Simmonds Strikes Again for OT Winner in Flyers Win Over Ducks

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

After scoring the first ever Flyers hat trick in a season opener in franchise history, Wayne Simmonds and the rest of the Flyers were shut out in Los Angeles on Thursday.

The Flyers were controlling another third period in Anaheim on Saturday, but couldn't score, forcing overtime. Less than a minute into the extra session, it was Simmonds playing hero again, scoring the game-winning goal to give the Flyers a 3-2 win over the Ducks.

The Flyers opened the scoring shortly after a power play ended in the middle of the first period. Jordan Weal got the puck behind the net to Nolan Patrick and the rookie threaded a pass to Ivan Provorov. Provorov's blast beat John Gibson to give the Flyers lead.

It was Provorov's first goal of the season and the first NHL point for Patrick, teammates in juniors with the Brandon Wheat Kings.

The Ducks tied the game up during 4-on-4 play just under four minutes later. A nice centering pass by Ondrej Kase was in the perfect spot for Antoine Vermette to bury it and even things up at 12:13 of the period.

After 20 minutes, the Flyers had the slight edge in shots, 15-13.

Shots were much harder to come by in the second period with very limited chances in the middle period.

The Flyers got the only goal, with Sean Couturier slipping a shot under Gibson to give the Flyers the lead at 13:09. It was Couturier's first of the season from Jake Voracek and Claude Giroux.

Less than a minute later, the Ducks got their first shot of the period on Elliott, who stopped all six shots thrown his way in the period. The Flyers also had just six shots in the period.

The Flyers had a great chance to extend the lead early in the third with a power play, but it quickly turned in the Ducks favor. A zone entry went bad with a poor cross-ice pass from Voracek to Giroux that was intercepted by Cam Fowler. Fowler raced in and unloaded a slap shot that beat Elliott to tie the game.

The Flyers heavily controlled play the rest of the period, but could not solve Gibson, so the game required overtime. Just 44 seconds into overtime, Couturier slipped a drop pass through to Simmonds, who fired a wrist shot past Gibson to give the Flyers the win.

It was Simmonds' fourth goal of the season. Couturier and Provorov both had assists, each recording their second point of the game.

Elliott made 21 saves on 23 shots in the win, his second of the season. Gibson stopped 34 of 37 shots in the game.

The Flyers are back in action, again on the road, when they face the defending Western Conference champion Nashville Predators on Tuesday night at 8 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• PHI Ivan Provorov (1) (Nolan Patrick, Jordan Weal) 8:19
• ANA Antoine Vermette (1) (Ondrej Kase, Manson) 12:13

2nd Period

• PHI Sean Couturier (1) (Jake Voracek, Claude Giroux) 13:09

3rd Period

• ANA Cam Fowler (1) SH (Unassisted) 3:40

Overtime

• PHI Wayne Simmonds (4) (Couturier, Provorov) 0:44

Game Statistics