Kase’s 1st NHL Goal Helps Flyers Top Ducks

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

At the first TV timeout of the first period, the Flyers paid tribute to their teammate and his impending battle with Ewing's sarcoma with a video tribute on the scoreboard. The crowd rose to its feet, holding signs that read "I fight for Oskar."

From that moment forward, the Flyers seemed to play the game with a bit more energy. It was far from a perfect game, but with the help of great goaltending and some timely scoring in the second and third periods, the Flyers were able to snap a three-game losing streak with a 4-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Center.

The first period featured no scoring, but was a spirited affair. Both teams had power-play chances and failed to score. Chris Stewart and Nicolas Deslauries dropped the gloves in a lively bout. 

The Ducks opened up a sizable shot advantage of 10-3 during the period, but the Flyers finished with a 9-6 advantage to close the gap in shots in the period to 16-12 Anaheim.

The Flyers power play carried over into the second. Just seven seconds after the penalty expired, the Flyers took the lead. A quick passing play from Sean Couturier to Travis Konecny set up Claude Giroux at the side of the net for the goal. It was Giroux's 11th of the season.

Just over four minutes into the period, the Flyers used some quick passing to get on the board again. Morgan Frost made a nice feed to Travis Sanheim at the top of the left circle. He put a slap-pass toward the net that was tipped in by David Kase for his first NHL goal to make it 2-0.

Late in the period, the Ducks got a chance to cut into the lead with a power play and did. A point shot by Hampus Lindholm was deflected twice on its way into the net, including being tipped by Rickard Rakell.

The Ducks got another power play before the period was over, but did not score and the Flyers carried a 2-1 lead to the third period. Shots through 40 minutes were 28-24 Anaheim.

The Ducks continued to get pressure to the net in the third period, but Carter Hart was the difference. The Flyers netminder finished the game with 40 saves on 41 shots.

At 4:11, the Flyers grabbed some insurance. Off a two-on-one, Jake Voracek fired a shot from the right circle and beat John Gibson with the chance for his seventh goal of the season to make it 3-1.

That was enough for the Flyers, who held off the push from the Ducks down the stretch and added one more goal into an empty net from Couturier.

Gibson finished the game with 27 saves on 30 shots. Giroux and Couturier each had one goal and one assist.

The Flyers return to the ice on Thursday night when they take on the Buffalo Sabres. Game time is 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• No Scoring

2nd Period

• PHI Claude Giroux (11) (Travis Konecny, Sean Couturier) 0:55
• PHI David Kase (1) (Travis Sanheim, Morgan Frost) 4:14
• ANA Rickard Rakell (10) PP (Hampus Lindholm, Jakob Silfverberg) 16:33

3rd Period

• PHI Jake Voracek (7) (Unassisted) 4:11
• PHI Couturier (9) EN (Ivan Provorov, Giroux) 19:52

Game Statistics