Flyers score five straight goals, beat Red Wings

DETROIT - Sean Couturier is the Flyers' third-line center, but lately he has been playing like the team's best all-around skater.

Couturier had a career-best four points - two goals, two assists - as the Flyers overcome a two-goal deficit Wednesday and jolted the injury-riddled Detroit Red Wings, 6-3, at a place that is usually their house of horrors - the Joe Louis Arena.

The Flyers scored the last five goals and are now 2-16-2 at The Joe since 1988.

Third-period goals by Claude Giroux (power play), Couturier, and Scott Hartnell (power play) wiped out a 3-2 Detroit lead and put the Flyers ahead, 5-3. Couturier then added an empty-net goal, giving him four goals in his last four games.

"It's good for our confidence, and that's why we won tonight - we're starting to believe in ourselves," Couturier said.

No one is believing more than the members of Couturier's line. Each member of the unit - Couturier, Matt Read (three points), and Steve Downie - scored goals. The line has combined for 25 points in the last 10 games.

The Flyers, who had been 0-9 when trailing entering the third period this season, were 3 for 3 on the power play - after being 0 for 9 in their previous three games. They got back to .500 and moved into a virtual tie for third place in the Metropolitan Division.

"Two years ago, that was one of our main attributes - coming back in the third period," Read said. "Good teams find ways."

Giroux tied it at 3-3 with a left-circle blast that went under the crossbar with 14:45 left in the third. Wayne Simmonds screened goalie Jimmy Howard on the play.

The Red Wings had five power plays in the second period, scoring on one of them and preventing the Flyers from building off a solid opening period.

Read converted Couturier's behind-the-net pass to cut Detroit's lead to 3-2 with 3:22 left in the second period. Just 11 seconds later, Luke Schenn got a charging penalty for knocking Justin Abdelkader into the boards and sending him to the locker room for repairs before returning in the third period. The play may be reviewed by the NHL.

"Penalties kind of slowed us down in the second period," Couturier said. "In the third, we just wanted to play with discipline and play within our system, and I think special teams were the difference tonight."

The Red Wings were 1 for 7 on the power play. Couturier played 5:59 on the penalty kill.

Detroit had gotten goals from Johan Franzen and Tomas Tatar (five-on-three power play) to take a 3-1 lead earlier in the second period. Tatar scored two goals in a game for the first time in his career.

Franzen scored on a tracer from the left circle after taking a nice feed from Stephen Weiss. Defenseman Braydon Coburn got caught up ice, and Franzen made the Flyers pay as he went in on a two-on-one.

Earlier, Downie tied the game at 1-1 on his first goal, a power-play tally, since he was acquired from Colorado on Oct. 31

A couple of Flyers defensive breakdowns led to the game's first goal.

Defenseman Andrej Meszaros lost a board battle with the Red Wings' Drew Miller, who found Tatar in front for his fourth. Tatar got inside position on Luke Schenn and Simmonds and lifted the puck past Steve Mason with 9:43 left in the first.

Flyers center Vinny Lecavalier missed his second straight game with back spasms, and the Red Wings were without injured top-liners Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. Winger Todd Bertuzzi was also sidelined.

@BroadStBull