By Sam Bush
The Flyers have already developed a meme for this young season.
Fight hard, play dumb, make an effort that pleases the fans and, most importantly:
Do not win.
Despite coming from behind twice, the Flyers lost in a shootout to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night, their second straight home-ice shootout loss, after they fell to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday. Their record dropped to 0-2-2, while Anaheim improved to 3-1-0.
“We’re putting it together; we’re showing that we can play in spurts,” said Wayne Simmonds, who had a goal and an assist and fired 10 shots (five on goal). “But we have to play for a full 60 minutes or we’re not going to win.”
The Flyers have lost six straight shootouts at home, including back-to-back games against Montreal and Anaheim.
“Sometimes, shootouts can be psychological,” Simmonds said. “We know we have a ton of guys with skill on this team, but whatever the reason is, we’re just not scoring in the shootout.”
The Ducks scored with about 8 minutes to go in the first. François Beauchemin received the puck after an offensive zone face-off, and ripped a shot on goal.Steve Mason made the save, but he whiffed trying to clear the rebound. Tim Jackman was there for an easy backhand into the empty net.
With just over three minutes left, the Ducks made it 2-0. Their power play hemmed the Flyers in, and as it was expiring Hampus Lindholm put a puck on net. Devante Smith-Pelly tipped it past Mason just after the power play ended. The Ducks ended the period with a 2-0 lead, and a 15-11 shots advantage.
On a two-man advantage with seven minutes to play in the second, the Flyers made it 2-1. Claude Giroux threaded the puck to Mark Streit (photo above) at the point, and his wrist shot hit the inside post and into the net.
Another power play with two and a half minutes tied it up for Philly. Brayden Schenn, Jake Voracek and Claude Giroux all had whacks at it, but it was Simmonds who knocked it over the line. It was his 5th goal in three games.
The backbreaker for the Ducks came with just 16 seconds left in the period. Ryan Getzlaf backhanded a pass to Matt Beleskey, and Beleskey caught Mason going the wrong way. It was a simple finish for the left winger. The Flyers outshot the Ducks 18-5 in the second period.
With 5:20 to go, Jakub Voracek took matters into his own hands. He received Michael Del Zotto‘s feed around the boards, and skated unguarded around to the front of the net. From there, he roofed a backhander into the far corner over Frederik Anderson’s shoulder to tie the game at 3. That was the only goal of the period, as the game went to overtime. In regulation, the Flyers outshot the Ducks by a total of 38-28.
The ice was tilted towards the Ducks’ net in the extra session, but the Flyers could not beat Andersen.
