Wayne Simmonds lifts Flyers to 3-2 OT win over Ducks

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Flyers could not have faced the Anaheim Ducks at a more opportune time.

The Ducks were without six regulars who were injured, including big centers Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler and two of their top four defensemen.

The Flyers took advantage of it .

They ended an eight-game losing streak against the Ducks, registering a 3-2 overtime win as Wayne Simmonds scored 44 seconds into overtime Saturday night at the Honda Center

On an extended shift for both teams, Simmonds took a pass from Sean Couturier and scored from the left circle to give the Flyers their second win in the season's first three games. Simmonds had a hat trick in the other victory.

"Coots did a great job of battling the two guys," Simmonds said. "He stepped to the middle of the ice and took the two guys with him, and that whole left side was open."

Simmonds yelled for the puck. Couturier threaded a perfect pass. Simmonds did the rest.

The Flyers, who also got goals from Couturier (two points) and Ivan Provorov (two points), outshot the Ducks, 37-23.

"I thought we did a really good job of keeping things to the outside," said winning goalie Brian Elliott after raising his record to 2-0.

Leading 2-1, the Flyers (2-1) got a power play early in the third period and had a chance to take command.

Instead, a Claude Giroux turnover near his own blue line led to Cam Fowler's shorthanded goal, knotting the score at 2-2 with 16 minutes, 20 seconds left in regulation. Fowler fired a shot from the top of the left circle that went over Elliott's glove. It was his first goal in 30 games, dating back to last season.

The Flyers had taken a 2-1 lead on a hard-working goal by Couturier with 6:51 remaining in a Philadelphia-controlled second period.

Jake Voracek made a great backhand pass as he was falling down while skating behind the net and found the persistent Couturier in front for his first goal of the season. Giroux, the new left winger, triggered the sequence with a pass to Voracek.

"I just tried to support the play and went to the net," said Couturier, who finished plus-3 on the night. "I got a lucky one through his legs, but I'll take it."

The shots were 6-6 in the second period, but the Ducks didn't get their first shot in the stanza until 13:55 had elapsed.

Earlier, rookie defensemen Robert Hagg and Travis Sanheim both got caught on the left side of the ice, enabling Anaheim to tie the game at 1-1 with 7:47 left in the first period.

After the Ducks won a scrum near the right boards, Ondrej Kase fired a pass to an all-alone Antoine Vermette in the left circle, and he beat Elliott for his 500^th career point.

About four minutes earlier, the Flyers had taken a 1-0 lead as Provorov scored on a one-timer from the top of left circle just as a Flyers power play had expired. Nolan Patrick, working behind the net, set up the goal for the first point of his NHL career.

Patrick and Provorov were once teammates in the Western Hockey League.

"We ran the power play for two years together in Brandon," Patrick said, "and we're good buddies off the ice, too. So, yes, there's a little bit of chemistry for us."

The goal was scored on a set play as Jordan Weal found Patrick behind the net. "We were kind of working on it this morning," Patrick said.

The Flyers had several other great scoring chances in the first period but couldn't put another shot past John Gibson, who made impressive stops on Patrick, Giroux, and Weal from close range. The best of those saves was a sprawling stop on Patrick after he took a two-on-one feed from Travis Konecny with a little less than 19 minutes left in the first period.

The Flyers' lineup included rookie defenseman Sanheim, who had an uneven performance Thursday and was minus-2 in his NHL debut in Los Angeles.

"It feels good. I get another opportunity here, and I'm looking forward to bouncing back and play more of the way I did in the third [period]," Sanheim said before the game. He finished Saturday's game with three shots, two blocks and an "even" rating. "Like I said the other night, I kind of wanted that game to continue."

Coach Dave Hakstol liked Sanheim's performance Saturday.

"I thought he picked up where he left off in the third period in L.A.," Hakstol said. "He was back to playing his game and he used his speed well."

Samuel Morin was a healthy scratch for the third straight game and will likely be sent to the AHL's Phantoms shortly because general manager Ron Hextall wants his young players playing.

Patrick was dropped to the third line, and he centered Dale Weise and Konecny. Val Filppula moved to the second line and was between Weal and Simmonds. … Giroux moved past Mark Recchi and into fourth place on the franchise's all-time assists list with 396. … The Flyers end their season-opening four-game road trip Tuesday in Nashville. … With a sellout crowd watching Saturday, Danick Martel's hat trick carried the Phantoms to a 7-2 opening-night win over visiting Hershey. … In their first two games, the Flyers had a 17-11 and 17-5 shot domination in the third period, respectively. They outshot the Ducks, 15-4, in Saturday's third. … Patrick won six of eight faceoffs.