Steve Mason makes 42 saves, Flyers win sixth in row

PHILADELPHIA -- Jakub Voracek scored with 8.6 seconds remaining in overtime to lift the Philadelphia Flyers to their sixth straight win, 3-2 against the Florida Panthers at Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday.
Flyers center Claude Giroux knocked the puck off defenseman Mike Matheson's stick in front of the Panthers net, and Voracek spun and beat goalie James Reimer from in close.
It is Philadelphia's longest winning streak since it won seven in a row from Dec. 2-15, 2011.

WATCH: All Panthers vs. Flyers highlights
Wayne Simmonds scored two goals, and Steve Mason made 42 saves for the Flyers (15-10-3).
Jussi Jokinen and Aleksander Barkov scored for the Panthers (12-11-4), and Reimer made 22 saves.
The Flyers were outshot 44-25, including 17-4 in the third period, and surrendered a one-goal lead when Jokinen scored with 4:46 remaining in the third to tie it 3-3.
"I think a month and a half ago, we [would have allowed] two, three goals in that third period, and we're talking about something different now," said Simmonds, who put Philadelphia ahead 2-1 with a power-play goal at 10:08 of the second period. "But great goaltending, little bit of luck. It happened to go our way tonight."
Simmonds was the beneficiary of some of that luck. The Flyers were outshot 15-6 in the first period, but he scored to tie it 1-1 with 2:53 left in the period when his shot from just inside the blue line went off Panthers defenseman Keith Yandle's stick and past Reimer.
"Sometimes you get bounces," Simmonds said. "I think early in the year we weren't getting anything. Things are starting to turn our way. I don't think it's luck. I think you have to force things to turn your way. We've been working hard as a group. I think we have to do better than we did tonight, but overall the effort level over the last 10, 15 games has been great."

Mason, who was NHL First Star for the week ending Dec. 4, had another strong game. At 5:50 of the third period, he was on his side along the goal line to stop Jokinen, and with 1:57 remaining in overtime, he aggressively came out to make a save on Aaron Ekblad.
"It was a game where you had to come up with big saves," Mason said. "We spent a lot of time in our own end. I think it was good to come up with the two points, but I think we all know we have to be better."
The Panthers lost in overtime for the second straight night following their 4-3 loss at the Boston Bruins on Monday. They went 1-3-2 on their season-high, six-game road trip, but coach Tom Rowe said he was pleased with how they played.
"I told the guys after the game, as frustrating as it is and as mad as some of you might be, there's too many positives to get down," he said.
Barkov scored his fifth goal to give Florida a 1-0 lead at 15:40 of the first period.

Goal of the game

Voracek said he was tired and just reacted on the winning goal. "It happened, and I just spun around and I knew if I shoot it quick that he wouldn't be able to get down, so I wristed it and it went in."

Save of the game

Mason stopped Ekblad's shot from the point at 5:48 of the third period but couldn't control the rebound. Jokinen put a shot on net from a sharp angle from the left side, but Mason fell back and made a desperation lunge to get his glove on the puck.

Unsung moment of the game

Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere made two nice plays to hold the puck in the Panthers zone to set up Simmonds' second goal. He raced over to hold in a clearing attempt on the wall, then barely kept it from crossing over the blue line.

Highlight of the game

At 3:19 of overtime, Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov was defending a 2-on-1 when he jumped into the lane to block Reilly Smith's shot from the right side. "The play [Provorov] made is potentially a game-saving play right there," Philadelphia coach Dave Hakstol said.

They said it

"Certain times you feel like you deserve more, especially when you have over 40 shots in a game and only score a couple goals. That's tough. There are definitely a lot of positives, and I think we got to work off of those." -- Panthers forward Reilly Smith
"One hundred percent he deserves it. He's two goals shy of [leading the League], but his overall game, he's [penalty] killing well, he's playing defense really well, he's scoring on the power play, he's scoring 5-on-5. I think he's our best … he's our MVP so far." -- Flyers forward Jakub Voracek on Wayne Simmonds

Need to know

After leaving in the first period against the Bruins because of a lower-body injury, Yandle played his 578th consecutive game. It's the 10th-longest streak in NHL history, second among active players behind Andrew Cogliano of the Anaheim Ducks (730). … Simmonds' power-play goal ended Florida's streak of 18 consecutive successful penalty kills. … Giroux is tied with Hockey Hall of Fame member Eric Lindros and Rick MacLeish for fifth place in Flyers history with 369 assists after setting up Voracek's overtime goal. … Andrew MacDonald's assist on Simmonds' first goal was his 100th in the NHL.

What's next

Panthers: Host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-F, ROOT, NHL.TV)
Flyers:Host the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; CSN-PH, SNOL, NHL.TV)