by By Sam Carchidi; Inquirer Staff Writer , The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Flyers were second in the NHL with an average of 3.57 goals per game entering yesterday's play, which overshadowed the main reason for their early-season success: a vastly improved defense.

The idle Flyers were 9-4-1, a marked improvement from their 5-6-3 record at this time last season - and had shaved nearly a goal off last year's goals-against average through 14 games.

Despite injuries that scrambled their third defensive pairing, the Flyers were ninth in the 30-team NHL with a goals-against average of 2.57. At the same point last season, they were allowing 3.36 goals per game.

They are justifying general manager Paul Holmgren's off-season gambles - mortgaging the future for defenseman Chris Pronger and signing goalie Ray Emery despite his troubling resumé.

Pronger, as advertised, has provided leadership, a defensive presence, and a rocket shot from the point. He was third in the league among defensemen with 14 points, and fifth among all players with a plus-11 rating.

He has also been a steadying influence on his emerging defensive partner, Matt Carle, whose plus-14 rating was tied for first in the NHL.

The Flyers knew what they were getting in June when they sent two No. 1 draft picks, Joffrey Lupul, Luca Sbisa, and a conditional pick to Anaheim for Pronger.

They weren't so sure about Emery, who was banished to Russia last season after a stormy career in Ottawa.

But Emery has resembled the goalie who took the Senators to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2007. He is 9-3-1 with a 2.27 goals-against average and .922 save percentage.

"He's keeping us in games and making the saves that he needs to make," said Pronger, who was leading the NHL with an average of 27 minutes, 37 seconds of ice time per game.

"We've done a pretty good job with our forwards coming back, giving us back-side pressure," Pronger said. "It allows us defensemen to stand up and create more turnovers, and allows him not to have to work as hard as maybe he would.

"It's a testament to the forwards and the way they're working and us as defensemen, and obviously Ray making the saves he needs to make."

Coach John Stevens said, "Ray's done everything we've asked."

The Flyers' improved defense can also be traced to less-heralded moves by Holmgren - signing free agents Ian Laperriere and Blair Betts, a pair of penalty-killing specialists. The Flyers were tied for fifth in the league with an 85 percent penalty-killing rate.

Betts is also a solid face-off performer, and it's no coincidence the Flyers are 7-0 with him in the lineup.

Breakaways. James van Riemsdyk, the outstanding rookie left winger, fractured the tip of his left little finger Saturday against St. Louis and will not practice today, Holmgren said. His status was day-to-day. Defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, who suffered a concussion in the game, was feeling better yesterday and will be reevaluated today. . . . Thursday's game against Ottawa will be Emery's first against his old team since it said au revoir because of his problems on and off the ice. . . . Center Mika Pyorala became the fifth player in NHL history to score a winning shoot-out goal before recording his first official goal, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Pyorala performed the feat in the Flyers' 2-1 win Saturday.

Contact staff writer Sam Carchidi at 215-854-5181 or scarchidi@phillynews.com.

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