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Ducks bounce back to defeat Flyers, 4-1

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Rickard Rakell had two goals, Chris Stewart scored on a penalty shot and Andrew Cogliano had an empty-netter to lead the Ducks to a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.

The Ducks responded to one of their worst defeats of the season — Monday’s 6-2 blowout at Pittsburgh that ended their six-game winning streak — with a strong game. Anaheim improved to 14-4-1 since Christmas while getting the victory in the second game of a seven-game trip that will cover 7,300 miles in 13 days.

Wayne Simmonds scored for the Flyers, who dropped their third in a row overall and fifth in the last six home games to further damage their playoff hopes. Philadelphia began the day five points out of a playoff spot, but behind five teams.

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Frederik Andersen got the start against Philadelphia and made 28 saves after John Gibson gave up all six goals by the Penguins on Monday before getting pulled.

The Ducks dominated the opening period. Rakell scored the first of his two goals with 9:33 left in the period on the power play. Steve Mason stopped the initial shot from the point, but Rakell pounced on the rebound and backhanded the puck high over a sprawling Mason.

Anaheim took a 2-0 lead 4 1/2 minutes later when Rakell’s wrist shot from the left circle found its way under Mason’s pad.

The Ducks padded their lead to three goals when Stewart converted a penalty shot with 7:12 left in the second period. After getting hooked by Nick Schultz while on a breakaway attempt, Stewart made Philadelphia pay when he beat Mason through the five-hole.

It was a physical period that saw Philadelphia’s Brandon Manning and the Ducks’ Corey Perry get bloodied during a skirmish that left Manning with a cut on his nose and sent Perry to the locker room with a cut over his left ear. Manning later got into a fight with Patrick Maroon, with both players landing hard punches. Simmonds’ lip was bloodied when Cogliano’s stick connected with his mouth, sending Cogliano to the penalty box for a high-sticking double-minor.

And, finally, gloves were scattered everywhere on the ice with just over a minute remaining. There was mostly clutching and grabbing, although Philadelphia’s Jakub Voracek landed in the box for roughing.

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Simmonds got the Flyers on the board with 7:12 remaining in the third with only the third power-play goal in the last 28 chances against the Ducks, who entered as the league’s top penalty-killing unit at 89.1%. Claude Giroux took the initial shot and Simmonds batted in the rebound after Andersen’s initial save.

Cogliano scored into an empty net with 52 seconds left.

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