James van Riemsdyk scored two goals and Patrick Brown scored his first goal of the season, leading the Philadelphia Flyers to a 5-3 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday night.
Scott Laughton and Claude Giroux also scored, and Travis Konecny had two assists for the Flyers, who scored twice in a 73-second span of the second period to break a 2-all tie.
Martin Jones had 29 saves for the Flyers, who won their second straight after breaking a 10-game winless streak with a 4-3 victory in Las Vegas on Friday. The Flyers are 7-3-1 against the Western Conference.
“Obviously the confidence isn't at a high when you lose 10 in a row,” said Laughton, whose Flyers completed a stretch of five games in seven days.
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“To go into Vegas and to play a back-to-back here, legs aren't probably the best, but you have to play a smart game and guys did that tonight.”
Brown made it 3-2 at 11:21 of the second, intercepting a cross-ice pass by Coyotes goaltender Karel Vejmelka and scoring into an open net.
Vejmelka had come out of his net to play a long pass near the right circle, but did no get much on his pass.
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“The way he worked to get up the ice,” interim coach Mike Yeo said of Brown. “Obviously, that's getting a bounce, But I like to think if you do the right things, you get bounces. He’s a guy, one of many, who is giving us everything he has right now.”
Van Riemsdyk tipped in a shot from the right side by Konecny on a power play 73 seconds later for a 4-2 lead, the Flyers’ third goal of the period.
Van Riemsdyk has three goals in the last two games.
“'Reemer' is always working, always doing the right things," Konecny said. “He's just a natural goal scorer.”
Giroux made it 5-2 midway through the third period.
Jay Beagle, Nick Schmaltz and Lawson Crouse scored for the Coyotes, who have lost five in a row and seven of eight. Defenseman Cam Dineen had two assists as the Coyotes played without injured defensemen Jacob Chychrun.
“I just wanted to play simple, do my job,” Dineen said.
Vejemlka had 29 saves for the Coyotes, also playing the second of a back-to-back.
Van Riemsdyk scored his first goal 74 seconds into the game when he stole the puck from Kyle Capobianco at center ice and skated in unchallenged. Beagle answered with his first of the season 39 seconds later on a power play to tie it at 1-all.
Laughton scored five minutes into the second period for a 2-1 lead, before Schmaltz tied it at 10:38 with his first.
The tie did not last long. Vejmelka came out of his net into the right circle to play a long pass, but his weak cross-ice pass was intercepted b Brown for an easy goal and the Flyers scored the next two goals for a 5-2 lead.
“The last couple of games, the structure has been a lot better, and when you do that you are in a position to make plays,” Jones said. “And also in better position defensively as well. Good couple games to build off of.”
NOTES
Coyotes D Jakob Chychrun (upper body) and F Ryan Dzingel (lower body) were scratched after suffering injuries in a 3-1 loss to Florida on Friday … Laughton's goal, his sixth of the season, came in his 400th career game, all with the Flyers. ...Flyers D Keith Yandle (948) and Coyotes F Phil Kessel (927) are 2-3 in NHL history in consecutive games played. Doug Jarvis (964) leads the way. … Coyotes F Loui Eriksson had an assist Saturday and is two assists shy of 350 for his career and two points shy of 600 career points. If he hits those marks, he would be the eighth NHL player from Sweden with 250 goals, 350 assists, 600 points and 1,000 games. … Shayne Gostisbehere played this first seven seasons with the Flyers, scoring 60 goals and 219 points. He leads the Coyotes with 13 assists in his first season.
UP NEXT
Flyers: Host New Jersey on Tuesday.
Coyotes: Host the New York Rangers on Wednesday.
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