Knuble lifts Flyers past Hurricanes 3-1

Mike Knuble had a goal and two assists to help the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-1 on Wednesday night.

Derian Hatcher and Kimmo Timonen added second-period goals for the Flyers in their second win in Carolina in a week. Martin Biron earned the victory by shutting down the Hurricanes almost the entire way, while Mike Richards added two assists.

The meeting of division leaders went the way of the Flyers thanks largely to Biron and goals by Hatcher and Timonen that were the result of a determined effort the Hurricanes never could match. And by the time Knuble scored on a 1-on-1 chance against Cam Ward a power play early in the third, Philadelphia was in complete control.

Cory Stillman scored Carolina's only goal, while Cam Ward finished with 31 saves.

Biron finished with 40 saves for his 12th victory. He made a key stop in close against Matt Cullen to protect a 1-0 lead in the second period, and also had a good stop against Tim Gleason when the Hurricanes tried to start a rally in the third.

Hatcher put the Flyers ahead to stay only seconds after being knocked to the ice near the net with his team on a rush. Hatcher got up and — after Philadelphia kept the puck in the zone — was stopped on three short shots from the top of the crease before finally poking the puck under Ward's outstretched left leg for the 1-0 lead.

Later in the period, the Flyers managed to outlast Ward again. This time, Ward stopped a shot from Richards on the left side, but the puck slid slowly from underneath his legs and to Knuble. Knuble quickly poked the puck to the right side, where Timonen buried the shot before Ward could recover to make it 2-0.

Knuble increased it to 3-0 to start the final period, getting a step inside of Niclas Wallin to take a pass from Richards and beat Ward less than a minute in.

Notes:@ Carolina's Rod Brind'Amour played his 500th game with the franchise. ... Carolina played a first period in which neither team scored or committed a penalty for the first time since January 2004. ... Richards extended his point streak to four games. ... Carolina D Mike Commodore was a scratch with a broken finger, though RW Scott Walker returned to the lineup after missing the past 17 games with a torso injury. ... Philadelphia improved to 8-6-0 on the road this season.