Flyers hand Red Wings 6th straight loss

PHILADELPHIA --The Philadelphia Flyers handed the Detroit Red Wings their sixth straight loss with a 3-1 win at Wells Fargo Center on Sunday.

Scott Laughton scored in his 500th NHL game for Philadelphia (24-28-11), which won for the second time in 10 games (2-6-2). Carter Hart made 25 saves.
"Other than the first five minutes of the second period, I felt we were good," Flyers coach John Tortorella said. "I thought we forechecked well, I thought we had some grind in our game. ... I just thought we had the puck more, and I thought we defended well [and] blocked some good shots at certain times. I thought we played well."
David Perron scored for Detroit (28-26-9), which lost 4-1 at the New York Islanders on Saturday and has been outscored 27-9 during the losing streak. Ville Husso, made 34 saves after he was unavailable Saturday becuase of a lower-body injury.
"The margin for error is beyond razor-thin," Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. "What's really disappointing is both these games were very winnable and we put ourselves in position to win, and we just made some plays that didn't help us."

Detroit is six points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
"We definitely want to be in a different situation than we are right now," Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider said. "We're losing track on our big goal of making the playoffs."
Perron gave Detroit a 1-0 lead at 4:51 of the first period. After intercepting a pass by Morgan Frost inside the Red Wings' blue line, Perron finished a give-and-go with Andrew Copp by scoring on a one-timer in the slot.
Nicolas Deslauriers tied it 1-1 at 6:53 of the second period when he intercepted a pass by Jake Walman at Philadelphia's blue line and scored low glove side on a breakaway while short-handed.
Deslauriers has five goals in 63 games this season and 49 in 569 NHL games.
"I'm not here to score goals, but when I do, the guys are pumped," Deslauriers said.
Tortorella said Deslauriers' goal was the spark the Flyers needed.
"It's a huge play for us because the first five minutes [of the second] we just didn't have any energy. I thought we stopped playing," Tortorella said.
"First period I thought we played well, but the second period, and then 'Nic' ... you see the bench when he scores, they are so happy for him because of all the dirty stuff he has to do for this team. To see him score a goal, (he) makes a good stick check on the play. Huge play in the game to generate energy on our bench."

Noah Cates gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead at 12:57 when he tipped in a point shot by Nick Seeler. It was his fifth game-winning goal, the most among NHL rookies.
"You get a young kid like him, and he has a lot of minutes and a lot of responsibility, but I think the main thing for me is, we all know how good of a hockey player he is, but I think his maturity is somewhere else," Deslauriers said.
Cates, a 24-year-old forward, played 19:06 on Sunday and is averaging 17:37 of ice time per game. He has 27 points (10 goals, 17 assists) in 63 games this season, including four points on the power play and two while short-handed.
"I trust him in all situations, as you see," Tortorella said. "Good for him to get rewarded with a goal. I think as his career keeps going, I think he's going to feel more comfortable in offensive situations. ... I like calling it just what it is to be a pro. I think he understands really early on. He's a little bit older than some guys coming out of college (Cates attended the University of Minnesota Duluth), but I think he understands what it is and the intangibles you need to be a pro, and he's ahead of the game there."
Laughton scored an empty-net goal at 18:12 of the third period for the 3-1 final.
NOTES:Perron has two goals in his past five games following a 15-game drought. ... Detroit's six straight losses tie its season high. ... Philadelphia has 11 short-handed goals this season, which is tied with the Carolina Hurricanes for second in the NHL. The Edmonton Oilers are first with 12. ... Brendan Lemieux had one shot, five hits and was plus-3 in 14:24 in his Flyers debut after being acquired from the Los Angeles Kings on Friday. ... Philadelphia forward Tanner Laczynski had one shot and two hits in 8:48 in his first game since Dec. 5 because of a lower-body injury (missed 36 games). … Hart was 0-4-2 in his previous six starts.