Simmonds, Voracek lift Flyers to 6th in row
PHILADELPHIA -- Wayne Simmonds scored a pair of goals for the second straight game and Jakub Voracek scored with 8.6 seconds remaining in overtime, leading the Philadelphia Flyers to their sixth straight win, a 3-2 decision over the struggling Florida Panthers on Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
Flyers goaltender Steve Mason turned aside 42 of 44 shots to earn his fifth straight victory.
Top-line center Aleksander Barkov and second-line left winger Jussi Jokinen scored for the Panthers, who concluded their six-game road trip with a 1-2-3 record and fell to 1-1-3 since general manager Tom Rowe took over for Gerard Gallant as head coach.
The Flyers' six-game winning streak is their longest since 2011 under former coach Craig Berube.
With his two goals, Simmonds is now tied for third in the NHL with 15 goals, one behind Winnipeg Jets winger Patrik Laine and two behind Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby.
For a team finishing up a six-game road trip with games on consecutive nights, the Panthers dominated possession throughout the third period, outshooting the Flyers 17-4 and tying the score with 4:48 remaining in regulation.
Jokinen finished off a Florida flurry when he cruised through the low slot and snapped a pass from defenseman Michael Matheson over Mason's left shoulder.
Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad and forward Reilly Smith had the best chances to score in overtime, but Mason smothered Ekblad's one-timer and rookie defenseman Ivan Provorov blocked Smith's shot.
That led to the Flyers holding possession for the last shot and, after making three consecutive saves, Panthers goalie James Reimer (22 saves) was left all alone to face Voracek.
Flyers captain Claude Giroux stripped Matheson of the puck and Voracek beat Reimer for his ninth goal of the season.
Locked in a 1-1 tie after the teams exchanged first-period goals, the Flyers took a 2-1 lead on Simmonds' second goal 10:08 into the second period.
With Jokinen serving a cross-checking penalty, Simmonds planted himself in the crease and redirected Giroux's chest-high shot past Reimer for his fourth goal in two games.
The power-play goal was the Flyers' league-leading 24th of the season and halted the Panthers' streak of 18 straight successful penalty kills over five games. Giroux (14) and Simmonds (13) lead the NHL in power-play points.
The Panthers got on the board first when Barkov finished off a nice give-and-go with defenseman Mark Pysyk for his fifth goal of the season and second in as many nights with 4:20 remaining in the opening period.
The Flyers tied it less than three minutes later when Simmonds crossed the blue line and snapped a seemingly harmless shot that eluded Reimer's catching glove for his 14th of the season.
NOTES: Panthers D Keith Yandle skated in warmups, one night after coach Tom Rowe said he would be out "a while" with a foot injury. Yandle kept his iron man streak alive at 578 consecutive games, the 10th longest in NHL history. ... Florida C Jonathan Marchessault sat out his second straight game with a lower body injury. ... Flyers RW Matt Read, who suffered an upper-body injury Sunday in Nashville, missed his first game with the ailment and is expected to be sidelined four weeks. He was replaced with LW Taylor Leier, who played on a line with C Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and RW Dale Weise. Flyers D Radko Gudas sat out his third straight game with the flu. ... The Panthers return home to face the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday, followed by a home game on Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks. They then hit the road for three more games next week, giving them nine road contests in a stretch of 11 games. ... The Flyers continue their three-game homestand with contests against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday and Dallas Stars on Saturday.