Photo Courtesy of Kate Frese
By Rob Riches, Sports Talk Philly contributor 
PHILADELPHIA — Twenty-four hours after their defensive collapse in the third period led to a 6-3 drubbing at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Flyers knew that a 40-minute effort wouldn't cut it against a decent team.
In the third period of Saturday's contest against Minnesota, the Flyers showed signs of bending, but still managed to limit the Wild's chances. Brayden Schenn's power-play goal at 8:43 of the period put them ahead, and they held on to take a 3-2 win — snapping their three-game losing streak.
It surely appeared as though the Flyers' misfortunes would continue early on, as Nino Niederreiter put the Wild up just 21 seconds into the game on its first. They countered by outshooting the Wild 17-6 over the rest of the period, and Brandon Manning found twine with a fluttering, pinballing wrist shot at 12:27 of the period, knotting the game at one goal apiece after the first 20 minutes.
The Wild (7-5-1) took a 2-1 lead midway through the second period courtesy of Mikael Granlund, but Michael Del Zotto's first goal of the season off a one-timer from Michael Raffl just over six minutes later evened the score yet again. The goal did merit video review — after all, Raffl's feed actually found Del Zotto's foot — but it was upheld, formally knotting the game at 2.
Schenn's goal — just 12 seconds after Mikko Koivu took a penalty for tripping Raffl — stood as the game-winner, and the test was on for the Flyers (7-7-2). The Wild countered with 13 shots over the period (compared to just 14 over the first two periods) and earned a power play (leaving penalty-kill extraordinaire Pierre-Edouard Bellemare off for two minutes), but the Orange and Black stood tall.
Michal Neuvirth stopped six of the Flyers' first seven shots, before giving way to Steve Mason at the start of the second period, who stopped 19 of 20 shots. Neuvirth left with a sprained left knee, and will be evaluated on Sunday.
Devan Dubnyk stopped 33 of 36 shots, allowing three goals for the third time this season — tying his season-high. Seven Flyers — Schenn, Raffl, Manning, Bellemare, Del Zotto, Wayne Simmonds and Jakub Voracek — all recorded points, with Simmonds and Del Zotto recording points in consecutive games.
The Flyers return to the ice on Tuesday, when they welcome the Ottawa Senators to Wells Fargo Center to continue their four-game homestand.
NOTES: Michael Del Zotto's goal gives him points in three of his first four games this season. … Captain Claude Giroux left the game early in the first period after taking a followed-through shot from Jason Zucker to the head, but returned later in the period. … Roman Lyubimov was recalled from AHL Lehigh Valley prior to the game. … Lyubimov, Nick Schultz and Andrew MacDonald were scratched from the lineup. … The Flyers are now 9-3-0 all-time at home against the Wild. … Prior to the game, the Flyers made their first trade of the season, sending Petr Straka to New Jersey for a conditional seventh-round draft pick.
