PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Jeff Carter, Simon Gagne and Jon Sim each scored twice, leading the Philadelphia Flyers to an 8-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Thursday night.

Mike Knuble and Peter Forsberg also scored and Robert Esche had 29 saves for the Flyers, who have won three of their last four games and five straight at home.

Chris Clark had the only goal for struggling Washington, which has lost six of eight. The Capitals haven’t won in Philadelphia since 1998, going 0-14-1 in that span.

The Flyers, already missing captain Keith Primeau because of a concussion, lost defenseman Eric Desjardins to a concussion. His status wasn’t immediately known.

Carter, a former first-round pick who helped the AHL’s Philadelphia Phantoms win the Calder Cup last spring, gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead with a hard-fought goal in the first period.

Carter went hard to the net after his slap shot was stopped, outmuscled defenseman Mike Green and backhanded the rebound into the top corner over goalie Brent Johnson.

Carter made some nifty moves to score on a short-handed breakaway in the final minute of the first to give the Flyers a 3-1 lead.

Carter stripped the puck from Alexander Ovechkin, went around defenseman Jamie Heward, skated down the left side, deked defenseman Steve Eminger and beat Johnson for his fourth goal and first multigoal game in the NHL.

The Capitals took a 1-0 lead on Clark’s goal 3:40 into the game. But the Flyers scored the next eight.

Sim knocked a rebound past Johnson to tie it at 1.

Gagne has 12 goals in 11 games. It took until the 57th game for him to score his 12th in the 2003-04 season, and he finished with 24. His career best is 33 in 2001-02.

Forsberg, who came in tied for the league lead with 17 assists, assisted on both of Gagne’s goals. From behind the net, Forsberg fed a pass to Gagne for a power-play goal that made it 6-1.

Notes: With Primeau sidelined for the second straight game, the Flyers used three rookie centers – Carter, Mike Richards and R.J. Umberger. … The Flyers outshot Washington 28-8 during one stretch. … The Capitals are 0-8 when allowing three or more goals. … Philadelphia defenseman Kim Johnsson sat out with a groin injury. … Forsberg has eight multipoint games this season. … The Flyers have 10 power-play goals in the last four games after getting eight in the first seven.

AP-ES-11-03-05 2130EST