PERSISTENCE PAYS OFF FOR FLYERS IN 4-2 WIN VS. LIGHTNING

It took a 40-18 shot advantage and more than 47 minutes of hockey to finally take a lead, but the persistent Philadelphia Flyers prevailed, 4-2, over the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Wells Fargo Center on Monday night. The Flyers (31-23-11) completed a six-game homestand with a 5-1-0 mark to improve their home record this season to 18-9-7.

Already having set a franchise rookie and NHL rookie defenseman record with a 15-game point streak earlier this season, Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere scored two goals on Monday to set a new Flyers franchise record for goals by a rookie defenseman.

His first tally, scored at 16:51 of the second period, tied the game at 1-1. "Ghost" then put the Flyers ahead, 2-1, at 7:21 of the third period.

Gostisbehere eclipsed the 13-goal mark Behn Wilson set during the 1978-79 season. Wilson still holds the franchise rookie defenseman record with 49 points (set over 80 games played). With 37 points in 47 games, Gostisbehere would need 13 points in the final 17 games of the regular season to break the record. The top three in points are Wilson, Janne Niinimaa (44 points in 77 games in 1996-97) and Tom Bladon (42 points in 78 games in 1972-73). Gostisbehere is fourth.

The Flyers also got goals by Brayden Schenn (22nd) and Wayne Simmonds (empty net, 24th). Claude Giroux earned two assists, while Michael Raffl, Sean Couturier, Mark Streit, Simmonds and Schenn each chipped one helper apiece.

Steve Mason stopped 16 of 18 shots to earn the win in goal. Since returning to the net from a five-game benching in favor of Michal Neuvirth, Mason has stopped 35 of 37 shots and recorded a shutout on Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

“The guys definitely worked for it and earned the two points and put ourselves in a better position in the standings here. I don’t know where we're ranked at with our performance this year but we’ll definitely take this effort and take all the applause that were around for it and we’re finishing up our home stand here," Mason said.

Tampa counterpart Andrei Vasilevskiy was much, much busier than Mason, especially in a 22-shot barrage in the second period. The Tampa goaltender, who denied a first-period 2-on-0 breakaway among his 37 saves, was virtually the lone reason the game did not turn into a blowout. Instead, the Flyers had to scratch and claw for every goal.

"The guys worked extremely hard and it was nice to finally see them get rewarded. I thought Vasileskiy was having a great game and looked like he was going to be unbeatable but, the guys kept at it and credit to them for finally finding a way to put it past him," Mason said.

Ondrej Palat (11th goal of the season) and Vladislav Namestnikov (11th) scored for Tampa. The first puck was scored off a pinballing rebound of a blocked shot. The second was a rare coverage lapse by the Flyers off a Tampa rush.

The Lightning, who entered the game with a nine-game winning streak and facing a Tuesday home game against the Boston Bruins, perhaps fell into a bit of a trap-game scenario against a Flyers team that had heaps of motivation and urgency.

“We were just moving,” Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol said. “We were moving our feet. We were aggressive and we caught them a little flat-footed that period and we were able just to hold that momentum through the 20 minutes. Sometimes you go through a period like that and you can’t find a way to get one, and maybe a little frustration comes into play but there was none of that. Guys were just confident and just ready to go out there for their next shift.”

The ice was tilted for much of the game, as Tampa was denied carry-ins to the Flyers zone and did not have the same hunger for loose pucks or battles on the walls. In the Tampa end of the ice, the Flyers threw as many pucks to the net as possible and finally broke through against Vasilevskiy.

"It’s our motto to get pucks to the net. Be a hard team to play against. I think when the offense unloads, d-men don’t want to go back and get it. It’s a compliment to our forwards. It’s such a good forecheck. It makes our job easy," Gostisbehere said.

"We don’t let teams get in the zone. No easy entries for us. We want to be a hard team. It is working for us and we want to keep that going.”

After an early penalty kill, Tampa received a first period goal by Palat at the 4:07 mark and clung to the lead -- despite generating just three shots for the first period and six for the first 37 minutes of the game -- until the knotted the score.

On the play, a shot attempt by Slater Koekkoek from the left circle got blocked and pinballed to Palat inside the right marks from 33 feet away. Mason could not quite get over in time to make the save.

For much of the game, it seemed like the Flyers were not going to solve Vasilevskiy. The power play did not click and the goalie was gobbling up shots from all angles and distances. Finally, at the 16:51 mark of the second period, the Flyers drew even as they applied furious pressure around the net and Gostisbehere pinched in to pick up a loose puck and score from near the net with Vasilevskiy down and out on the other side. Raffl and Couturier earned the assists.

Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper challenged the goal call on the basis of goaltender interference by Sam Gagner but the call stood. The decision to challenge was a weak one. Nikita Nesterov clearly pushed Gagner, who had no reasonable chance to avoid incidental contact, and the contact itself was minimal. The Lightning later could have used their charged timeout, but no longer had it because of the challenge.

The Flyers' power play (1-for-5) finally clicked at 7:21 of the third period with Nesterov in the box. Giroux directed a cross-ice pass to Gostisbehere at the top of the right circle and the Flyers' defenseman unleased a laser beam of a one-timer to the short side that no goaltender in the world could have stopped. Streit got the secondary assist.

At 13:57, the Flyers picked up what would prove to be a valuable insurance goal. Simmonds won a battle behind the net and sent a pass out to Giroux over the middle in the mid-slot. Schenn got a piece of the puck with his stick and the puck then ticked into the net off Steven Stamkos' skate.

The Lightning got the goal right back with a line rush goal at 14:53. Nikita Kucherov gained the offensive zone and passed to Tyler Johnson, who carried the puck into the left circle. Radko Gudas misplayed the pass going across leaving Namestnikov wide open in the right slot. Namestnikov made no mistake, burying the shot before Mason could get over for a save.

Now it was back to a one-goal game with 5:07 remaining on the clock. Mason made saves on Koekkoek and Palat to protect the 3-2 lead, but did not see another shot the rest of the game.

With 27 seconds left on the clock, after Gudas and Schenn painstakingly worked the puck out of the defensive zone, Simmonds fought off to Tampa plays and scored into an empty net with Vasilevskiy pulled for an extra attacker. Schenn received the lone assist.

The Flyers will take a complete off day on Tuesday. They will practice on Wednesday and Thursday before departing for a rematch with the Lightning in Tampa Bay. The next night, the Flyers are in Sunrise, FL, to take on the Florida Panthers. With Monday's win, the Flyers moved within two points of the Detroit Red Wings for the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference and three points of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the higher wildcard.

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UPCOMING FLYERS ALUMNI TEAM GAMES

March 12, 2016: Junior Achievement of Delaware Game (Fred Rust Ice Arena, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, TBA). Last season's game was a big hit, raising approximately $125,000. For ticket information, click here.

March 26, 2016: Benefit for Police Officer Jesse Hartnett (N.E. Philadelphia Flyers Skate Zone, Philadelphia, PA, 3 p.m.): The Alumni will take on the Philly's Finest hockey team will raise money on behalf Philadelphia police officer Jesse Hartnett who, on Jan. 7, was traveling in his police cruiser when a lone shooter approached and opened fire on the driver's side of the vehicle, firing 11 shots; three of which struck officer Hartnett. For more information, click here.