Getzlaf returns, leads Ducks past Flyers
PHILADELPHIA -- After missing five of Anaheim's first seven games with a lower body injury, Ryan Getzlaf had a goal and an assist in his return to the lineup, leading the Ducks to a 6-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
Ondrej Kase also netted two goals, and Nick Ritchie, Rickard Rakell and Brandon Montour each scored once for the Ducks (4-3-1).
Anaheim has outscored its opponents 11-4 after netting just seven goals in its previous five games. Corey Perry added two assists.
Goaltender John Gibson (4-2-1) turned aside 31 of 33 shots for the win.
Sean Couturier netted his fifth and sixth goals of the season for the Flyers (5-4-0), who concluded a five-game homestand with a 3-2-0 record. Goaltender Brian Elliott (4-2-0) was shaky in the loss, allowing six goals on 25 shots, including a penalty shot goal by Kase with 4:11 remaining.
The win was the first on the road for the Ducks, who played their first game of the season with defenseman Hampus Lindholm (one assist) and their first without defenseman Cam Fowler, who is sidelined indefinitely with a lower body injury.
The Flyers saw their top draft pick of 2017, center Nolan Patrick, leave the game 2:35 into the second period with an apparent head injury. Patrick, 19, had to be helped to the tunnel after absorbing a hard but legal shoulder check into the boards from Ducks right winger Chris Wagner.
In his first eight NHL games, Patrick had two goals and one assist while averaging 13:28 of ice time.
The Flyers opened the scoring 8:51 into the game when Couturier broke in alone on Gibson and beat him with a nifty backhander. The Flyers outshot the Ducks 12-6 in that period, but Kase scored the equalizer with 1:38 remaining.
The Ducks scored four consecutive goals in the second period, including a power-play goal by Richie. It was Anaheim's second power-play goal in as many games after going the first six games without one.
NOTES: D Hampus Lindholm took D Cam Fowler's spot on a Anaheim top defense pairing alongside Josh Manson. D Sami Vatanan (shoulder) is expected to return to the lineup during the club's four-game road trip that continues Thursday night against the Florida Panthers. ... Ducks C Kalle Kossila, recalled from the AHL San Diego Gulls, played in just his second career NHL game on a fourth line with LW Chris Wagner and RW Logan Shaw. ... Ducks RW Jared Boll, who has 1,286 career penalty minutes, was a healthy scratch against the Flyers, who have been opting for more speed and less toughness on their fourth line this season. ... With D Andrew MacDonald (lower body injury, 4-6 weeks) sidelined, rookie D Robert Hagg played alongside Ivan Provov on the Flyers' top pairing and D Brandon Manning was reinserted on a third pairing with rookie Travis Sanheim.