Flyers score three in third period to beat Blues

The Flyers might have trouble beating sub-.500 teams, but they continue to be competitive against playoff-bound squads.

For the third game in a row, the Flyers earned points against a team in line for the postseason with a 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

The Flyers are four points behind the Boston Bruins for the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot. That brings added significance to Saturday's game in Boston.

After falling to subpar teams Carolina and Toronto, the Flyers beat the No. 2 team in the Eastern Conference, the New York Rangers, on Saturday, suffered an overtime loss to Calgary on Tuesday and beat the Blues, who are third in the Western Conference.

"Every game is important" said Matt Read, who had two assists. "And when you play a top team, you have to come out with your best game and it shouldn't change from night to night. But for some reason it does and we have to get away from that."

After the Flyers failed to capitalize on several chances, Michael Del Zotto tied the score at 1 on a slapshot with 10 minutes, 13 seconds left in the third period. Del Zotto took a pass from Read and blasted the puck inside the near post for his ninth goal.

Wayne Simmonds broke the tie. Read set up the goal, holding the puck until finding Mark Streit, who sent a shot on goal that Simnonds redirected for his 26th goal.

"I think Read made a great delay play and obviously Streit jumped up on the rush and I just went to the front of the net, to tell you the truth," Simmonds said. "There was nothing set up. Streit took a shot toward the net and I redirected it in, so it was a great play all around."

Then things started getting feisty. Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo got away with leveling Flyers Brayden Schenn away from the officials and it appeared as if both teams would erupt. But things settled down and the Flyers kept their composure.

Michael Raffl added an empty-net goal.

On Tuesday, the Flyers also had a strong third period to salvage a point. They trailed by 2-0 before sending the game into overtime with two goals.

"We played the right way tonight," Flyers coach Craig Berube said. "Third periods, I think our team believes we can come back."

The Flyers' best first-period chance came when R.J. Umberger hit the right post from close range with Blues goalie Brian Elliott out of the net. There will never be a more open shot.

The Blues took a 1-0 lead after taking advantage of a Streit turnover. Streit's cross-ice pass intended for Claude Giroux was intercepted by Vladimir Tarasenko, who sent a great pass to Jaden Schwartz. Skating on goal from the left circle, Schwartz scored his 21st of the season with 7:08 left in the first period.

Earlier in the period, goalie Steve Mason stopped Tarasenko as he broke on goal, with Luke Schenn backchecking Tarasenko.

While Elliott was leaving a number of rebounds available to the Flyers, he came up big by stoning Ryan White, who was sent on goal by Brayden Schenn with 9:42 left in the second period.

Early in the third period, Elliott stopped Sean Couturier, who fired on net from an angle. The Flyers kept on applying pressure and eventually broke through.

@sjnard