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St. Louis lifts Lightning over Flyers

Mar 27, 2012 - 4:10 AM Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Martin St. Louis posted a goal and an assist to help the Tampa Bay Lightning take a 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

Tom Pyatt, Ryan Malone, J.T. Wyman and Steven Stamkos all scored for the Lightning, who have won three straight. Dwayne Roloson stopped 35 shots in the win.

The winning streak kept Tampa Bay's fledgling playoff hopes alive. The team now has 77 points on the season and is now seven back of Washington for the final spot in the Eastern Conference with a game in hand.

Wayne Simmonds, Matt Read and Scott Hartnell all had goals for the Flyers, who had won three of four coming in. Ilya Bryzgalov gave up four goals on just 14 shots in the loss.

Philadelphia has a firm hold on the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference, six points ahead of New Jersey and four back of Pittsburgh.

With the score tied, the Lightning took a 3-2 lead 2:27 into the third as a stretch pass through the neutral zone by Tim Wallace saw St. Louis get the puck and he beat Bryzgalov with a wrist shot to the left corner.

"He's there for the big moments, and that's a big moment to start the period," said Tampa head coach Guy Boucher about St. Louis. "Last game was the same thing. We were great in the first, we were bad in the second, we were great in the third, and we came back in the third and won the game. Today we wanted to make sure we came back strong in the third period and he led the way."

The score stayed that way until 2:49 left in the game when Matt Carle had the puck behind his net, but it got off his stick and went to the front where Wyman deposited the gift past a surprised Bryzgalov.

"It's just a couple bounces that didn't go our way," said Read. "We just didn't bear down at the right times and it kind of cost us. Hopefully we can learn from this and move forward."

Philly got a power play moments later when Trevor Smith was called for delay of game after flipping the puck over the glass. With Bryzgalov pulled for a 6- on-4, the Flyers got to within one when Hartnell beat Roloson with a slap shot from the left circle with 1:13 to play.

That was as close as it got, though, as Pyatt scored into the empty net with seconds showing on the clock to seal the win.

Skating shorthanded, the Lightning took a 1-0 lead. Danny Briere brought the puck through the middle of the neutral zone and has his pocket picked by Smith, who then dished the puck to Malone. From there, Malone skated into the Flyers end down the right wing and beat Bryzgalov with a wrister to the far side 8:08 in.

Briere was called for interference with six seconds left in the opening period and that was plenty of time for Tampa to take a 2-0 lead. A left circle faceoff win saw the puck eventually get to Stamkos, who fanned on his first shot, but his second attempt found the back of the net with 1.4 seconds to play.

The Flyers dominated the second period and tied it with goals from Simmonds and Read.

The first came 3:21 in when Simmonds and Brayden Schenn worked a give-and-go. Simmonds brought the puck in down the left wing and from the top of the left circle left a drop pass for Schenn. Simmonds then charged the net and Schenn hit him with a pass for the easy tap-in.

Philly continued to pepper Roloson with shots and it paid off with 1:42 left in the second. Jakub Voracek had the puck at the left wing and skated to the high slot before dishing a backhand pass to Kimmo Timonen, who then went low to the right side and sent the puck to the other side where Read got it in.

Game Notes

Stamkos leads the NHL with 53 goals...Philly plays in Toronto on Thursday...Tampa continues its three-game road trip in Boston on Tuesday...The Lightning took three of four from the Flyers for the second straight season...Tampa went 1-for-3 on the power play while Philly was 1-for-6.