Stolarz Makes 29 Saves, Flyers Beat Flames 5-3
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Anthony Stolarz made 29 saves for his first NHL victory in the Philadelphia Flyers' 5-3 win over the Calgary Flames on Sunday night.
Stolarz also became the first New Jersey native to appear in goal in an NHL game. The 22-year-old was born in Edison, about 60 miles northeast of Philadelphia.
Michael Raffl, Jakub Voracek, Chris VandeVelde, Wayne Simmonds and Roman Lyubimov scored to help the Flyers snap a two-game losing streak and improve to 10-10-3.
T.J. Brodie, Matthew Tkachuk and Alex Chiasson scored for the Flames. They are 10-13-1 overal, and 3-2-0 on a six-game trip that will end Monday night against the New York Islanders.
Stolarz was drafted by the Flyers in the second round in 2012 and had been recalled six other times before making his NHL debut as the tallest goalie (6-foot-6) in Flyers history.
Stolarz allowed a short-handed goal on the second shot he faced, but stopped the next 23 shots and saw the Flyers take a 4-1 lead into the third period.
The Flames grabbed an early lead when Brodie lifted a short-handed backhander under Stolarz's catching arm for his first goal of the season. It was Calgary's league-leading fourth short-handed goal.
The Flyers tied it at 17:42 when Voracek swung around the back of the net and fed Raffl for his fourth goal of the season. Voracek gave the Flyers their first lead of the game 52 seconds into the second period with his first power-play goal. Voracek's intended pass for Wayne Simmonds deflected off Flames defenseman Mark Giordano and over Johnson for his eighth goal of the season.
The Flyers made it 4-1 on goals by VandeVelde and Simmonds 24 seconds apart. VandeVelde parked in the slot and redirected a pass from Lyubimov past Johnson for his fourth goal of the season.
Shortly after the ensuing faceoff, Simmonds broke away from the Calgary defense and put a backhander past Johnson for his team-high 11th goal.
The Flames drew within 4-2 8:05 into final period on Tkachuk's sixth goal of the season, but Lyubimov restored the Flyers' three-goal lead with his fourth goal of the season off a Michael Del Zotto rebound.
Chiasson scored the Flames' second short-handed goal of the night with 1:50 remaining.
NOTES: Flyers C Claude Giroux moved into 10th on the Flyers' all-time scoring list with his 536th point, an assist on a second-period goal by Jakub Voracek. . Flyers D Brandon Manning sat out with an undisclosed injury and was replaced by Michael Del Zotto. ... Flames RW Kris Versteeg returned to the lineup after missing 10 of the previous 11 games.
UP NEXT
Flyers: Host Boston on Tuesday night.
Flames: Visit the New York Islanders on Monday night.
