Recap: Carlsson Scores First NHL Hat Trick in 6-3 Loss to Flyers

Leo Carlsson scored his first career NHL hat trick, but the Ducks could not overcome an early three-goal deficit, falling 6-3 to the Philadelphia Flyers tonight at Honda Center.

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The loss, Anaheim's second in a row immediately following a six-game winning streak, dropped the Ducks to 7-6-0 on the season and 3-4-0 on home ice.

Carlsson scored all three goals for Anaheim, his fourth, fifth and sixth career markers in nine NHL games. Alex Killorn, Mason McTavish, Pavel Mintyukov, Troy Terry and Ryan Strome added assists. Lukas Dostal made 30 saves.

Sean Couturier, Cam Atkinson, Louie Belpedio, Travis Sanheim and Owen Tippett scored for the Flyers, who improved to 6-7-1. Samuel Ersson earned the win in net, stopping 35-of-38 Anaheim shots.

The Flyers claimed the night's first lead less than five minutes in, despite the initial few shifts being spent almost entirely in their defensive zone. Just seconds after a point-blank save from Ersson on McTavish, Egor Zamula fired a shot from the point on the opposite end that got blocked. The carrom went right to Couturier at the side of the net though, where the veteran center put Philly ahead on its first shot on goal of the game.

Couturier has points in nine straight matchups against the Ducks, his longest streak against any NHL opponent.

The goal seemed to give the visitors some life, as the rest of the opening period was all Philadelphia, including Atkinson's tip-in goal that made it 2-0 seven minutes prior to intermission.

Atkinson sits second among Flyers team leaders in goals (seven). He's also seventh among active American NHLers in career goals (243).

Dostal temporarily kept the lead from reaching three in the final minute of the frame, robbing Atkinson with a right-pad save on a shorthanded breakaway.

Instead the lead would hit three early in the second, when Joel Farabee's pass from the middle of the ice deflected off Mintyukov's stick and right to Belpedio, who roofed it over Dostal for a 3-0 Philly advantage.

The Flyer good fortune appeared to just continue from there, as on the very next shift Tyson Foerster's centering pass went off Sean Walker's foot and redirected home. The play would be reviewed though and Walker was ruled to have deliberately kicked the puck past Dostal, keeping the score at 3-0.

Carlsson then put Anaheim on the board late in the second with a wicked wrister on the power play, beating Ersson to the blocker side to bring the Ducks back within two.

With three goals in the loss, the 18-year-old Carlsson is now tied for second among team leaders (six) this season.

With the primary assist, Killorn collected his first point as a Duck.

McTavish also grabbed an assist on the power-play goal and now has points in seven of his last eight games.

Carlsson very nearly made it a one-goal game on another Anaheim power play early in the third, but Ersson flashed the gove hand in tight to turn the talented rookie aside.

Sanheim restored Philly's three goal lead a few shifts later with his second goal, and 12th point, of the season, taking advantage of a Ducks defensive zone breakdown to beat Dostal with a backhand move in tight.

Carlsson would then again bring the Ducks within two, for the second of three times, finishing a cross-seam pass from Killorn on an odd-man rush, but Tippett scored for Philadelphia a few minutes later to quiet any hopes of yet another heroic Anaheim comeback and all but seal Philly's road victory.

Killorn's second helper of the evening marked his first multi-point game as a Duck.

With the secondary assist, Mintyukov grabbed his ninth point of the season, second among all NHL first-year players and tops among rookie blueliners.

Carlsson completed the hat trick with 1:28 to play, shoveling home a loose puck in the Philly crease up over the pad of the lunging Ersson.

Carlsson is now second among NHL rookies in goals (six), trailing only Chicago's Connor Bedard.

The Ducks conclude a five-game homestand Sunday against San Jose.