CALGARY, Alberta (AP) 鈥� Wade Allison scored the game-winner and fellow rookie Samuel Ersson made 32 saves to maintain his perfect record as the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Calgary Flames 4-3 on Monday.
Travis Konecny and Tony DeAngelo each had a goal and an assist for Philadelphia. Nicolas Deslauriers also scored as the Flyers snapped a four-game losing streak.
Mikael Backlund and Andrew Mangiapane had a goal an assist each for Calgary while Tyler Toffoli notched his team-leading 23rd.
Ersson is the eighth goaltender in NHL history to start his career 6-0-0.
鈥淚t鈥檚 fun, it鈥檚 special, but I鈥檓 just trying to make my spot here on the team,鈥� said the 23-year-old Ersson, who was a fifth-round pick of the Flyers in 2018. 鈥淓very game is huge for me here. I really have to focus on taking it game by game.鈥�
At the other end, the struggles continue for Jacob Markstrom, who had 18 stops. A finalist last season for the Vezina Trophy as the league鈥檚 top goaltender, Markstrom is 15-14-7 record and has not won consecutive starts since mid-December.
Down 3-1 to start the third period, Calgary got it back to even when Toffoli scored from a sharp angle at 4:38 and, less than five minutes later after a stretch of tremendous pressure, Mangiapane rattled in a rebound.
But the Flyers retook the lead at 11:33 on a defensive breakdown when James Van Riemsdyk got free in the slot and set up Allison at the far post for his eighth goal.
鈥淏ig goal for us. We were bending a little bit but we didn鈥檛 break,鈥� said Flyers coach John Tortorella. 鈥淎nytime when you鈥檙e up in the third, the tendency is to sit back a little bit or the other team pushes a little bit more. We found a way. We closed it off in the middle of the ice and blocked a lot of shots.鈥�
The Flames remain two points back of Minnesota, which occupies the second wild card spot in the Western Conference. The Wild also hold a game in hand.
鈥淲e believe in each other and we鈥檙e going to keep grinding and we鈥檙e gonna keep giving our best,鈥� said Backlund. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not gonna give up, we鈥檙e gonna keep pushing ourselves here to get to where we want to be.鈥�
Philadelphia scored first at 16:59 when Konecny broke down the left wing, cut inside to sidestep the backcheck of Noah Hanifin, and beat Markstrom blocker side from 25 feet out.
The Flyers made it 2-0 at 7:30 of the second when Cam York hopped out of the penalty box to corral a loose puck at center and seconds later on a 2-on-1, his centering pass to Deslauriers was deflected in.
Backlund鈥檚 goal less than 90 seconds later cut the deficit to one, but Philadelphia restored its two-goal cushion at 11:31 when DeAngelo鈥檚 wrist shot from 40 feet out beat Markstrom over his glove.
Calgary failed to take advantage of a Philadelphia penalty kill that had surrendered three goals on its last five man disadvantages, going 0-for-4 on the power play. The Flyers finished 0-for-1.
LINDHOLM RETURNS
Elias Lindholm returned to his spot as center on the Flames No. 1 line after missing last game due to the birth of his first child. Adam Ruzicka, his replacement last game, stayed in the line-up, dropping down to center the fourth line.
UP NEXT
Flyers: Finish a four-game road trip at Edmonton on Tuesday night.
Flames: Kick off a three-game road trip at Arizona on Wednesday night.
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