ANAHEIM — Samuel Ersson made 28 saves for the Philadelphia Flyers in their third straight win, 4-1 against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Monday.
Ersson, who made his fourth consecutive start since he was recalled from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League on Dec. 21, came within 40 seconds of his first NHL shutout Ryan Strome scored at 19:20 of the third period for Anaheim.
He is 3-0-0 with a 2.90 goals-against average and .905 save percentage.
“I’m still adapting a little bit, but I did feel today’s game was my best game yet,” Ersson said. “I’m starting to feel more comfortable out there with the reads and the pace of the game.”
Travis Konecny and Joel Farabee each had a goal and an assist, and Noah Cates and Kevin Hayes each had two assists for the Flyers (14-17-7), who won all three games against the California-based teams on the same trip for the first time in their history.
“We’re going to work hard every night,” Konecny said. “I feel like we’re getting back to where we were at the beginning of the year. It doesn’t matter who we play against, it’s the same way. We play hard, and hopefully it pays off.”
Video: PHI@ANA: Farabee slips in a backhander in tight
John Gibson made 29 saves for the Ducks (10-24-4), who are 1-3-1 on their 10-game homestand.
“[The Flyers] just did the little things, they didn’t shoot themselves in the foot, they played a simple game and they took advantage of our mistakes,” Strome said. “We could take a page out of their book and kind of learn from that. I think the simple play was often the right play tonight, and they just kept getting pucks behind us and playing simply, playing hard, playing in straight lines.”
Farabee gave Philadelphia a 1-0 lead at 7:42 of the first period. Cates had back-to-back shots blocked by Simon Benoit and John Klingbergbut the second rebound went to Farabee in front of the crease, where he spun and scored between Gibson’s pads with a backhand.
Morgan Frost made it 2-0 at 10:36 when he brought the puck into the offensive zone and beat Gibson with a wrist shot from above the left face-off circle.
Frost has nine points (five goals, four assists) in the past 10 games.
“There’s still a lot of things that I need to work on and a lot of mistakes I made out there, but I think I’m creating more than I was in past seasons or at the beginning of the year,” Frost said. “I just want to keep building on that.”
Konecny scored for the fourth straight game to make it 3-0 at 3:00 of the second period, finishing a 2-on-1 with Hayes.
Video: PHI@ANA: Konecny sends one-timer into open net
The goal extended Konecny’s point streak to six games (seven goals, four assists).
“Tonight we weren’t super sharp, but we found a way,” Konecny said of his line with Farabee and Cates. “I really like playing with these guys. They both make a lot of plays that make the game easier, but they also play the right way.”
Ersson made 14 saves in the second.
“He’s super impressive,” Konecny said of Ersson. “He’s so calm back there. It looks like he’s been here for a while.”
Scott Laughton scored on a wraparound at 8:26 of the third period for a 4-0 lead, extending his point streak to a season-high four games (three goals, three assists).
Video: PHI@ANA: Laughton wraps around the net and scores
Strome ended Ersson’s shutout in the last minute with a wrist shot from between the circles for the 4-1 final.
“I think that every guy can look in the mirror and have better execution starting in practice, starting in the morning skate,” Strome said. “Everyone’s got to take a little bit of individual pride in their practicing and their habits and just become a little bit better and a little bit sharper.”
NOTES: It was Konecny’s fifth multipoint game since Dec. 20, the most by any NHL player over that span. He has six goals and five assists during an eight-game road point streak. … Philadelphia has won three in a row for the first time since its first three games of the season. … Gibson has allowed 10 goals in the past two games.
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