The Flyers beat the Penguins, 8-2, to snap their home winless streak.

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The Flyers beat the Penguins, 8-2, to snap their home
winless streak.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joffrey Lupul's two quick goals got him on a fast track for the Flyers' first hat trick at home in two years. R.J. Umberger made the fans' wait much shorter for another one.

Lupul notched a hat trick and had six points, and Umberger added three goals and five points to snap Philadelphia's five-game winless skid at home and lift the Flyers to an 8-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night.

"That doesn't happen anymore," Lupul said.

Taking a few extra minutes to sweep off the hats from a pair of three-goal performances were about the only thing that slowed down the Flyers.

"The puck just bounced our way and we were there to finish," Umberger said.

Lupul had the first six-point game for a Flyer since Eric Lindros on March 1, 1997, against Toronto. The Flyers also had two players with a hat trick in the same game for the first time since Tim Kerr and Dave Poulin each had three goals against the Islanders on Dec. 18, 1986.

The Flyers improved to 3-0 this season against their Atlantic Division rival, a needed turnaround after an 0-8 mark against the Penguins last year. The Flyers also won their first home game since they improved to 6-0 at the Wachovia Center with a win over the Islanders on Nov. 12.

"We definitely have a chip on our shoulder and it's not just the guys that were here last year," Umberger said. "I think the guys that have come in know exactly what happened and they don't want to be a part of that."

Sidney Crosby assisted on both goals for the Penguins, who ended a four-game winning streak. Ryan Whitney and Petr Sykora scored goals in the first period that tied the score at 2.

A flurry of fights seemed to spark the Flyers and send the Penguins into a postgame snit. Flyers coach John Stevens complained about Pittsburgh's rough play late in the third when the game was already out of reach, and there was a combined total of 156 penalty minutes.

"I think we're back to playing Flyers hockey and challenging them," Umberger said.

Penguins coach Michael Therrien accused the Flyers of playing with a lack of respect.

"Are we talking about the same team that got five guys suspended this year? Is that the same team?" he said.

There was a fight only 20 seconds in the game and some hard hits and scuffles throughout that the crowd absolutely loved. Pittsburgh's Colby Amstrong and Philadelphia's Scott Hartnell each received game misconducts in the third for a lengthy brawl.

The Flyers faithful rode Crosby hard, booing the Penguins captain every time he touched the puck.

"I think we had to stick up for each other at one point," Crosby said. "They have a lot of guys who play physical and probably take it beyond physical sometimes but beyond that I think it's just sticking up for one another."

The Flyers scored five goals against goalie Dany Sabourin before he was yanked for Ty Conklin to start the third.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007