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Winless Flyers play host to Ducks

Oct 14, 2014 - 3:00 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Philadelphia Flyers will get a fourth shot at picking up their first win of the season when they welcome the Anaheim Ducks for Tuesday's clash at Wells Fargo Center.

The Flyers have lost their first three games for a second straight season, going 0-2-1 to begin 2014-15. Last season, Philadelphia went 0-3-0 out of the gate and the slow start cost head coach Peter Laviolette his job.

Current head coach Craig Berube led the Flyers to a win in their fourth game of 2013-14 after taking over for Laviolette, and he hopes to get Philly in the win column at the same stage of the new campaign. Berube guided Philadelphia to the playoffs last season despite the team's 1-7-0 record to begin the year.

After losing to Boston and New Jersey to begin 2014-15, the Flyers appeared well on their way to a victory in Saturday's home test against Montreal. Philadelphia scored two quick goals in the early stages of the first period and carried a 3-0 lead into the third stanza before the Canadiens stormed back to post a 4-3 shootout victory.

Wayne Simmonds' second goal of the night and fourth of the season staked the Flyers to a 3-0 lead just 55 seconds into the second period, but Philly was unable to get another puck past Carey Price. Andrei Markov, Tomas Plekanec and Alex Galchenyuk each scored in the third period for Montreal, while P.A. Parenteau notched the lone goal of the shootout.

After Matt Read shot his wrister high and over the net, Parenteau ended the fourth round and the contest by beating Ray Emery with a quick shot inside the right post.

Emery made 35 saves in the setback, while Michael Raffl scored the other Flyers goal.

Simmonds, meanwhile, continued his hot start to the season, but the winger was obviously disappointed his team couldn't find a way to win.

"It sucks. We were up three-nothing. Obviously you don't get the two points, you're disappointed," Simmonds admitted. "Ray played really well for us tonight. We were supporting him offensively for the two first periods and then fell apart."

With four tallies, Simmonds is locked in a four-way tie for the NHL's early lead in goals along with Plekanec, Anaheim's Corey Perry and Rick Nash of the New York Rangers. The 26-year-old Simmonds led the Flyers in goals last season, notching a career-best 29 markers.

Flyers No. 1 netminder Steve Mason expects to start tonight. but he does not have good career numbers against Anaheim, going 5-7-0 with a 3.34 goals against average versus the Ducks.

Philadelphia will be without forward Vincent Lecavalier for the next two weeks after he suffered a lower-body injury on Saturday.

Anaheim enters tonight's battle with a 2-1-0 record and hopes to improve that mark by continuing its recent dominance of the Flyers. The Ducks have won five of the last six encounters and went 2-0 against Philly in 2014-15. Anaheim also has taken its last three tilts in the City of Brotherly Love, with the Flyers' last home win over the Ducks coming in a 3-0 victory on Feb. 2, 2008.

The Ducks are coming off a lopsided victory in Buffalo, as Anaheim slammed the Sabres 5-1 on Monday afternoon. William Karlsson, a 21-year-old rookie, scored the first two goals of his NHL career to help the Ducks breeze past rebuilding Buffalo.

After Corey Perry made it 1-0 with a power-play goal late in the first period, Karlsson pushed the cushion to two goals around the midway point of the second. Karlsson stopped Hampus Lindholm's pass with his skate before beating Michal Neuvirth from between the circles. The former second-round pick later made it a 4-0 game with a third-period tally.

Matt Beleskey and Ryan Kesler also lit the lamp for the Ducks, while Frederik Andersen only needed to make 11 saves for the win. Andersen has started two straight games since John Gibson was touched for six goals in Anaheim's season-opening loss at Pittsburgh.

Kesler has two goals and three assists in his first three games with the Ducks following an offseason trade out of Vancouver. The 30-year-old veteran has recorded five goals and one assist in seven career outings versus the Flyers.

Ducks forward Patrick Maroon suffered a lower-body injury in the second period of Monday's game and did not return. He will not play in Tuesday's game. Maroon, who was drafted by Philadelphia in 2007, was helped off the ice after he took a questionable hit from Sabres defenseman Josh Gorges

Anaheim is wrapping a four-game road trip tonight before playing its home opener this weekend against Minnesota. Friday's meeting with the Wild kicks off a five-game homestand at the Honda Center.