Comrie Is Making Sure He Fits In With the Flyers

Mike Comrie is wasting little time in making an impact with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Comrie scored twice Friday night in his fourth game with Philadelphia and led the Flyers to a 2-1 victory over the Florida Panthers at Sunrise, Fla.

Comrie was traded to the Flyers by Edmonton on Dec. 16 because of a contract dispute with the Oilers.

“As a team, we’re satisfied because we re playing well,” Comrie said. “Our line is happy we were able to contribute offensively and defensively.”

The victory was costly for the Flyers, who lost captain Keith Primeau in the first period. Primeau broke his right thumb when he was hit by a slap shot off the stick of Panther defenseman Jay Bouwmeester.

Primeau immediately lowered his right arm and skated off the ice. He said he will visit a hand specialist once the Flyers return to Philadelphia after the team plays at Tampa Bay today. It was not determined how long the center will be out.

Comrie scored his second and third goals of the season in a span of 5:11 to help the Flyers erase a 1-0 deficit.

Jeff Hackett finished with 29 saves for the Flyers, who are on an eight-game trip. They are 2-2-1-1 so far. The victory ended Hackett’s eight-game winless streak (0-6-2).

Columbus 2, Tampa Bay 0 -- Marc Denis made 37 saves to help Gerard Gallant win his first game as the Blue Jackets’ interim head coach.

Gallant, an assistant under Doug MacLean, took over the team Thursday when MacLean -- the team’s president and general manager -- stepped down as coach.

Rostislav Klesla scored his first goal in 35 games for Columbus, and Manny Malhotra scored an empty-net goal with 1:10 left.

The Blue Jackets won their second consecutive road game after starting the season 0-11-1-2 away from home.

Detroit 4, Carolina 1 -- Pavel Datsyuk and Steve Yzerman scored 1:06 apart in the first period at Raleigh, N.C., and Kris Draper scored a short-handed goal -- his second of the game -- with 3:10 left to play to help the Red Wings post their NHL-best 24th victory.

Edmonton 2, Minnesota 1 -- Ryan Smyth scored a short-handed goal nine seconds into the third period at St. Paul, Minn., to break a 1-1 tie. The loss ended the Wild’s franchise-record unbeaten streak ended at nine games (4-0-5).

Chicago 2, San Jose 1 -- Igor Korolev scored his first goal of the season with 7:13 left at Chicago to break a 1-1 tie and help the Blackhawks win for only the fourth time in 26 games (4-14-4-4).

Colorado 4, Vancouver 2 -- Milan Hejduk broke a third-period tie with a power-play goal with 7:44 left at Vancouver. The Canucks were playing short-handed after goalie Dan Cloutier took a delay of game penalty for knocking the net off its mooring.

Phoenix 6, Dallas 0 -- At Dallas, Brian Boucher stopped 35 shots in posting his second consecutive shutout.

Backup Ron Tugnutt started in goal for the Stars but was pulled before the end of the first period after giving up two goals on seven shots. Marty Turco, who expected to have a rare night off, replaced him.

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Right wing Martin Havlat of the Ottawa Senators was suspended for two games without pay by the NHL for kicking New York Islander defenseman Eric Cairns during Thursday night’s 1-0 Senator victory. Havlat kicked Cairns in front of the New York goal in the third period.... Right wing Donald Audette became an unrestricted free agent when the Montreal Canadiens bought out the remainder his contract. Audette, 34, was signed through next season and was slated to earn $3 million.