubbing of Toronto on Saturday night and undefeated (4-0) at home, didn't go quietly. Zdeno Chara scored a power-play goal at 17:37 and then fired a point shot that beat Esche at 7:16 of the second.

If Primeau is out for a while, Carter is one player who will have to take what Hitchcock calls "a bigger bite."

"It was a big opportunity for myself to kind of show that I can play," Carter said. "Anytime you lose a guy like Primeau, a lot of guys have to step up and fill the void. I think we did a great job tonight."

Gagne and Peter Forsberg know a lot of the extra load falls on them.

"Some of the guys stepped up, Jeff played great. ... I talked to Robert before the game, and he played maybe his best game this year for us," Gagne said. "Our line talked to each other and we said we need a strong game. When you lose your captain, you need some new guys to step up."

Forsberg added: "Everybody's got to step it up. I thought the guys who came in tonight played real well."

Short shots: Kim Johnsson left the game in the first period with a left groin strain and did not return. ... The Flyers' win was their first in Ottawa since January 2002, ending a five-game (0-2-3) winless streak.

E-mail: wfish@phillyBurbs.com