Flyers 5, Flames 3
PHILADELPHIA -- Center Brayden Schenn scored his first career hat trick and the Philadelphia Flyers continued their surge with a 5-3 win over the Calgary Flames on Monday at Wells Fargo Center.
Schenn became the first Flyers player to record a hat trick on home ice since left winger Scott Hartnell did so Jan. 15, 2012.
Center Claude Giroux added four assists and right winger Wayne Simmonds scored two goals in the victory, the third straight for Philadelphia (29-22-11) on its six-game homestand. With the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 6-0 win over the Arizona Coyotes, the Flyers remain three points out of the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot.
Simmonds’ second tally was an empty-netter to ice the game in the final minute.
The Flames (26-32-4), trailing 4-1 at second intermission, charged hard in the third with goals from left winger Micheal Ferland and right winger Michael Frolik, but it wasn’t enough for the NHL’s second-worst road team at nine wins.
Calgary has lost five in a row and eight of its last nine.
Flyers goaltender Michal Neuvirth made his fourth straight start and stopped 29 shots.
Flames goalie Jonas Hiller, who had given up four or more goals in four of his last five outings, made 25 saves.
A hooking penalty charged to Flyers left winger Michael Raffl put the Flames on an early man advantage, and Calgary capitalized 6:07 into the game thanks to its top guns.
The Flames went circle to circle as left winger Johnny Gaudreau, who entered sixth in the NHL with 62 points, set up center Sean Monahan for a clear snap shot and his 20th goal. Monahan reached the 20-goal plateau for the third consecutive season.
Gaudreau's assist extended his career-high point streak to eight games.
Philadelphia countered at 12:25 of the opening stanza when Schenn netted his first and showed why it is a game of inches. Giroux backhanded a shot on net, and Schenn took the loose puck and clanged it home off Hiller's leg pad and then the left goal post to draw the Flyers even.
The 1-1 tie at first intermission was short-lived as Philadelphia broke loose in the second period.
Giroux continued to create, skating along the goal line and finding streaking right winger Wayne Simmonds for a power-play goal and a 2-1 Philadelphia lead at 4:47.
Schenn then opened the floodgates with his second and third goals of the game in the latter moments of the middle period. At 15:27, defenseman Andrew MacDonald laced a pass from the point right to Schenn, who simply tipped it into the back of the net.
Schenn finished off his hat trick with a wrist shot in front three minutes later for another power-play goal, eliciting a barrage of headwear thrown onto the ice.
NOTES: Former D Jim Watson was inducted into the Flyers Hall of Fame before the game during part of a 25-minute ceremony. Watson played all 10 of his NHL seasons with Philadelphia, winning two Stanley Cup championships (1973-74, 1974-75) and becoming a five-time NHL All-Star as compiled 186 points (38 goals, 148 assists). ... Before Monday's trade deadline, the Flames dealt RW David Jones to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for G Niklas Backstrom and a 2016 sixth-round draft pick. ... Flyers RW Jakub Voracek will be out approximately two weeks with a lower-body injury, GM Ron Hextall said before the game. After playing in 286 straight games, Voracek was out for Philadelphia's contest Saturday and was seen afterward wearing a walking boot on his left foot. ... RW Garnet Hathaway was recalled by the Flames from ECHL affiliate Adirondack Thunder and was inserted into the lineup for his NHL debut.