Skip to content
Flyers
Link copied to clipboard

Power play goals sink Flyers in loss to Ducks

ANAHEIM, Calif. - The Flyers were hoping the holiday break didn't stop their momentum Sunday night at the Honda Center.

Philadelphia Flyers right wing Wayne Simmonds (17) is separated from Anaheim Ducks defenseman Sami Vatanen (45) during the first period at Honda Center.
Philadelphia Flyers right wing Wayne Simmonds (17) is separated from Anaheim Ducks defenseman Sami Vatanen (45) during the first period at Honda Center.Read moreGary A. Vasquez / USA Today

ANAHEIM, Calif. - The Flyers were hoping the holiday break didn't stop their momentum Sunday night at the Honda Center.

It did.

Playing their first game since Monday, the Flyers allowed two power-play goals for the first time since Nov. 12 and dropped a 4-2 decision to the Anaheim Ducks.

Corey Perry snapped a 2-2 tie 58 seconds into the third period, going around Evgeny Medvedev and beating Steve Mason from a difficult angle for his second goal of the night.

Mason said he should have stopped the game-winner by Perry, who put the shot between his legs.

"It should have been a pretty standard save," Mason said.

Shawn Horcoff made it 4-2 by scoring on a shorthanded breakaway with 12:06 to go.

"The game was lost on special teams," said Luke Schenn, whose team allowed two power-play goals and a shorthanded tally.

The Flyers, who got two assists from Sean Couturier, had been on an 8-2-2 run before the Christmas break.

Anaheim continued its dominance against the Flyers, who have just one win in their last nine games against the Ducks since the start of the 2009-10 season, going 1-5-3 in that span.

Michael Raffl scored on a rebound - a rare goal for the Flyers' second power-play unit - with just five seconds left on Sami Vatanen's holding penalty, giving the Flyers a 2-1 lead with 17:34 left in the second period.

It was Raffl's fourth goal in the last nine games - after scoring just once in his first 26 games this season.

"Great screen by Reader," said Raffl, referring to Matt Read, "and I was able to find the loose puck."

But a little less than two minutes later, Perry scored on the fourth shot from around the paint, a power-play flurry in which goalie Mason made three saves during a sloppy sequence by the Flyers' defense, including a bad clear by Luke Schenn.

Perry's goal tied the score at 2-2 with 15:46 left in the second.

"It's 2-2 and we came out a little flat to start the third," Jake Voracek said.

The game matched the league's two lowest-scoring teams, and they combined for 26 shots - 15 by Anaheim - in a penalty-filled first period that ended tied at 1-1.

The Flyers have had the lead after the first 20 minutes in just one of their last 21 games.

Voracek scored with 7:48 left in the first period, knocking in a juicy rebound after Nick Schultz's shot caromed off the backboards behind the net. Schultz pinched in from the left side to get off the shot.

It gave Voracek three goals and eight points in the five games he has played since moving to left wing on the second line, alongside Couturier and Wayne Simmonds.

"Lucky bounce. I was in a good spot," Voracek said.

About six minutes before Voracek's goal, the Ducks had taken a 1-0 lead when Ryan Getzlaf scored on a one-time blast from above the right circle with one second left on a five-on-three power play. It was just Getzlaf's second goal of the season - the other one being an empty-netter. Getzlaf also had an assist and he pushed his career total to 700 points.

After Getzlaf's goal, the Ducks had two golden chances to increase their lead to 2-0, but Mason stopped Carl Hagelin on a breakaway, and denied Mike Santorelli, who danced through the defense and was alone in front.

Voracek scored the equalizer about two minutes after the latter save, knotting the game at 1-all.

The Ducks, who scored four goals for the first time in nine games, entered the night averaging a league-worst 1.8 goals per game. The Flyers had the NHL's second-lowest goals-per-game average (2.1).

Claude Giroux, pointless in his fifth straight game, won two of 16 faceoffs, and said he was not affected by getting slashed in the hand early in the game.

scarchidi@phillynews.com

@BroadStBull