Ray Emery

1. Brian Boucher             2. Ray Emery 3. Michael Leighton          4. A new acquisition

Denis Hamel scored twice to lead the Binghamton Senators to a 4-2 victory over the Phantoms in the AHL last night. The Senators drew within six points of the first-place Phantoms in the AHL East, to the dismay of the 9,143 fans at the Wachovia Spectrum. Ray Emery picked up the win by stopping 29 of 31 shots, while Neil Little made 19 saves in the loss. Mark Murphy recorded a goal and an assist for the Phantoms, who had won their last two games. "I am not unhappy with the effort of our hockey team," said Phantoms head coach John Stevens.

NEWARK, N.J. - Jeff Carter received a phone call yesterday very similar to the one teammates Mike Richards and Chris Pronger received from Team Canada on Dec. 30. He was told to pack his bags and fly to Vancouver on Sunday, after the Flyers finish their pre-Olympic schedule in Montreal on Saturday night. The only difference is that Carter doesn't know if he will be needed just yet. Carter was phoned by Team Canada general manager Steve Yzerman to notify him that he will be added to the roster if Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf is unable to play.

The Flyers announced they will open their preseason schedule at Detroit on Wednesday, Sept. 16 against the Red Wings. The Flyers will play seven preseason games, including three at the Wachovia Center. The Flyers also will play a game at the John Labatt Centre in London, Ontario. It is the sixth consecutive season the Flyers will play in London. Ray Emery, the Flyers' presumptive new No. 1 goalie, grew up in nearby Hamilton. The Flyers open training camp on Sept. 12 at the Skate Zone in Voorhees, N.J. The regular-season opener is Friday, Oct. 2, at Carolina.

Patrick Sharp scored the Phantoms' only goal in regulation, then tallied the game-winning shoot-out goal as the team extended its club-record winning streak to 11 straight with a 2-1 victory over the Binghamton Senators yesterday. The Phantoms' third annual School Day Game drew a crowd of 7,032 at the Wachovia Spectrum. Antero Niittymaki made 20 saves over the first three periods and overtime before stopping all six Binghamton penalty-shot attempts during the shoot-out. The Phantoms also came up empty in their first five attempts against Senators goaltender Ray Emery, but Sharp made good on the team's sixth try with a wrist shot into the top right corner of the net. The Phantoms now own the AHL's first 11-game win streak since the Providence Bruins accomplished the feat during the 1998-99 season.

Rookie defenseman James Laux scored 23 seconds into overtime to lift the Phantoms to a 1-0 victory over the Binghamton Senators last night and into the Calder Cup playoffs. The win put the Phantoms (41-24-6-1) in first place in the Eastern Conference standings with eight games remaining. Kirby Law started the decisive play by coming up with a loose puck and firing a shot that went wide of the Binghamton net. John Slaney was able to kick the puck back to Laux, who blasted a slap shot through traffic and past Senators goaltender Ray Emery.

Josh Langfeld recorded a goal and two assists last night to lead the Binghamton Senators to a fight-filled 5-1 victory over the Phantoms at the Wachovia Spectrum. The game was marred by several fights resulting in a total of 379 minutes in penalties. Langfeld, who has scored in three straight games, gave Binghamton a 3-0 lead with a two-man-advantage goal at 15 minutes, 14 seconds of the second period. Denis Hamel, Serge Payer and Alexandre Girou each produced a goal and an assist for the Senators, who have won both meetings with the Phantoms this season.

Former Flyers defenseman Danny Syvret signed a 1-year, two-way contract yesterday to join the Anaheim Ducks. Syvret, an unrestricted free agent, will earn $600,000 at the NHL level and $105,000 in the AHL. He also fielded offers from Montreal, Pittsburgh, Nashville and San Jose. Syvret, 25, scored the Flyers' only goal in the Winter Classic at Fenway Park last Jan. 1. In 21 games with the Flyers last season, Syvret posted two goals and two assists before sustaining a knee injury in January that kept him out of the NHL for the rest of the year.

Nothing is official, and no one is commenting publicly. But the Flyers' postseason strategy for improving their defense after a first-round playoff exit seems to be coming clear. When reports of an imminent deal with former Ottawa goaltender Ray Emery are added to strong speculation that the Flyers have targeted Florida defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, the strategy seems obvious. The team may gamble that Emery has gotten past the growing pains he suffered in Ottawa, then stablize the defense in front of him with the addition of the talented Bouwmeester, who will be an unrestricted free agent July 1. All three of the organization's top goaltenders - Marty Biron, Antero Niittymaki, and the Phantoms' Scott Munroe - are free agents.

The Ottawa Senators are determined to shake their reputation as playoff failures. Two nights after a third-period collapse at home revived talk about past postseason disappointment, the top-seeded team in the Eastern Conference regained control of its first-round series against the host Tampa Bay Lightning with an impressive 8-4 victory last night. Ottawa leads, 2-1, in the best-of-seven matchup. Game 4 is tomorrow night in Tampa. Martin Havlat scored his third and fourth goals of the playoffs, and defenseman Wade Redden had a goal and two assists after missing Game 2 to fly to Saskatchewan to be with family following the death of his mother.

