Flyers beat Lightning, continue playoff push

TAMPA, Fla. - The Flyers' much-maligned second power-play unit produced two goals Friday night to help end five years of frustration in Tampa.

Flyers 3, Tampa 1.

Sam Gagner, Matt Read, and Brayden Schenn scored goals and goalie Steve Mason played solidly as the surging Flyers ended an eight-game losing streak in Tampa since 2011.

Claude Giroux was the only player in Friday's lineup who was with the team the last time it had beaten the Lightning on their home ice.

The Flyers have won six of their last seven games, and they moved to within two points of Detroit for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Flyers have a game in hand.

"The guys just look like they're overwhelming the opposition right now," Mason said.

The Flyers outworked the Lightning for loose pucks and limited them to 19 shots.

"We're making our playoff push, and for us, every game is a desperate game," said defenseman Radko Gudas, who played his first game in Tampa since the Lightning traded him to the Flyers last season. "We're going to know where we stand a little better after this weekend. For us, this weekend is huge."

The Flyers, who were coming off a 5-1 homestand, play the Panthers in Sunrise, Fla., on Saturday night.

Tampa pulled its goalie and ended Mason's shutout bid when Brian Boyle scored on a rebound with 2 minutes, 42 seconds left.

Schenn scored on a wraparound with 12:04 left in the second period against slow-to-react goalie Ben Bishop, putting the Flyers ahead, 3-0.

It was Schenn's 14th goal in the last 25 games, and his ninth in the last 14 games. He has 23 goals, one behind Wayne Simmonds for the team lead.

Read's blast from the top of the right circle gave the Flyers a 2-0 lead with 16:26 remaining in the second. Ryan White screened Bishop on the play, and it was the Flyers' second power-play goal of the night, both by the formerly struggling second unit.

"Without his screen, I don't think that puck would have gone in," Read said.

For the first time since 1999, the Flyers have allowed fewer than 20 shots in three straight games. They won all three, all with Mason in the net. They blocked 20 shots Friday, including 10 by Andrew MacDonald.

"It's been a great effort the last little while here," Mason said. "Right now, we look like a strong hockey club out there and it makes the goaltending job very controlled."

The Flyers took a 1-0 lead on Gagner's fifth goal in his last nine games.

With the Flyers in the latter stages of a seemingly unproductive four-minute power play - Steven Stamkos was charged for high-sticking Brandon Manning - Gagner scored on a rebound in front. It also appeared Tampa's J.T. Brown got his stick on the puck.

Couturier took the original shot and White got a piece of it, and the puck fell down to Gagner.

"It was a good breakout and some good puck movement," Gagner said. "Just trying to get pucks in traffic and to the net, and we were able to bang one home."

The second power-play unit has struggled most of the season.

"I think they've had good opportunities. Maybe the key is that the unit has had an opportunity to stay together for consecutive games now," coach Dave Hakstol said. "Earlier on, there had been quite a bit of change to that unit."

Mason, making his third straight start, made a glove save to rob Erik Condra from the slot with just over 17 minutes left in the first. He also stopped Vladislav Namestnikov on a partial breakaway with 7:14 to go in the period.

The Flyers were playing their first game since Monday's 4-2 win over the Lightning, a game in which they outshot Tampa, 40-18.

Now the Flyers head to South Florida. They are 4-6 in the second half of back-to-back games this season.

Then again, the Flyers are on a certified roll, playing their best hockey of the season despite not having injured winger Jake Voracek, the team's second-leading scorer.

scarchidi@phillynews.com

@BroadStBull