Van Riemsdyk scores twice for Flyers in victory against Coyotes

GLENDALE, Ariz. --James van Riemsdyk scored two goals, and the Philadelphia Flyers won their second straight after losing 10 in a row, 5-3 against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on Saturday.

Travis Konecny had two assists, and Martin Jones made 29 saves for the Flyers (10-12-4), who swept back-to-back games. They defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 on Friday.
"Obviously the confidence isn't high when you lose 10 in a row, so to go into Vegas and play a back to back here, I think guys did a really good job," Flyers forward Scott Laughton said. "The legs aren't probably the best, but you have to play a smart game and we did that tonight."
Nick Schmaltz had a goal and an assist, and Cam Dineen had two assists filling in for the injured Jakob Chychrun for the Coyotes (5-20-2), who lost their fifth straight and seventh in eight games. Karel Vejmelka made 29 saves but made a key mistake on Philadelphia's go-ahead goal.
Patrick Brown scored the first of three consecutive Flyers goals, intercepting Vejmelka's clearing attempt and scoring into an unoccupied net for a 3-2 lead at 11:21. Brown's goal was his first since Feb. 23, 2020 when he was with the Golden Knights.
Van Riemsdyk redirected Konecny's shot from the right circle on a power play for his second of the game, making it 4-2 at 12:34. Claude Giroux pushed it to 5-2 by finishing off a rush with Cam Atkinson at 7:50 of the third.
"I think we just have a mindset now of attacking, we don't need to waste time, setting up all the time and trying to perfect plays," Konecny said. "Just read and react and work and get pucks to the net, and pucks are going to go in if you're doing the right things."

Van Riemsdyk has three goals in two games after scoring two in his first 24 games.
"He had a couple of big goals for us, and a big one last night for us. I think he'll get on a roll," Laughton said. "He can score in bunches and it's huge for our team to get him going."
Lawson Crouse scored at 11:35 for the 5-3 final.
"It seems like when they would get one, they'd get another one right after, and I think that's something that we need to tighten up on," Crouse said. "When you're just chasing it, you're forced to try to make extra plays."
Van Riemsdyk stole the puck from defenseman Kyle Capobianco in the neutral zone and scored unassisted for a 1-0 Flyers lead at 1:14 of the first.
Flyers coach Mike Yeo could sense his team's confidence building through the Vegas game and continuing into Arizona.
"In both the team game and their individual games, I think that's going to do a lot for us going forward," Yeo said. "Especially when you're harping on certain things that you want guys to do, and then you start to get the results."

Jay Beagle scored 39 seconds later to make it 1-1 at 1:53, his first goal since Feb. 1 when he was with the Vancouver Canucks. Beagle sat out the third period with a lower-body injury, and coach Andre Tourigny did not have an update after the game.
Konecny lost the puck while driving to the net but Laughton gained control and scored in close for a 2-1 Flyers lead at 5:26 of the second.
"One of the things we've been talking about in the last couple of days is just trusting your teammate and knowing that they're going to be in the right spots," Konecny said. "`Laughty' always plays the right way and gets rewarded for it."
Schmaltz, who missed 18 games with an upper-body injury before returning in a 3-1 loss to the Florida Panthers on Friday, scored his first of the season to tie it 2-2 at 10:38.
"I don't think that they took control of the game, I think three plays in a row made the difference," Tourigny said. "I think we did good things."
NOTES: Giroux has 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) in 20 games against Arizona. … Philadelphia has three power-play goals in two games after scoring three in their previous 11 games. … Chychrun and Coyotes forward Ryan Dzingel were out after each sustained an upper-body injury against Florida. … Arizona has been outscored 38-10 in the second period. … The Flyers claimed Brown off waivers from the Golden Knights on Oct. 11. … Beagle was acquired in a trade with the Canucks on July 23.