Hart makes 40 saves, Flyers end slide with win against Ducks

PHILADELPHIA -- Carter Hart made 40 saves for the Philadelphia Flyers in a 4-1 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday.

Travis Konecny, Philadelphia's leading scorer with 29 points (11 goals, 18 assists), had an assist in his return to the lineup after missing three games with a concussion, and the Flyers (18-11-5) ended a three-game losing streak.
Hart won on the one-year anniversary of his recall from the American Hockey League ahead of his NHL debut Dec. 18, 2018.
WATCH: [ALL Ducks vs. Flyers highlights]
"I didn't even realize it," Hart said. "It's gone by really quick, that's for sure. ... It was a must-win game. We needed to get things turned around, and we did that tonight."
Rickard Rakell scored, and John Gibson made 27 saves for Anaheim (14-16-4).
"Some tough breakdowns," Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg said. "I think we're doing some good stuff out there. Over the course of 60 minutes, we didn't play good enough. Any time you score one goal, it's going to be tough to win."
Philadelphia was motivated by the presence of forward Oskar Lindblom, who the Flyers announced Friday has been diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a form of bone cancer. There was a video tribute for the 23-year-old during the first period, and the Flyers wore Hockey Fights Cancer jerseys during warmups.

Lindblom visited with teammates during the morning skate and again after the game.
"It was touching, the tribute they did for him there," Konecny said. "There was definitely a lot of energy in here tonight for him. It's tough. He's a great kid. ... It's tough when you know him pretty closely. We just have to support him."
Claude Giroux gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead 55 seconds into the second period when he tapped in a backdoor pass from Konecny.

David Kase tipped a Travis Sanheim shot past Gibson at 4:14 to put Philadelphia ahead 2-0. It was Kase's first NHL goal and came in his first NHL game against his brother, Ducks forward Ondrej Kase.
David Kase was recalled from Lehigh Valley of the AHL on Dec. 11 and was playing his fourth NHL game.
Rakell tipped a shot by Hampus Lindholm past Hart for a power-play goal to get the Ducks within 2-1 at 16:33.

Anaheim's 41 shots on goal were its second most this season (42 against the New York Rangers on Dec. 14), but coach Dallas Eakins said there was too much individual play from his team.
"When we were playing together, we were playing very well," he said. "We were getting our chances, we weren't playing in our zone, and then we would turn the puck back or we try to be guys individually, and you can't win in this league by yourself."
Jakub Voracek put the Flyers ahead 3-1 at 4:11 of the third period when he scored from the right side on a 2-on-1 rush.

Hart aggressively challenged Ryan Getzlaf on the rush and stopped his slap shot from the right face-off circle with 8:27 remaining to keep Philadelphia ahead by two.
"That save he made on Getzlaf when he came in, that's a [heck] of a stop, and it's the kind of save that gives the guys a little motivation to try to step it up a little bit more," Giroux said. "He made the saves tonight that we needed."
Sean Couturier scored an empty-net goal with eight seconds remaining for the 4-1 final.

They said it

"There's times where I was really encouraged and proud of the way we were playing, and then there was time we were shaking our heads, like you know, 'What are we doing?'" -- Ducks coach Dallas Eakins
"I'm happy we win tonight against him and I'm the winner in my family." -- Flyers forward David Kase on playing against his brother, Ducks forward Ondrej Kase

Need to know

Ducks forward Troy Terry left the game with a lower-body injury from a hit by Flyers forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel with 1:58 remaining in the second period. Aube-Kubel received a minor penalty for kneeing. ... Silfverberg had an assist on Rakell's goal to extend his point streak to five games (two goals, three assists). ... The Flyers went 0-for-2 on the power play and are 1-for-18 in their past eight games.

What's next

Ducks: At the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; MSG+, PRIME, NHL.TV)
Flyers: Host the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, NBCSP, MSG-B, NHL.TV)