National Hockey League
Philadelphia 4, St. Louis 2
When: 8:00 PM ET, Thursday, December 10, 2015
Where: Scottrade Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Referees: Jon McIsaac, Tim Peel
Linesmen: Matt MacPherson, Ryan Gibbons
Attendance: 14428

ST. LOUIS - Winning a game in St. Louis has not been easy for the Philadelphia Flyers in recent years, but they picked a good time to try to end that drought.

The Flyers have been on a roll on the road, coming into Thursday night's game against the Blues riding a three-game winning streak away from home.

A three-goal outburst in the second period, including a goal and an assist from center Claude Giroux, helped the Flyers extend that streak with a 4-2 win -- their first victory in St. Louis in almost 10 years.

"I think we do a good job on the road kind of keeping our composure and waiting for our opportunity." Giroux said.

That opportunity against the Blues came in the second period, when the Flyers got goals 3:24 apart from left wing Michael Raffl and left wing Matt Read to take a 2-1 lead after the Blues had scored the game's first goal by right wing Robby Fabbri.

Giroux capped the big period with his 11th goal of the year with 1:54 to play, skating around Blues left wing Magnus Paajarvi and flipping a backhander past goalie Brian Elliott.

"He's had a few when you see it every day in practice or whatever, but in the game that's pretty amazing to watch him put it under the d-man's stick and was able to make the deak at full speed," said defenseman Luke Schenn.

The win was the first by the Flyers in St. Louis since Dec. 17, 2005, snapping a four-game losing streak that included being shut out in their last two games. This is the first time the Flyers have won more than three road games in a row since a five-game road winning streak in 2011.

"I think we've been playing very good hockey in the last two or three weeks," Read said. "We've let a couple slip away, but even in the last couple games we've been playing really good hockey and maybe just on the road things are going our way or something, but I think in the last month we've been playing a lot better hockey then we started off with and our record's coming around."

Giroux's goal was his first in nine career games against the Blues and gave him at least one goal against every team he has played in his NHL career.

The Blues cut the lead to 3-2 on a power-play goal from center David Backes 7:37 into the third period, but the Flyers added an empty-net goal from center Ryan White with two seconds to play. Giroux earned his second assist on the goal, completing a three-point night.

Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said his team lost the game in the second period for one simple reason,

"We stopped checking," Hitchcock said. "(That) opened up gaps, had some soft plays in the scoring areas against us and that gave them the three goals. It's the common denominator in four of the last six games. This is a league that the more you check, the more you have the puck ... When you are inconsistent in that level you open it up. This has been an ongoing theme for a little while and we've got to get it solved.

"To me checking is a mindset. It's a collective effort; it has to be there if you expect to win on a consistent basis. That allows you to make plays, it allows you to have the puck and build momentum."

Momentum has been hard to come by for the Blues, who once again failed to win back to back games. They have not won two games in a row since they had a three-game winning streak from Nov. 4-10.

"Our game just isn't consistent enough," said defenseman Jay Bouwmeester. "Whatever you do you have to find a way to figure it out. The games don't get easier."

NOTES: D Radko Gudas returned to the Flyers' lineup after serving a three-game suspension for an illegal hit on Ottawa C Mika Zibanejad. ... Healthy scratches for the Blues were C Scott Gomez and D Robert Bortuzzo, who spent part of the morning skate working out at right wing, signaling a possible position switch in the near future. ... Philadelphia C Sam Gagner, who has missed seven consecutive games because of a concussion, has been cleared to play and is on the road trip but was not in the lineup Thursday night. ... The Flyers played the front end of back-to-back road games, playing the Stars in Dallas on Friday night. The Stars will then turn around and come to St. Louis to play the Blues on Saturday night.
Top Game Performances
 
Philadelphia   St. Louis
Claude Giroux 3 Points David Backes 1
Claude Giroux 1 Goals David Backes 1
Claude Giroux 2 Assists Dmitrij Jaskin 1
N/A Power Play Goals David Backes 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Michal Neuvirth .946 Save Percentage Brian Elliott .893
Michal Neuvirth 35 Saves Brian Elliott 25
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Philadelphia 29 4 0-1 1-2 6 19
St. Louis 37 2 1-2 1-1 4 39
Upcoming Games
  • St. Louis will play their next game at home against Dallas. The Blues have a W/L % of .471 after a win and .667 after a loss.
  • Philadelphia will play their next game on the road against Dallas. The Flyers have a W/L % of .455 after a win and .389 after a loss.