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Flyers outscore Jets for third straight win

Nick Schultz, arguably the Flyers' steadiest defenseman this season, hadn't scored a goal since the spring of 2013. He was due.

Flyers' Chris VandeVelde scores a first period goal against the
Winnipeg Jets on Thursday, January 29, 2015 in Philadelphia.  (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)
Flyers' Chris VandeVelde scores a first period goal against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday, January 29, 2015 in Philadelphia. (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)Read more

Nick Schultz, arguably the Flyers' steadiest defenseman this season, hadn't scored a goal since the spring of 2013.

He was due.

So it was understandable that Schultz was overjoyed after he capitalized on Petr Straka's hard work - the rookie left winger pounded away for three rapid-fire shots from in front - and scored on a rebound early in the second period Thursday.

Schultz's goal snapped a 2-2 tie and sparked the Flyers to their third straight victory, a 5-2 win over Winnipeg at the Wells Fargo Center.

"It had been a while," the good-natured Schultz said after scoring his first goal in 126 games - his last one had been for Edmonton - and his first as a Flyer. "It feels good to chip in."

The Flyers, who host fading Toronto on Saturday, matched their longest winning streak of the season, and they inched to within nine points of the last playoff spot with 32 games left.

"Stranger things have happened," Schultz said, ". . . So we're going to stick with it and keep battling hard. We've been playing pretty good hockey at home, and we have to transfer that to our road games."

"We're definitely making our push," said Chris VandeVelde, a fourth-line left winger who scored his fourth goal in the last five games and contributed six hits.

Schultz has 28 goals in 928 career games.

"The rebound popped out and I was just fortunate to put one in the net," said Schultz, 32, who was signed as a free agent in July to be the team's seventh defenseman but has revived his career. "The top was open and the goalie was down."

Straka, playing in his second NHL game, collected his first career assist and point, and hardworking center Ryan White (9 of 10 in faceoff wins) also picked up his initial point as a Flyer. Like Straka, White has played in just two games this season.

The Flyers nearly increased their lead to 4-2 with 3 minutes, 25 seconds left in the second, but Winnipeg's rookie goalie, Michael Hutchinson, made a sliding right-pad save on snakebit Matt Read, who took a deft pass from Mark Streit on a three-on-one rush. Read has not scored in his last 22 games, and has one goal in his last 34.

The Flyers made it 4-2 early in the third period. Brayden Schenn one-timed a shot from the high slot past Hutchinson, scoring his second goal in 23 games. Wayne Simmonds did the dirty work along the boards to set up Schenn.

Sean Couturier added an empty-net goal.

After the win, goalie Steve Mason, who stopped 36 of 38 shots in his first start since Jan. 10, wanted to talk about Schultz, a prospective free agent who hopes to re-sign with the Flyers.

"He's a guy who obviously doesn't score a lot of goals, but that's not what we need him for," Mason said. "He's been such a steady guy that myself, personally, can count on to be there every single night and cover my butt when I make mistakes. He's been invaluable to our team. He's a steady presence back there, and he calms everybody down. And with the injuries we've had, it's nice to have his presence back there."

In a 2-2 first period, fourth-line left winger VandeVelde continued his surprising scoring spree, and Simmonds netted his team-leading 18th goal for the Flyers.

The Jets tied it at 2 when Mathieu Perreault scored his second goal of the night, a power-play tracer from the left circle with 3:03 left in the first. Mason was screened and never saw the puck.

Winnipeg, one of the league's more physical teams, is 14-7-5 on the road. Entering the night, the Dustin Byfuglien-led Jets had an NHL-high 33 road points.

The Flyers matched the physicality of the 6-foot-5, 260-pound Byfuglien and his teammates.

@BroadStBull