Los Angeles, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Steve Mason stopped 37-of-38 shots to help the Philadelphia Flyers steal two points from the Los Angeles Kings in a 2-1 victory Saturday at Staples Center.
Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds tallied for the Flyers, who finished the California portion of their five-game, cross-continent road trip at 1-1-1.
Philadelphia, which completes its travels on Tuesday in Columbus, also snapped a season-high six-game losing skid.
"We played as a team tonight, the Kings are a really good team and Steve [Mason] had a lot of good saves for us. It's kind of a relief to finally get two points," Giroux said. "We wanted that first goal especially against LA, when they get the first goal they are a hard team to catch up to. Getting that goal was huge for us."
Justin Williams registered the lone goal and Jonathan Quick made only 14 saves for the Kings, who had blanked Boston, Arizona and Minnesota in their last three victories.
Williams potted a rebound from the right side of the crease 4:09 into the third period, capitalizing on a defensive coverage miscue in front of Mason.
The Kings were given a prime chance to even the score when Simmonds was cited for a questionable slashing call with 4:51 to play and the hosts had a brief 5-on-3 after R.J. Umberger cleared the puck over the glass. That comeback effort was cut short after Stoll was goaded into a penalty with 1:26 on the clock.
Quick was sent to the bench for an extra skater one shift later, but the Flyers had the better chances to the empty net.
"We weren't prepared for the one o'clock game today. At the same time, times when you're behind you have a chance to come back and we certainly had our chances to come back to atone for our start of the game," Williams noted. "We got some shots blocked, they got some clears and the end result was a loss."
Each team unleashed seven shots on goal in the game's first 20 minutes, but Philadelphia was the only club to solve the opposing netminder. Giroux tallied just 4:35 in, slipping into a seam up the middle with a Mark Streit pass and scoring on a wrister.
It was 2-0 for the Flyers at 2:08 of the second as Simmonds managed to slip a puck through Quick's legs from the right side on the back end of a power play created when Stoll went off for slashing.
Mason made that lead stand up with flexible goaltending on back-to-back Kings power plays, including closing off the near post as Anze Kopitar partially fanned on a breakaway chance. Jeff Carter later missed a half-open net on a one-timer from the left circle.
Mason finished the second with 15 saves and halted 22 pucks through 40 minutes.
Game Notes
The Flyers claimed their first road win since Oct. 22 at Pittsburgh, having gone 0-7-2 in between ... Mason earned his first win since Nov. 22 vs. Columbus after an 0-3-2 clip ... Mason has stopped 72-of-73 Los Angeles shots in his two road appearances with the Flyers in the last 10 months, leading the Flyers to wins in both games ... Simmonds, who leads Philly with 11 goals, scored in back-to-back games for the second time all season, following a three-game run (5G) from Oct. 9-14 ... Los Angeles lost despite tying a season-low for shots allowed in one game (Oct. 19 vs. Minnesota).
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.