Philly Sports Jabronis
Report From Philadelphia Flyers
* R.J. Umberger picked up his first two-goal game since Jan. 21, 2014 for Columbus vs. Los Angeles. It’s his first two-goal game as a Flyer since Feb. 10, 2008 at Pittsburgh.
* Sean Couturier recorded two assists and now has two goals and three assists for five points in his last five games.
* Steve Mason returned to action tonight after missing the last four games with an upper-body injury – he made 21 saves on 24 shots.
* Jake Voracek was held off the scoresheet tonight, marking the first time this season he has gone without a point in two consecutive games.
* Claude Giroux was also held without a point, marking only the second time this season that both players have been held scoreless in a game where the Flyers were not shut out.
* Giroux was 18-for-29 (62 pct) on faceoffs.
* Matt Read was credited with nine hits. The teams were credited with 102 hits total – 52 for Arizona and 50 for the Flyers.
* The Flyers return to action on Wednesday night when they visit Colorado (9 pm, CSN, 97.5 FM).
GAME RECAP
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Antoine Vermette had two goals and an assist, and Devan Dubnyk continued a strong run of goaltending with 30 saves to give the Arizona Coyotes a 4-2 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday.
Shane Doan scored in the first period, a goal originally credited to Vermette, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson had what proved to be the game-winning goal when he scored early in the third period for the Coyotes (14-18-4), who matched their season high with a three-game winning streak. They have won three straight at Gila River Arena since setting a franchise record with nine straight losses on home ice.
Five of Ekman-Larsson’s nine goals this season are game-winners.
Dubnyk, who has taken the starting job from the struggling Mike Smith, has stopped 91 of 95 shots in the past three games. He has nine of Arizona’s 14 wins.
The Coyotes last won three straight from Nov. 2-7.
R.J. Umberger scored twice in the final 7:49 to pull the Flyers (14-16-6) within a goal. He scored the first at 12:11 off aMark Streit feed and then tipped home a Sean Couturier shot on the power play with 4:47 left to make it a 3-2 game.
Dubnyk went post-to-post to stop Vincent Lecavalier with 50.1 seconds to preserve the one-goal lead and Vermette completed his hat trick by hitting the empty net with 28 seconds left.
Mason, coming off a back injury and playing for the first time since Dec. 19, made 21 saves. He is 4-8-0 lifetime against the Coyotes.
Arizona was outshot 14-6 in the first period and the Flyers controlled most of the play. But Dubnyk was flawless, making big saves on Jakub Voracek in the slot, Brayden Schenn from the circle and Wayne Simmonds with his pad.
When the Coyotes got a chance late in the period they made the most of it. Vermette raced into the Philadelphia zone, dropped a pass to Doan and kept charging toward to net. Doan’s slap shot beat Mason on the short side at 18:26. Vermette originally was credited with touching the puck on its way into the net, but the goal was changed after the game.
The Coyotes took that momentum into a second period when they controlled the play and doubled their lead. And Vermette was in the right spot again.
Mason made a nice save on Tobias Rieder’s backhanded scoring bid and one in tight by Doan, but Vermette got him again at 15:31. Good work along the boards by Sam Gagner led to a shot from the point by Zbynek Michalek. Mason stopped it, but the rebound popped right to Vermette in the crease and he fought off Streit and had plenty of room to put it away.
The Coyotes took a three-goal lead early on the third period after Scott Laughton hooked down Rieder in the slot. Mikkel Boedker set up Ekman-Larson for a shot that beat Mason to the far corner at 2:48 at the Coyotes had a rare and, for a short time, comfortable 3-0 lead.
