Flyers 4, Red Wings 3
PHILADELPHIA -- In a matchup of teams jostling for the Eastern Conference's final playoff seed, the Philadelphia Flyers answered the bell on home ice Tuesday by beating the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 at Wells Fargo Center.
Behind a complete effort from start to finish, the Flyers (33-23-12) claimed an important win to move within one point of the Red Wings for the second wild-card spot.
Both teams meet once more on April 6 but Philadelphia's victory secured it one of the tiebreaker scenarios with Detroit by winning the season series in points.
The Red Wings (34-25-11) failed to solve their Philadelphia hex, losing for the 11th straight time in the city. Detroit, 2-5-0 in its last seven games, has not won in Philadelphia since the 1997 Stanley Cup finals.
Michael Raffl led the Philadelphia charge with his second career two-goal game.
Trailing by two in the third period, Detroit made a concerted push and crept within one thanks to a Tomas Tatar marker at 16:14, but Flyers goaltender Steve Mason did enough to seal it, making 21 of his 34 saves in the final frame.
Red Wings goalie Petr Mrazek faced 46 shots and stopped 42 of them.
The defeat kicked off a four-game road trip for the Red Wings, while the Flyers face contenders over their next three contests, featuring the Chicago Blackhawks, Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders.
The Flyers had the look of a desperate team from the opening puck drop.
Raffl got it all started for Philadelphia, absorbing contact while taking the puck from center ice to the net before faking out Mrazek for a 1-0 lead 5:41 into the action.
One minute and 14 seconds later, Wayne Simmonds added to it with his 25th goal of the season on a wide-open rebound attempt. It came directly off a faceoff in which Claude Giroux won to set up a quick shot by Brayden Schenn. Simmonds cleaned up the big bounce as Giroux recorded his 40th assist.
By the end of the first period, the Flyers had a 23-3 advantage in shots. However, the Red Wings avoided disaster by killing off two power plays, including a 33-second sequence that featured a five-on-three.
Detroit regrouped to start the second period and quickly cut the deficit to one courtesy of beautiful stick work by Andreas Athanasiou. As Riley Sheahan squeezed a pass through a crowd of skates, Athanasiou did the rest with an outreached stick to wrap the puck around a splitting Mason at 2:14.
With the Red Wings looking to swing momentum, Raffl provided another spark at 7:14 behind some hard work between the circles. Raffl gathered a rebound off his own shot and backhanded it home to regain Philadelphia a two-goal lead at 3-1.
Detroit trimmed the deficit yet again but the Flyers stretched it back right before second intermission for a 4-2 lead.
Red Wings left winger Tomas Tatar stripped Radko Gudas along the back boards and fed Pavel Datsyuk for a one-timer at 14:21 as Detroit threatened once more.
Philadelphia retaliated with 1:06 remaining in the middle period when Shayne Gostisbehere's pass inadvertently deflected off a Red Wings skate and trickled through Mrazek's legs to give the Flyers breathing room.
NOTES: Red Wings RW Anthony Mantha made his NHL debut after being recalled from American Hockey League affiliate Grand Rapids on Monday. The 21-year-old, drafted 20th overall by Detroit in 2013, posted 21 goals and 24 assists in 56 AHL games this season. ... Flyers RW Jakub Voracek remained out with a lower-body injury, missing his eighth straight game. Voracek skated Monday at practice and is considered day to day. ... Red Wings D Niklas Kronwall was sidelined for a second straight game with a knee sprain he suffered March 12. The 35-year-old veteran is expected to be out one to three weeks. ... Flyers D Andrew MacDonald returned after a one-game absence because of a lower-body injury. ... RW Tomas Jurco and LW Teemu Pulkkinen were healthy scratches for the Red Wings. C R.J. Umberger and D Evgeny Medvedev were healthy scratches for the Flyers.