Sabres - The Buffalo News
National Hockey League
Anaheim 4, Philadelphia 2
When: 8:00 PM ET, Sunday, December 27, 2015
Where: Honda Center, Anaheim, California
Referees: Mike Leggo, Dan O'Halloran
Linesmen: Shane Heyer, Brandon Gawryletz
Attendance: 17322

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Anaheim Ducks returned from the NHL's Christmas break by returning to the physical style that fueled their success during the past couple of seasons.

Centers Corey Perry and Shawn Horcoff scored seven minutes apart during the third period to give the Ducks a 4-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday night in front of a standing-room-only crowd of 17,322 at the Honda Center.

"It's definitely the way we have to play, with a little bit of emotion," Perry said. "When we don't, we're flat. We have to play that upbeat, in-your-face style."

Goalie John Gibson stopped 24 shots for the Ducks (13-15-6), who broke a two-game losing streak while giving the Flyers (15-13-7) just their third defeat in regulation this month. Anaheim center Ryan Getzlaf also ended a personal 15-game scoreless streak.

"We complicated our game," Philadelphia center Sean Couturier said. "Sometimes, we tried to make that extra, perfect pass coming off the rush instead of just chipping the puck. Timing's a huge part of the game and when you're execution timing's off, you've just got to keep it simple, chip pucks in and skate into them."

Anaheim won despite losing defenseman Cam Fowler to a lower-body injury in the first period. With fellow defensemen Clayton Stoner and Kevin Bieksa serving penalties, the Ducks had just three healthy players available on the blue line for part of that period.

"It's a gut check," Stoner said. "Everybody's got to realize really quick that you need to step up."

Perry used his team-leading 13th goal to break a 2-2 tie 58 seconds into the final period. After receiving a pass from defenseman Sami Vatanen, Perry eluded a hip check from defenseman Evgeny Medvedev along the right boards, skated to the top of the right circle and fired a wrist shot past defenseman Luke Schenn and between goalie Steve Mason's legs.

"It should've been a pretty standard save," Mason said.

Nearly seven minutes later, Horcoff scored a short-handed goal. Stoner began the scoring sequence by diving to deflect a pass in Anaheim's zone to right winger Andrew Cogliano for a 2-on-none breakaway.

"With 'Cog's' speed," Stoner said of Cogliano, "I knew that if I get it by the defenders, they didn't have anybody back."

Cogliano passed to Horcoff, who converted between Mason's legs for his fifth goal at 7:54.

Getzlaf scored his first goal since Nov. 16 at 6:28 of the first period to give Anaheim a 1-0 lead. With one second left in a 5-on-3 power play, Getzlaf one-timed a slap shot from the right point for just his second goal of the season.

The Flyers then tied the score on left winger Jakub Voracek's fourth goal of the season at 12:12. Gibson stopped defenseman Nick Schultz's slap shot from the left circle but Voracek secured the rebound and deposited the puck inside the right post for his third goal in five games.

The teams exchanged power-play goals in the second period. Left winger Michael Raffl gave Philadelphia a 2-1 lead at 2:26 when he converted a backhand shot under the crossbar for his fifth goal. Perry responded by poking Getzlaf's short pass underneath a diving Mason at 4:14. Getzlaf earned his 700th career point on the play.

"The game was won and lost by the special teams," Luke Schenn said. "We gave up a couple of power-play goals and we weren't able to capitalize on our few chances."

Mason finished with 33 saves.

NOTES: Philadelphia scratched C Vincent Lecavalier and D Michael Del Zotto, who missed his first game of the season and is considered day-to-day. ... Flyers D Shayne Gostisbehere leads all rookies with four power-play goals and three game-winning goals as the game began. ... Flyers D Mark Streit said he will return Wednesday night against San Jose. Streit missed the past 19 games because of a detached pubic plate that required surgery. ... The Flyers sent D Jesper Pettersson to Lehigh Valley (AHL) on Saturday. ... Anaheim scratched D Korbinian Holzer and RW Chris Stewart. ... Ducks LW Carl Hagelin played in his 300th NHL game.
Top Game Performances
 
Philadelphia   Anaheim
Sean Couturier 2 Points Corey Perry 2
Michael Raffl 1 Goals Corey Perry 2
Sean Couturier 2 Assists Sami Vatanen 2
Michael Raffl 1 Power Play Goals Corey Perry 1
N/A Short Handed Goals Shawn Horcoff 1
Steve Mason .892 Save Percentage John Gibson .923
Steve Mason 33 Saves John Gibson 24
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Philadelphia 26 2 1-5 1-3 23 19
Anaheim 37 4 2-3 4-5 27 37
Upcoming Games
  • Anaheim will play their next game on the road against Calgary. The Ducks have a W/L % of .308 after a win and .429 after a loss.
  • Philadelphia will play their next game on the road against San Jose. The Flyers have a W/L % of .400 after a win and .450 after a loss.