Gudas on an unlikely scoring tear

GLENDALE, Ariz. - The Flyers have had many pleasant surprises during their surge toward the playoffs, but none has been bigger than the offense provided by Radko Gudas.

After failing to score in his first 57 games this season, the burly defenseman went into Saturday with five goals in the last 10 games.

"To tell you the truth, I was surprised when he couldn't buy a goal," winger Jake Voracek said before the Flyers faced Arizona on Saturday night. "When you see him in practice and see him in the games, he finds a way to put the puck through. It doesn't get blocked very often. He's really good at that."

Amazingly, Gudas was the Flyers' top goal scorer in the last 10 games before Saturday, recording one more goal than Claude Giroux, Shayne Gostisbehere, Michael Raffl, and Ryan White, each of whom had four tallies in that span. (White's contributions have also been eye-opening.)

Gudas, who has one of the team's hardest shots, said he has not been on a scoring tear like this "since I was a kid and played forward. But since I started playing defense, I've never had anything like this. It's been fun."

The good-natured Czech Republic native said there's been "a little bit of luck, too, in finally getting pucks through."

Earlier in the season, Gudas went through a streak of near-

suspensions for questionable hits, but he has played with more discipline lately.

"I took a look at all the hits, and I talked to the league about it - what they don't like about it and what they like about it - and where the line is," he said.

He said that he is learning not to cross that line, and that he wants to remain physical but stay out of the penalty box.

Steve Mason made his 10th start in the last 11 games Saturday.

Coach Dave Hakstol said he wasn't concerned about fatigue.

"He looks good; he has a lot of energy," Hakstol said after the morning skate. "I'm not worried about it. He's going well and feeling good."

The Flyers, led by Mason, entered the night 2-0-1 on the four-game road trip. Mason had a 1.61 goals-against average and .955 save percentage in those three games.

Mason banged up his left knee in Thursday's 4-2 win in Colorado, but he downplayed the injury.

There is a chance Anthony Stolarz will make his NHL debut Monday against visiting Winnipeg. Then again, Hakstol may wait until the Flyers have back-to-back games to insert the rookie.

Saturday marked Sam Gagner's first game in Arizona since the Coyotes traded him to the Flyers last June for Nick Grossmann and Chris Pronger's contract. He scored the winning goal Feb. 27 as the Flyers defeated the Coyotes, 4-2, at the Wells Fargo Center.

When Gagner was traded, Arizona general manager Don Maloney said he didn't think the forward was an NHL center.

Gagner, who is now playing right wing, said he obviously has extra incentive against Arizona, "but for us, we're in a playoff race and that's the main thing for us. I didn't have a chance to do that last year here."

This is the ninth NHL season for Gagner, who is hoping to be on a playoff team for the first time in his career. He had six goals in the last 16 games before Saturday.

Coyotes defenseman Connor Murphy was matched against his dad, Gord, who is a Flyers assistant. The younger Murphy went into the night with 15 points and a plus-3 rating.

After Saturday, the Flyers will have eight games remaining, including five at home. . . . The Flyers began the night on a 10-2-2 run, during which they clicked at 18.5 percent on the power play (10 for 54) and 91.7 percent (33 for 36) on the penalty kill.