by By ED MORAN; morane@phillynews.com , The Philadelphia Daily News

Downie seemed happy and upbeat as he walked into the Wachovia Center for the first time since being sent to Tampa Bay with Steve Eminger in exchange for Matt Carle on Nov. 7.

It didn't take Downie long, however, to show why he can be such a liability. On his first shift of the game, Downie took Kimmo Timonen's feet out from under him, drew a penalty and the immediate ire of his former teammates.

No problem. Jeff Carter scored on the power play and gave the Flyers an early, 1-0 lead.

Downie made up for that, however, by scoring the tying goal in the third period of the Flyers' 4-3 overtime victory.

Eminger played for the Lightning in a game here the day after being traded, but Downie was sent to Norfolk of the AHL. He was called up to the big club last week.

Downie said yesterday he didn't expect to be traded even if he had been up and down between the Flyers and the Phantoms this season.

"It was surprising, but it ended up being the best thing for me," he said. "I just feel good about it. It feels good to be here. [Rick Tocchet] is a good guy and a good coach. I'm learning a lot from him."

Flyers coach John Stevens was surprised when he was asked on Monday if his team was preparing for Downie's physical, and sometimes over-the-top, style of play.

"I'm looking at the Tampa Bay Lighting coming in," Stevens said. "The big guy that wears No. 4 [Vincent Lecavalier] is the one I'm more worried about. I'm happy for Steve, that he's back in the NHL.

"I think he's a great kid. I've said this before, to get a player of [Carle's] caliber, you're going to have to give one up going the other way. I think Steve Downie and Steve Eminger are good players and I think [Downie] is a great kid. I'm excited for him that he's got an opportunity to get up and play."

Mark Recchi, one of six former Flyers now with Tampa, including Tocchet, said Downie was playing on his line and liked the way he played.

"He's a good player," Recchi said. "Coming down [to Tampa] is probably the best thing for him. He can get a chance to get away from [the media scrutiny] and just focus on playing Hockey ."

Snap shotsAs expected, the return of Riley Cote meant the reassignment of Josh Gratton to the Phantoms yesterday. Gratton was scoreless in 11 games, totaling 31 penalty minutes . . . Speaking of Matt Carle , the Flyers' new defenseman was a surprise scratch last night. He is suffering from a sore back and is day-to-day. *

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