Flyers erase 3-goal deficit and beat Blues

The surging Flyers can go into their holiday break feeling good about themselves.

Sparked by Wayne Simmonds' two goals, they overcame a three-goal deficit and jolted the St. Louis Blues, 4-3, before an energized crowd Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

Defenseman Evgeny Medvedev took a backhand pass from Ryan White and scored from the slot with 3 minutes, 13 seconds left, snapping a 3-3 tie and creating the loudest roar at the home arena this season.

Medvedev pumped his fists in the air repeatedly after his goal, scored with Chris VandeVelde in the face of goalie Jake Allen, brought the Flyers all the way back from a 3-0 second-period deficit.

"I think it took us 30 minutes to wake up, and when we did, we took over the game," goalie Steve Mason said. "It was a lot of fun to watch those guys go to work because they earned the win here tonight."

The Flyers (15-12-7) will not play again until Sunday in Anaheim, and they will take an 8-2-2 run into the break.

It marked the first time in two years they won a game by overcoming a three-goal deficit. Medvedev, the 33-year-old Russian playing in his first NHL season, scored his second goal and first game-winner.

"He was coming out of the net, so I tried to shoot high," Medvedev said through a translator.

Fifty-one seconds into the third period, Simmonds' second goal of the night and ninth of the season tied the score at 3-all.

With the Flyers on a power play, Simmonds tipped in Jake Voracek's one-timer from the right circle. Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere collected his second assist of the night, giving him 14 points in 18 games.

Trailing by 3-0 in the second, the Flyers got goals from VandeVelde (shorthanded) and Simmonds 2:10 apart to get to within 3-2.

VandeVelde (two points) scored his first goal in 26 games - a shorthanded tally midway through the period. VandeVelde stuffed in a rebound after Allen had stopped Pierre-Edouard Bellemare on a breakaway.

"I think that's where the game started to turn," Simmonds said.

A short time later, R.J. Umberger was stopped in close and looked to the rafters in disbelief. He has not scored in his last 37 games.

But Simmonds finished off a two-on-one with 7:47 remaining in the second, taking a perfect feed from Voracek and tapping his first goal of the night.

"Ghost made a great defensive play; he poked the puck up," Simmonds said after scoring his first goal on home ice this season. "I picked it up and saw Jakey. Obviously I'm going to give it to Jake and I went to the net with my stick on the ice."

With 10:49 left in the second, St. Louis had taken a 3-0 lead as Magnus Paajarvi scored on a slow-moving breakaway. The Blues had two players ahead of the pack because Bellemare fell down and defensemen Radko Gudas and Michael Del Zotto both pinched in and were caught in the offensive zone.

The Blues, unable to avenge a 4-2 home loss suffered on Dec. 10, dominated the first period and built a 2-0 lead. It marked the 19th time in the last 20 games that the Flyers did not have the lead after the first 20 minutes.

"We've been having some tough first periods," said Gostisbehere, whose team overcame a 2-0 third-period deficit and lost to Columbus in a shootout, 3-2, but salvaged a point on Saturday. "But it's how you bounce back and respond."

From behind the net, Dmitrij Jaskin found Robby Fabbri in the slot and he beat Mason to give the Blues a 1-0 lead with 11:54 left in the opening period. The goal was scored shortly after Jori Lehtera tripped Brayden Schenn but escaped a penalty.

Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk made it 2-0 by scoring on a one-timer from the left circle with 5:09 to go in the first.

Before Monday, all seven of Simmonds' goals this year had been scored on the road.

"It's been a long time since I scored in the building, and hopefully they keep on rolling in from here," he said.

scarchidi@phillynews.com

@BroadStBull