Flyers 4, Blues 3
PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Flyers will enjoy their holiday break after completing a furious rally to beat the St. Louis Blues 4-3 Monday night at Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers (15-12-7) trailed 3-0 midway through the second period before ripping off four unanswered goals to improve to 8-2-2 in their past 12 games.
Defenseman Evgeny Medvedev punctuated the comeback with the winning goal at 16:47 of the third period when he scored on a slap shot off a nice pass from center Ryan White.
Right winger Wayne Simmonds scored the Flyers' second and third goals to tie it, both assisted by left winger Jakub Voracek and Shayne Gostisbehere.
The Blues (20-11-4) saw their three-game winning streak end. They remain tied for second in the Central Division behind the Dallas Stars with one game left before the break.
Flyers goalie Steve Mason (7-8-5) made 26 saves in the win.
Blues goalie Jake Allen (15-8-2) was under heavy siege, and he stopped 27 shots.
The Flyers knotted the score 51 seconds into the third period to complete their climb back. On a power play that transferred from the second into the third, Simmonds got a piece of a shot from Voracek to deflect it home.
The Blues dominated a feisty, penalty-filled first period by outshooting the Flyers 15-8 and snaring a 2-0 lead.
Center Robby Fabbri opened the scoring 8:16 into the game by beating Mason, who was scrambling across the crease after making a save to his left. Right winger Dmitrij Jaskin took the rebound behind the net and fed Fabbri for a 1-0 lead.
After Voracek was penalized for roughing during a scrum in front of St. Louis' bench, the Blues took advantage on the power play when defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk laced a slap shot past Mason with 5:09 left in the period.
Left winger Vladimir Tarasenko notched his 37th point of the season with a primary assist on the play as he somehow off-balanced flicked a weak pass across ice to Shattenkirk.
The first period saw four penalties, two of which were roughing calls charged to the Flyers during heated melees.
In the second period, the Blues took a 3-0 lead as left winger Magnus Paajarvi scored an easy one on a wide-open breakaway off a bad turnover by defenseman Michael Del Zotto.
Just when it looked like St. Louis was going to blow it open, Philadelphia improbably answered on the penalty kill.
Right winger Pierre-Edouard Bellemare intercepted a pass at center ice and was stuffed by Allen on a breakaway, but hustling center Chris VandeVelde muscled home the second-chance opportunity for a short-handed goal.
Back came the Flyers 2:10 later, trimming the deficit to one when Simmonds and Voracek nicely executed an odd-man rush with a give-and-go, capped by Simmonds beating Allen top shelf.
NOTES: Blues D Joel Edmundson, who was recalled on Sunday from American Hockey League affiliate Chicago, returned to the lineup and played his first game since Dec. 5. RW Jordan Caron, who was also recalled, was a healthy scratch. He's expected to play Tuesday against the Boston Bruins. ... Flyers D Mark Streit (groin) remained out of the Flyers' lineup, while C Sam Gagner, who has not played since Nov. 23 because of an upper-body injury, is healthy but was a scratch Monday. ... C Patrik Berglund (shoulder), LW Jaden Schwartz (ankle), C Steve Ott (hamstring) and C Kyle Brodziak (lower body) were all sidelined for the Blues. ... Flyers D Brandon Manning was a healthy scratch for the second straight game as D Luke Schenn played his second in a row in his place. Flyers C Vincent Lecavalier was also a healthy scratch.