Wrapup: Flyers Start Road Trip with 3-2 Win in Anaheim
It didn't need to be pretty. The Philadelphia Flyers simply needed to be the winning side in a meeting of two struggling teams when they took on the injury-riddled Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday to start a four-game western trip. The Flyers did so, earning
a 3-2 win at the Honda Center to improve to 5-7-0 on the season. The Ducks fell to 5-6-2.
The Flyers never trailed in the game, taking a 1-0 lead to the first intermission at the end of a solid opening period and then a 2-1 advantage to the second intermission. After giving up a late power play goal, the game seemed headed for overtime until Philly pulled it out with 1:51 left in the third period.
Sean Couturier (power play, 4th), Ivan Provorov (1st) and Nolan Patrick (3rd) scored for the Flyers. Claude Giroux had a pair of assists. With strong work down low and a perfect centering feed to Patrick, Oskar Lindblom's 1st assist of the season could not have come at a better time.
Brian Elliott earned the win in goal, stopping 23 of 25 shots.
Pontus Åberg scored both Anaheim goals. Ryan Miller made 33 saves on 36 shots.
The Flyers did many things better than they had in their first 11 games. The biggest was getting pucks regularly below and inside the dots and players to the net. Couturier's tally, which ended a 1-for-18 swoon on the power play and gave the Flyers the game's first goal for just the second time this season, was a re-direct of a Giroux shot. Provorov's tally was also a tip-in of a a Giroux shot. Patrick's game-winner was scored from the slot off Lindblom's feathery pass-out.
The game wasn't without some scary stretches for the Flyers, especially in the first half of the second period following Åberg's first goal. On that play, he was the trailer on a counterattack after a near-goal by Couturier at the other end. For about six or seven minutes thereafter, Anaheim took the play to the Flyers after Philly had carried the attack in the first period. On the Flyers' second power play, Anaheim had back-to-back shorthanded scoring chances including a 2-on-1 opportunity erased by Elliott. Later, Radko Gudas bailed out partner Travis Sanheim and the team after a giveaway that turned into a very dangerous counterattack.
In the third period, the Flyers survived a 1:58-long penalty kill from a carryover Anaheim power play. Philly appeared to be in good shape to win in regulation until Jordan Weal, who been taking minor penalties of late with alarming frequency, tripping up Hampus Lindholm with 3:33 left in the third period. On the ensuing power play, defenseman Cam Fowler had all sorts of time and room to skate in to shoot and Åberg got a piece of the puck to knot the game at 2-2.
Patrick's late goal rescued a regulation win for the Flyers.
Rookie winger Nicolas Aube-Kubel played 5:44 in his NHL debut, He was credited with four hits and one one shot on goal. Gudas was credited with a team-high five hits among the teamwide 25. The Flyers also blocked 25 shots, led by seven from Christian Folin.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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