Flyers' Defense Stops B'Hawks

The Philadelphia Flyers have found offense from an unexpected source.

Mark Bureau, who had no goals in his first 23 games, scored his third in the last three games as the Flyers beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1 Saturday.

"I'm shooting the puck more and we're bringing the puck to the net more," said Bureau, who signed as a free agent with the Flyers after playing the last three years for Montreal.

Daniel McGillis and Colin Forbes also scored for Philadelphia and John Vanbiesbrouck made 23 saves. Bureau, McGillis and Forbes had combined for only seven goals all year before Saturday.

"If we get some goals, it's a bonus for the team," said Bureau, who gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead with a wrist shot at 3:45 of the first period. "I went 23 games without a goal. Maybe I'll try to go 23 with one."

Tony Amonte, who leads the NHL with 22 goals, scored for the Blackhawks with a slap shot from just inside the blue line with 3:36 left in the game.

Philadelphia, which is unbeaten in seven games (5-0-2) against Western Conference teams, played a tenacious defensive game while outshooting the Blackhawks 16-5 in the second period and 40-24 for the game.

Vanbiesbrouck's only other difficult chances came in the second period when he twice stopped shots from in close by Eric Daze, and late in the third when he pushed aside Bob Probert's shot from in close. Chicago's Doug Gilmour missed an open net in the third period.

"Tonight we came ready to play," said Vanbiesbrouck. "We had a lead and made it stand up. We looked a heck of a lot better and played a complete hockey game. Our guys didn't let up."

Chicago coach Dirk Graham said he was disappoined in the play of his Blackhawks, who are winless in their last four games (0-3-1).

"We seemed to play too tentative," Graham said. "We didn't play with a lot of confidence and we struggled throughout the first two periods. It seems like we took a step backward tonight. We're trying to build something and this didn't help."

McGillis beat Chicago goaltender Mark Fitzpatrick to the glove side on a power play at 8:23 of the first period. It was only the second goal of the year for McGillis and came four seconds after a Flyers two-man advantage had expired.

"The Flyers just dominated the first two periods," Fitzpatrick said. "We didn't get going until the third period and by then it was too late. We put ourselves behind the eight-ball, and we can't play like that against a team like Philadelphia."

Forbes made it 3-0 with his fifth goal when he flipped in a rebound of a shot from the circle by Petr Svoboda at 5:53 of the third period.

It was only the Flyers' second victory in their last six games (2-1-3).

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