Flyers defeat Predators for fifth straight win

NASHVILLE -- Wayne Simmonds scored two goals to help the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-2 win against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Sunday.
It was the fifth straight win for the Flyers (14-10-3).
Rookie goalie Juuse Saros made 24 saves for the Predators (11-9-4), who have lost three of their past four games.
Simmonds gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead at 18:12 of the first period on a redirection on the power play. Jakub Voracek took the original shot and Simmonds redirected it past Saros for his 12th goal.
"They had great movement around the top of the box," Simmonds said. "[Voracek] told me to go back door if he was going to get it for a one-timer so I stuck my stick out back door and he hit it. It went in the net."

Calle Jarnkrok tied the game 1-1 at 3:17 of the first on a redirection from the left faceoff circle. Mattias Ekholm took the original shot from the point and Jarnkrok redirected the puck past Flyers goaltender Steve Mason for his fourth goal.
WATCH: All Flyers vs. Predators highlights
Mason made 30 saves.
"Just the effort from everyone for 60 minutes," Predators forward Filip Forsberg said. "There's no team in this League that's not going to show up and play. Everyone needs the points wherever you are in the standings. Obviously the desperation level has to be higher, even if it's from the start or in the last period. We've got to play 60 minutes."
Simmonds gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead at 6:47 of the second period on the power play. The puck deflected to Simmonds below the left faceoff circle by the crease and he beat Saros through the five-hole for his second goal of the game and 13th of the season.
"Just trying to get pucks toward the net," Simmonds said. "They had great pressure up top on [Voracek, Claude Giroux and Shayne Gostisbehere]. When you have pressure up top, you know you've got a 2-on-1 down low. Obviously it's an odd-man situation, so it's a 2-on-1 somewhere. We just tried to exploit it there."
Colin Wilson tied the game 2-2 at 11:19 of the second. Mike Fisher entered the zone and hit Wilson with the pass. Wilson made a forehand-to-backhand move that beat Mason for his fifth goal.

Michael Raffl gave the Flyers a 3-2 lead at 16:37 of the second. He beat Ekholm at the blue line and slid the puck past Saros on the forehand for his fifth goal.
"[Ekholm] was kind of trying to step up and first and changed his mind last second I thought so I had the feeling I had a step on him," Raffl said. "Just tried to move around him, and it worked out."
Chris VandeVelde scored an empty-net goal to make it 4-2 with 26.3 seconds left.

Flyers forward Matt Read left the game in the first period with an upper-body injury and did not return.
Forward Reid Boucher made his debut for the Predators. Nashville claimed Boucher off waivers Saturday from the New Jersey Devils.

Goal of the game

Simmonds displayed good patience on his second goal, waiting out Saros and sliding the puck past him. He waited long enough to open up some space between Saros' pads.

Save of the game

Mason made a save on Predators forward Frederick Gaudreau late in the second period from the right faceoff circle on a wrist shot. Gaudreau retrieved the puck from a scrum in front of the net, and Mason cut off the angle and made the save to preserve the 3-2 lead.

Unsung moment of the game

Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov blocked a shot from Predators forward Mike Ribeiro at 18:46 of the third period to preserve a 3-2 lead. Ribeiro got the puck below the right faceoff circle and caught Mason out of position. Provorov got in front of the shot and deflected it away from the net.

Highlight of the game

Raffl's goal to give the Flyers a 3-2 lead in the second period was a power move. He got around Ekholm and then went backhand-to-forehand to beat Saros near the post on the stick side.

They said it

"He's doing what he does every night. If there's a better guy in the League at net-front, whether it's on the power play or 5-on-5, I don't know who that is. He did a great job there tonight, but what I really like about [Simmonds] is he's on net-front, he's scoring goals, he's on the power play but he's a great, hard-nosed 200 foot player." -- Flyers coach Dave Hakstol on Wayne Simmonds

Need to know

Mason has started 10 of the past 11 games for the Flyers. … Forsberg had 10 shot attempts and five shots on goal. He has two goals in 25 games after having 33 goals in 82 last season.

What's next

Flyers: Host the Florida Panthers on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; FS-F, CSN-PH, NHL.TV)
Predators: Host the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; TVA Sports, ALT, FS-TN, NHL.TV)