Ducks outlast Flyers in shootout

ANAHEIM, Calif. - The Flyers' road losing streak continues, but they managed to salvage a point Wednesday night. Somehow.

The Flyers were about to be 5-3 losers as Devante Smith-Pelly had a 20-foot shot for an empty-net goal that would close out an Anaheim victory at the Honda Center.

But Smith-Pelly lost control of the puck, the Flyers raced down the other end, and Wayne Simmonds scored on his own rebound with 2.6 seconds remaining to knot the score at 4.

No matter. Anaheim won in a shootout, 5-4, with Corey Perry scoring the game-winner against Steve Mason.

"Give the guys credit for not giving up," Mason said. "…But it's still a loss."

Matt Read was stopped on a breakaway with 2 minutes, 33 seconds left in overtime by Frederik Andersen. With 49.3 seconds remaining, Andersen gloved Simmonds' attempt at a hat trick.

Simmonds and R.J. Umberger ended scoring droughts in the wildly entertaining matchup.

Patrick Maroon, an ex-Flyer farmhand, scored on a power-play rebound with 5:02 left to give the Ducks a 4-3 lead.

Anaheim, which overcame a 3-1 deficit, handed the Flyers their ninth straight road loss (0-8-1), matching their longest stretch without a road victory since 1999.

"We're playing better hockey," said Simmonds, who had a pair of goals. "We know we're going to start picking up points if we keep playing this way. We're not playing a complete 60 (minutes), but it seems the effort is definitely there….a lot more than it was in previous games."

The Flyers haven't won on the road since a 5-3 victory in their unofficial second home, Pittsburgh, on Oct. 22.

Overall, they have lost 10 of their last 11, including six straight (0-4-2).

In the last two seasons, the Flyers have lost nine straight games in shootouts, including four this year. Their shooters are just 2 for 13 in shootouts this season, and Mason has stopped only three of nine shots.

Mason despises the shootouts.

"You look at the overtime _ that's what hockey is all about," he said. "There's some great plays, good saves, nice passing. Then you go into a shootout and it's a skills competition. You guys know my thoughts on it."

It was the second straight game the Flyers lost late. On Tuesday, Matt Nieto scored with 11.5 seconds left to give San Jose a stunning, 2-1 victory.

"I think the last two games are something to build off of," Umberger said. "The last game, I thought our structure and the way we played was good, and tonight, we kept fighting and those are games you can build off of and come together as a team."

The Ducks' comeback wiped out the good vibes caused by Umberger, whose second-period power-play goal ended a career-worst 17-game pointless streak.

Asked if he felt he got the proverbial monkey off his back, Umberger said: "It was more like a cement truck."

He later added that, in some ways, this goal "probably felt better than the first one I ever scored in the NHL."

After the Flyers couldn't clear the zone, Sami Vatanen scored from the right side of the net with 53.2 seconds left in the second period, knotting the score at 3.

Mason, whose team had a 3-1 lead earlier in the period, took the puck out of the net and fired it down the other end of the ice in anger. Mason made several spectacular saves in the first two periods.

Michael Raffl, converting a great pass from Claude Giroux, gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead with 14:14 left in the second period. It marked the second straight road game in which the Flyers had scored first _ after failing to do so in their first 11 games away from the Wells Fargo Center.

Jake Voracek had an assist on Raffl's goal to tie Sidney Crosby for the NHL lead with 33 points.

About 21/2 minutes after Raffl's goal, Cam Fowler scored on a blast from the left circle, finishing off a three-on-two after a bad line change by the Flyers while the teams were playing four-on-four.

But Simmonds scored 32 seconds later to restore the Flyers' lead at 2-1, maneuvering around Clayton Stoner and then Vatanen before scoring from the right circle. It was just his second goal in the last 11 games.

Umberger made it 3-1, but the Flyers allowed two goals in the last 8:45 of the second period, and the teams went into the third period tied at 3.

"I thought we lost the point tonight," coach Craig Berube said. "We're up 3-1 and we have to shut the door. We've got to play smarter hockey in that situation. I thought we let them back in the game with defensive mistakes" that led to odd-man rushes.

@BroadStBull