NHL Game Summary - Detroit at Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Michael Raffl scored twice in the third period and added one assist, as a badly outshot and outplayed Philadelphia squad claimed a 4-2 victory over Detroit on Saturday night.
"Those first two periods we were lucky to still be in the game," Raffl stated. "But in the third, we played outstanding. And at the end of the day, it's all about getting the win. And I think we found a way to win tonight."
Nicklas Grossmann and Brayden Schenn posted markers with Jakub Voracek and Michael Del Zotto totaling two helpers apiece for the Flyers, who picked up their first win on home ice this year despite recording only 17 shots.
Ray Emery won his second consecutive start with a 35-save performance.
Riley Sheahan and Pavel Datsyuk provided the offense for the Red Wings, who haven't won a regular-season game in Philly since 1997. Jonas Gustavsson made 13 stops in defeat.
On the next shift after killing off a tripping penalty to R.J. Umberger, the Flyers assumed a 2-1 edge. Voracek held the puck along the right-wing boards then dished ahead for Raffl, who cruised up the middle and lifted a shot under the crossbar at 6:01 of the third period.
It took the Wings just 42 seconds to draw even, as a defensive breakdown and failure of Philly to clear the defensive zone saw Darren Helm pass to Datsyuk alone in front for a successful backhander.
Philadelphia eventually regained the lead with 8:55 left on a power play, as Schenn tipped in a Voracek offering while Wayne Simmonds was camped in front of Gustavsson. It was the first man-disadvantage tally allowed by the Red Wings on the young season.
The Wings decided to pull Gustavsson for an extra skater with 1:28 to play. Tomas Tatar was denied at the right post by Emery with just under a minute on the clock, but that was the only quality chance for the visitors in the late stages.
"You're going to have breakdowns in games -- that's the way it goes. But I thought we did tons of good stuff," said Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock. "You know when I go through it, the other night we didn't play as good against Pittsburgh, and then in the end we get ourselves two points."
Detroit took the game's first seven shots and successfully killed off two penalties before picking up the game's initial goal. Tomas Jurco was taken out of the play by a host defenseman in the right circle, but Andrej Nestrasil swooped in and chipped the puck in front for a Sheahan tip at 15:33.
The Flyers were held shotless for more than 13 minutes in the middle period, and came up empty on another advantage. However, Grossmann skated in from the point and was open to one-time a Chris VandeVelde pass home with 1:39 left.