DETROIT — The Flyers couldn’t seem to catch a break Sunday night, so they kept extending the game until luck wasn’t a factor.
Jakub Voracek scored the team's second shootout goal and Michal Neuvirth made 29 saves — and two more during the shootout — to help the Flyers escape Detroit with a 2-1 win over the Red Wings (see Instant Replay).
“It was huge,” Voracek, who assisted on Claude Giroux’s tying goal in the third period, said. “It was a tough, emotional game.
“For two periods I thought they were the better team but we came back in third and made a huge comeback.”
The two precious points extended the team’s run of games with at least one point to six. They’ve collected 11 of a possible 12 points during their last six games as they aim to get into the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
Before flying to Detroit, the Flyers on Saturday had their four-game winning streak snapped as they stomached a shootout loss to the New York Rangers. It prompted Wayne Simmonds to say, "Shootouts suck."
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But they got one back Sunday, improving to 32-66 lifetime in the skills competition.
“We were determined. We need these points to get back in the race,” Simmonds said. “We’ve got to push, push, push to get back into the race and that’s what we’re going to do.”
The win left the Flyers two points behind Montreal for the conference’s final wild-card berth.
The victory was just the Flyers' third at Joe Louis Arena in 28 years and the team seemed snakebitten for most of regulation (see highlights).
Detroit got its lone goal after Niklas Kronwall’s slap shot struck Radko Gudas’ glove and dribbled past Neuvirth.
Flyers coach Dave Hakstol challenged the call, claiming Darren Helm interfered with the goalie. Replays upheld the initial call and Kronwall got credit for his third goal of the season.
The Flyers appeared close to a dramatic regulation victory before the bad luck struck again.
Shayne Gostisbehere seemed to score the game-winning goal with 1.5 seconds to play in regulation but the marker was disallowed, and following review, confirmed as replays showed Wayne Simmonds interfered with goalie Petr Mrazek.
Neuvirth made three saves during overtime to force the shooutout, in which Claude Giroux — who tied the game with his 13th goal of the season in the third — beat Mrazek on the Flyers' second shot and Voracek ended the contest with a slap shot.
During the shootout, Neuvirth only allowed a goal by Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk.
Detroit, fresh off a strong western road trip, outshot the Flyers 23-16 in the first two periods but Hakstol's club found new life in the third and beyond. The Red Wings managed just seven shots the rest of the night and the Flyers kept getting better scoring chances.
“We did a good job battling back in the third and getting it to overtime,” Giroux said. “They’re one of the fastest teams we’ve played this year. At one point during the game they were all over us and we just slowed the game down and went back to basics.”
Neuvirth, making his first start since Jan. 5, kept the Flyers in the game while Detroit dominated. He made a huge save on Tomas Tatar’s breakaway attempt in the third to keep the score knotted.
“[Neuvirth] made some point-blank saves and stood tall and helped us get the win,” Simmonds said.
The only sour note for the Flyers came just 2:20 into the game when forward Ryan White was ejected after officials ruled he intentionally struck Detroit’s Tomas Jurco in the head. The game misconduct penalty includes a mandatory suspension until the NHL reviews the play (see story).
The league could extend the discipline.
NBCSN replays showed White lowering his shoulder just before making contact with Jurco’s head. The Detroit forward did not appear to be seriously injured and remained in the game.
Neither White nor Hakstol discussed the penalty after the game.