KYLE TURRIS scored twice and had a pair of assists, Milan Michalek added his team-leading 35th goal and the visiting Ottawa Senators clinched a playoff berth with a 5-1 win over the New York Islanders on Sunday. The Senators (41-28-10) won their fourth straight game to move four points behind idle New Jersey for sixth place in the Eastern Conference. Both teams have three games left before the regular season ends Saturday. The Senators, with 92 points, are four ahead of eighth-place Washington.

ROOKIE ANDREW SHAW recorded his first two-goal game, and the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the visiting Washington Capitals last night, 5-2, for their third straight win. Viktor Stalberg, Patrick Kane and Bryan Bickell also scored for Chicago, which is 7-1-1 in its last nine despite playing without captain and leading goal-scorer Jonathan Toews. Mike Knuble and Alex Ovechkin scored for Washington, which lost its second straight following a four-game winning streak. Corey Crawford made 16 saves in his second straight start.

Flyers Notes Sports Illustrated named Flyers center Claude Giroux the league's MVP for the first half of the season. Yet Giroux wasn't selected by the fans who chose the first six players for the All-Star Game. Those names were announced Thursday. Giroux entered Thursday tied for second in the NHL with 46 points - two behind Vancouver's Henrik Sedin , who also was bypassed in the fans' vote, along with such forwards as Toronto's Phil Kessel ; Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos ; and Sedin's twin brother, Daniel , of Vancouver.

Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby 's return to the ice will have to wait a little longer. The team placed the former MVP on the injured list Monday, meaning he'll have to miss at least the first week of the season. The Chicago Blackhawks have agreed to a one-year contract with goaltender Ray Emery , who had a stint with the Flyers. SOCCER: Freshman forward Rob Friskey (Penn Charter) was tabbed the Atlantic Ten's rookie of the week. . . . After recording her first career hat trick in Friday's win over Temple, La Salle freshman Kelsey Haycook (Point Pleasant Boro)

LAS VEGAS - In October, when hockey becomes a blip on the Philadelphia sports radar again, the Flyers will see a familiar name on their Opening Night roster: Ian Laperriere. But it's highly unlikely that Laperriere will be on the ice in uniform. Multiple neurologists and concussion experts have advised Laperriere, 37, to hang up his skates for good. He has not played since the Flyers were eliminated in the Stanley Cup finals by Chicago last June. Laperriere sat out last season, which he called the toughest of his 16-year career, with post-concussion symptoms and an eye injury sustained when blocking a puck with his face earlier in the 2010 playoff run. But it's accurate to say that the Flyers will not have a bigger supporter - or more dedicated teammate - than Laperriere in their locker room next season.

Over the years, Philadelphia's sports teams have had some iconic leaders who have oozed intensity. Baby boomers will recall Phillies manager Gene Mauch, who once punched an opposing catcher who had the audacity to reach for a foul ball in the skipper's dugout. A few decades ago, Eagles coach Dick Vermeil was so driven that he used to sleep in his office during the week so he could get more work done. When he left the Eagles, he cited "burnout. " In the 1980s, coach Mike Keenan pushed the Flyers to a pair of Stanley Cup Finals appearances.

PITTSBURGH - Flyers goalie Michael Leighton continues to make progress since undergoing back surgery on Oct. 11, and Saturday he will be on the ice for the first time since the operation. Leighton traveled to Pittsburgh to be with his father, Terry, as part of the Flyers' father-son bonding trip this weekend. "I'm going on the ice Saturday to skate around and see what I can do," Leighton said after watching the Flyers' morning skate Friday. Leighton said he was doing "a lot of core workouts, and it's feeling pretty good.

A little more than 12 months ago, after the Flyers opened their 2009-10 season with a methodical shutout win over the Carolina Hurricanes, a relative unknown with big question marks left fans wondering if general manager Paul Holmgren found a diamond in the rough in Ray Emery. Many thought Emery, who was blacklisted from the NHL and sent to play in Russia after being run out of Ottawa because of boorish off-ice behavior, was the solution to the Flyers' goaltending conundrum. Emery was quick, acrobatic and effective.

Former Flyers defenseman Danny Syvret signed a 1-year, two-way contract yesterday to join the Anaheim Ducks. Syvret, an unrestricted free agent, will earn $600,000 at the NHL level and $105,000 in the AHL. He also fielded offers from Montreal, Pittsburgh, Nashville and San Jose. Syvret, 25, scored the Flyers' only goal in the Winter Classic at Fenway Park last Jan. 1. In 21 games with the Flyers last season, Syvret posted two goals and two assists before sustaining a knee injury in January that kept him out of the NHL for the rest of the year.

Days after reports surfaced that free-agent forward Nikolai Zherdev was inching closer to returning to the NHL, the former fourth overall draft pick signed a one-year deal with the Flyers on Friday. Zherdev's signing probably means the end of Simon Gagne's 10-year career with the Flyers. Zherdev signed for $2 million, which put the Flyers about $1.4 million over the $59.4 cap. Gagne, who has a $5.25 million cap hit, told a Quebec TV station earlier this week that he had not waived his no-trade close, but the Flyers disputed that.