Hayes gets 1st NHL hat trick in Flyers victory against Ducks

PHILADELPHIA -- Kevin Hayes scored his first NHL hat trick for the Philadelphia Flyers in a 5-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday.

Rasmus Ristolainen had a goal and an assist, and Morgan Frost scored for the Flyers (19-19-7), who rebounded from a 6-0 loss at the Boston Bruins on Monday.
Samuel Ersson made 25 saves for Philadelphia and won his fifth straight start (5-0-0).
"I think you need to answer," Flyers coach John Tortorella said. "Both teams played last night. We really spent a lot of our [pregame] meeting just talking about being simple and trying to play as fast as we can. I think in the back to backs, the team that starts the quickest I think has the biggest edge.
"I thought we had a really good first period. It was worrisome in how their goalie played, only coming away with one. They score, the team could have tightened up a little bit. But I thought we just stayed with it."

Adam Henrique and Frank Vatrano scored for the Ducks (12-28-5), who have lost five straight (0-4-1), including 4-3 in overtime at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday. Anthony Stolarz made 34 saves.
"I think it was just execution everywhere," Henrique said. "Certainly, [we] probably could have prevented a few of the goals with mistakes that we made, whether it be turnovers or whatever it was. That's where we didn't give ourselves an opportunity throughout the game."
Philadelphia defenseman Ivan Provorov played after not participating in warmups, when the Flyers wore special rainbow-themed jerseys as part of their Pride Night celebration.
"I respect everybody and I respect everybody's choices," said Provorov, who is Russian Orthodox. "My choice is to stay true to myself and my religion."

Hayes gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 13:32 of the first period. He took a pass from Tony DeAngelo in the right face-off circle, settled the puck and beat Stolarz to the short side.
Henrique tied it 1-1 off a feed from John Klingberg at 7:39 of the second period.
The forward has scored in three straight games but said it's dampened by Anaheim losing each.
"I just try to play," Henrique said. "Just try to play the right way, play for the linemates, be in the right position and just try to work and try to lead by example. ... It's nice, but certainly [I'd] rather have the two points."
Ristolainen scored short-handed for his first goal in 67 games to give Philadelphia a 2-1 lead at 12:43. Scott Laughton brought the puck out of the Flyers zone and centered to Ristolainen, who had a step on a defender and lifted a backhand under the crossbar.
It was Ristolainen's first goal since Jan. 22, 2022, and his first NHL short-handed goal.
"I don't have too many in me, so it's always nice one when you can score," Ristolainen said.

Frost made it 3-1 at 19:21 when he took a pass from James van Riemsdyk, dropped the puck between his skates and scored from the right side of the crease, and Hayes made it 4-1 at 2:30 of the third period on a one-timer from the slot.
Vatrano cut it to 4-2 at 18:51 when he redirected Kevin Shattenkirk's shot for a power-play goal.
Hayes completed his hat trick when he scored into an empty net with 44 seconds left for the 5-2 final.
He said he knew his teammates would be looking to get him the puck once Stolarz was pulled.
"We didn't really care who got it, but I'm sure Wade (Allison), [DeAngelo], Cam (York) and 'Laughts' were trying to find me," Hayes said.
NOTES: The Flyers lead the NHL with nine short-handed goals. Laughton, who had two assists and was plus-3, leads the NHL with seven short-handed points (three goals, four assists). ... Allison and Philadelphia forward Travis Konecny each had two assists. ... Flyers forward Patrick Brown led all skaters with five hits in his 100th NHL game. ... It's the third time the Ducks have lost five in a row (0-4-2 from Nov. 25-Dec. 4; 0-6-1 from Oct. 15-28). ... The win was Tortorella's 692nd, tying him with Dick Irvin for 12th in NHL history. He is 692-560-139 with 37 ties in 21 seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Rangers, Vancouver Canucks, Columbus Blue Jackets and the Flyers. … Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler and forward Troy Terry each was minus-3.