PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Corey Perry had two goals and an assist and Ryan McDonagh scored and had a pair of assists to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 7-1 victory over the slumping Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday night.
Mathieu Joseph, Taylor Raddysh, Boris Katchouk and Pat Maroon also scored for the Lightning, who won their third in a row and ninth of their last 12. Victor Hedman had three assists to boost his team-leading total to 21. Brian Elliott, Tampa Bay’s backup goalie who played the previous four seasons with the Flyers, made 38 saves.
Cam Atkinson scored for the Flyers, who have lost eight in a row. Philadelphia is two losses away from tying the club record of 10 consecutive defeats. Carter Hart made 10 saves before being replaced by Martin Jones, who also had 10 saves.
The Flyers’ skid started when Tampa Bay visited Philadelphia on Nov. 18 and beat them in a 4-3 shootout. Then, the Lightning beat the Flyers at home 4-0 on Nov. 23.
Sunday’s game wrapped up the season series against Tampa Bay. But it wasn't pretty.
McDonagh and Perry scored in the first for Tampa Bay. Raddysh made it 3-0 with a hard slap shot from the right side that beat Hart on the glove side just 2:56 into the second period, and four minutes later, Katchouk knocked in a rebound that was just sitting in the crease.
Philadelphia was in a four-goal hole, and it got worse at 8:34 in the second, when Joseph scored a short-handed goal after Hart misplayed the puck near his own net. That was the end of the night for Hart, who was replaced by Jones.
Even when the Flyers got the puck across the goal line in the second, it didn’t count. Officials ruled on video review that the puck went off a high stick of Scott Laughton before going in.
Philadelphia has struggled to score all season, and have been outscored 36-13 during the eight-game losing streak. The Flyers entered averaging 2.4 goals per contest, which was 27th in the NHL. They haven’t netted more than three goals since Oct. 27, a span of 18 games.
The Flyers did, however, get a goal on the power play. Atkinson deflected home Claude Giroux’s wrister with 12:56 to play .
TRAINER’S ROOM
Lightning: Brayden Point (upper body) missed his eighth game in a row. Point will be sidelined for at least another four weeks. … LW Pierre-Edouard Bellemare took a hard shot to the skate in the final minute of the second period but returned for the third.
Flyers: Winger Joel Farabee injured his left shoulder sliding into the boards in the first period of Wednesday’s 4-1 loss at the Rangers. He won’t need surgery and is week-to-week, coach Alain Vigneault said Saturday. … C Patrick Brown returned to the lineup after missing the previous seven with a thumb injury. … C Derick Brassard (hip) was sidelined for the fifth straight contest. … C Sean Couturier suffered an apparent facial injury in the first period, as he skated with a face shield beginning in the second.
UP NEXT
Lightning: At Montreal on Tuesday night.
Flyers: Host Colorado on Monday night.
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