ST. LOUIS _ The "restart" of the Flyers' season had some sloppy moments Wednesday at the Scottrade Center.
The passing wasn't sharp, there were too many giveaways in their own zone, the offense looked out of sync for long stretches and Steve Mason couldn't make a key save in a Blues-dominated third period.
All contributed to the Flyers' 6-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues.
Former Flyer Scottie Upshall and David Perron scored on deflections 80 seconds apart in the third period, putting the Blues in front, 4-3. Robby Fabbri beat Mason to the short side with 4 minutes, 59 seconds left to make it 5-3.
Fabbri's goal, his second of the night, gave St. Louis three goals on three third-period shots.
With 2:56 to go, Fabbri completed his first career hat trick with an empty-net goal.
Upshall scored his first goal in the last 19 games, tipping in Joel Edmundson's shot with 12:47 to go and giving St. Louis a 4-3 lead.
The Flyers had taken a brief 3-2 lead when Brayden Schenn converted a Shayne Gostisbehere pass, ending the team's 0-for-17 power-play funk with 15:47 left. That came 28 seconds after Schenn's power-play goal was disallowed because the referee blew the whistle, thinking the puck had been covered by goalie Carter Hutton.
Perron answered 1:40 after Schenn's 10th goal of the season, knotting the score at 3.
The Flyers, thanks to an 11-2-1 run before the Christmas break, entered the night holding the Eastern Conference's second wild-card spot, seven points ahead of Carolina. The Hurricanes had three games in hand, however.
"We're in the middle of the battle," Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said before the game. "It's what we do from here on in" that counts. "We're in a decent spot and we just have to keep building, keep getting better."
They had the NHL's sixth-best offense in their games before the break, but they struggled to get much attack time Wednesday, generating just nine shots over the first two periods.
Fortunately for them, two of the shots got past backup Blues goalie Hutton, who briefly was with the Flyers earlier in his career.
Nick Cousins' first goal in 17 games _ a deflection of Ivan Provorov's shot seconds after the Flyers' first power play expired _ tied the score at 2 with 15:28 left in the second period. The Blues challenged the goal, saying the Flyers were offside, but the score stood.
Playing with discipline was a key ingredient during the Flyers' recent 10-game winning streak. In that span, they had 45 power plays compared to their opponents' 28.
But the Flyers played out-of-control hockey in a sloppy 4-0 loss to New Jersey in their last game before the Christmas break, giving the Devils six power plays and allowing them to score on two of them.
The trend continued in Wednesday's opening period.
Penalties taken by Claude Giroux (holding) and Roman Lyubimov (hooking) led to power-play goals by Kevin Shattenkirk and Fabbri, respectively, giving St. Louis a 2-1 lead.
Entering the night, the Blues had not scored a power-play goal in their last four games, during which they had a total of just three chances with an extra attacker.
Shattenkirk scored his sixth power-play goal of the season, whipping a shot from above the right circle after taking a drop pass from Alexander Steen with 5:17 left in the first. Mason misplayed the puck earlier in the sequence, enabling St. Louis to keep the play alive.
With 11.7 seconds remaining in the period, a bad line change allowed defenseman Alex Pietrangelo to split the defense and go in alone on Mason. The goalie made the save, but Colton Parayko picked up the loose puck and fed Fabbri, who fired a shot from the high slot past a screened Mason.
Earlier, the Flyers had taken a 1-0 lead 3:25 into the game, scoring on one of their best passing plays of the season. Schenn found Travis Konecny (two assists), who threaded a pass in front to Wayne Simmonds for a tap in. Tic-tac-toe.
It was Simmonds' 17th goal, putting him fifth in the NHL.
Mason allowed more goals than in any game since Nov. 11, and rookie Anthony Stolarz might get his third start Friday in San Jose.
