Flyers Stun Red Wings in 6-1 Rout

Tuesday, February 13th 2007, 7:11 am

By: News On 6

PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ Peter Forsberg can worry about his future in Philadelphia another day. For one game at least, he had some fun, scored a goal and brought back memories of the way so many Flyers fans thought games would turn out when he signed as a free agent.

Forsberg scored in a five-goal third period and sparked the Flyers to a 6-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night.

``I thought we've been building the last couple of weeks and today we showed we are a pretty good team,'' Forsberg said.

Well, they're actually the worst team in the league, but the Flyers would be better with a healthy Forsberg in the lineup. Forsberg, a free agent at the end of the season, declined to comment Monday about the specifics of his meeting a day earlier with Flyers chairman Ed Snider, and refused to say if he asked to be traded.

``It's not like I wanted to leave. It's not like I wanted out of here,'' Forsberg said. ``I like it here. It's not been my intention to leave, no.''

All Forsberg has to do is tell the Flyers he wants to re-sign with them or ask to be dealt to a contender before the Feb. 27 trade deadline. So far, at least publicly, Forsberg has kept that decision to himself.

But eight teams sent scouts, all but one of them from teams heavily rumored to be interested in Forsberg.

Forsberg has said all along he didn't want to address his future until he solved the lingering issues with his right foot.

I've said I wanted to stay and I wanted to get my foot fixed and then I'll think about my future,'' he said.

The Flyers scored two short-handed goals and one on the power play to win their second straight at home after losing a team-record 13 in a row here.

This time they had some inspiration from their retired captain, Keith Primeau. He was honored in a teary pregame ceremony, showing a different kind of sentiment from the days of his rah-rah pep talks. He saved his remarks for the ice instead of the locker room.

``And we won anyway,'' Forsberg said, laughing.

The Flyers could laugh and joke a bit after this one.

Michael Leighton stopped 31 shots in his second straight start for the Flyers. Before Saturday's win against St. Louis, Leighton hadn't made an NHL start since March 23, 2004, when he was with Chicago.

R.J. Umberger scored twice, and Mike Richards, Simon Gagne and Todd Fedoruk also scored for the Flyers.

``This is kind of what we've been pushing for,'' coach John Stevens said. ``It's something we're trying to get in place here.''

Tomas Holmstrom scored the only goal for Detroit. The Red Wings haven't won in Philadelphia since Jan. 25, 1997, losing five straight over 10 years. They blew a chance to tie Buffalo for the league points lead.

``It wasn't that we didn't play the whole game. We were right in the game,'' Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. ``The wheels came off badly.''

Forsberg snapped a tie early in the third period with his 11th goal before the Flyers turned this one into a rout. Umberger scored twice, and Gagne and Fedoruk added goals after that to give the sellout crowd something to cheer for one of the few times this season.

``There is something to play for. There's pride,'' Umberger said.

The only goals until the third period came late in the first. With Forsberg in the penalty box for hooking, Holmstrom scored his 20th of the season for a 1-0 lead.

The Flyers tied it on a short-handed goal thanks to some nifty stick work from Richards. First he swiped the puck, then shuffled it to Sami Kapanen near the net. Kapanen had a strong look, but his shot bounced off goalie Joey MacDonald's pads and a hard-charging Richards knocked in the rebound for his fourth goal.

Then the Flyers got going in the third. Umberger slid one in for his 10th goal, and Gagne made it 4-1 with his 29th. Umberger scored his second of the game, then Fedoruk added one on a breakaway.

``They're an aggressive team and they were showing it,'' MacDonald said. ``They had a lot of body checks and I think it wore on us in the third period.''