PHOENIX (AP) -- With Eric Lindros ailing, Keith Primeau picked up the slack for the Philadelphia Flyers.

Primeau scored a pair of third-period goals as the Flyers beat the Phoenix Coyotes 4-1 Monday night with Lindros sidelined with a headache.

"With Eric out, he stepped up for us," said Flyers interim coach Craig Ramsay, whose team won for the ninth time in 14 games. "Our whole team really stepped up. We played like a team."

For the fifth time this season, the Flyers were a team without Lindros in the lineup.

Lindros, second on the Flyers with 27 goals and third with 59 points, was beginning to dress for the nationally televised game, but stopped because of the pain. He was examined by Flyers trainer John Worley and scratched from the lineup shortly thereafter.

Team officials said the headache does not appear to be related to the concussion Lindros sustained Jan. 14 at Atlanta, the third of the six-time All-Star's career. Lindros missed four games following that concussion.

But Philadelphia players said Lindros had been complaining of headaches since he was leveled by Boston Bruins defenseman Hal Gill on March 4.

"I knew that he wasn't feeling himself," said John LeClair, who opened the scoring with his team-leading 35th goal. "I've talked to him about it. It's one of those things that you think will get better, but it hasn't."

Keith Jones said Lindros has come back to the bench in recent games and said he didn't remember the just-completed shift.

"He's been dizzy," Jones said. "That's what he said to us. He's been trying to play through it, because he's missed a lot of games. He knows he's an integral part of our team. At the same time, we need him as a 100 percent player, not a 50 percent."

The center, who already had missed 13 games this season with four different injuries, will return to Philadelphia with the team and will be re-examined by team doctors.

"Hopefully, it won't have anything to do with the concussions," Ramsay said.

Lindros most recently missed five games in February and early March because of back spasms. He also missed two games each because of a bruised left hand and a viral infection.

The Flyers are 7-5-2 without Lindros.

Valeri Zelepukin also connected for the Flyers, who kept pace with the Atlantic Division-leading New Jersey Devils, who beat Pittsburgh 3-2.

Lyle Odelein scored the lone goal for the Coyotes, who fell nine points behind Dallas in the Pacific Division after the Stars' 4-3 victory over the New York Rangers.

"We played hard, we just didn't generate a lot," said Phoenix goalie Sean Burke. "We had the puck a lot, but it seemed like they didn't give us much."

Zelepukin scored the game-winner at 13:39 of the second period. Stan Neckar tried to backhand a pass from behind the net, but Zelepukin stole the puck, then turned and banked a shot off Burke's right leg while skating into the crease.

The Coyotes protested, saying Zelepukin interfered with Burke before the goal was scored, but replays showed the puck was in the net before he collided with the goalie.

"They had a couple of unfortunate plays and we were able to pounce on them," Ramsay said. "We've not always been able to do that."

Primeau added an insurance goal, his second in 10 games, with 15:40 to go, then got an empty-netter with 22 seconds remaining.

LeClair gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead in the first period when he took a pass from Primeau to the right of the net and stuffed the puck between Burke's pad and the left post.

Burke, who posted consecutive shutouts against the New York Islanders and Vancouver, had not allowed a goal in his last 138 minutes.

Odelein tied the game in the second period with a power-play goal. Odelein, acquired from the Devils last week, took a pass from Mikael Renberg in the high slot and blasted a shot past John Vanbiesbrouck for his first goal since Oct. 13.

"Anytime you score is nice, but when you lose it doesn't matter, because you didn't win the game," Odelein said.

Renberg has a goal and two assists in three games with the Coyotes since he was traded Wednesday from the Flyers for Rick Tocchet.