PHILADELPHIA _ Andreas Athanasiou scored twice to end the Detroit Red Wings winless streak.
He scored in a shootout Tuesday to provide a 3-2 victory over the Flyers, the first time the Wings have won at Wells Fargo Center since 1997. It's the Wings' first victory in six games.
Tomas Tatar scored his second goal of the season and Athanasiou made it 2-2 with 8:50 to go in regulation. Overtime saw Jimmy Howard have to star early, but then the Wings generated better pressure. Howard made a big save on Claude Giroux in the last a minute of overtime to force a shootout.
In round one, Travis Konecny and Gustav Nyquist both failed to score. Howard aggressively challenged Giroux in round two, and Frans Nielsen also was denied a goal. Jakub Voracek saw his shot go into Howard's right pad. Athanasiou converted on a backhand to salvage the victory on a night it was deserved.
A power play 1:33 into the game saw the Wings generate little, as they spent most of the time trying to get set up. Howard's first save was stopping Sean Couturier on a backhand five minutes into the period. The Flyers scored on their next shot, when Giroux converted on a power play. That set off a little storm around Howard, but Tatar quieted things down when he was fed from behind the Flyers net by Henrik Zetterberg and whipped a forehand shot to make it 1-1 within three minutes.
The Wings had a strong finish to the first period, earning good zone time, and started the second period with 1:44 left on their second power play. The game got scrappier as it wore on, and a brief fight took place five minutes into the second period _ very brief, as Wayne Simmonds hit Ericsson with a big left punch as Ericsson slipped to the ice.
A third power play saw Athanasiou clank the puck off the crossbar and Niklas Kronwall force a glove save from Steve Mason. The Wings got lucky when Travis Konecny had an open shot only to shoot wide. A second penalty kill saw Howard come up with three saves to keep the game tied going into the third period.
Brendan Smith had a slot shot denied and Gustav Nyquist tried a tip-in attempt as the Wings sought another goal and continued to set the pace. Dylan Larkin flew in and shot just wide. The Wings inability to score looked all the worse when Couturier beat Smith down low and backhanded the puck behind a helpless Howard at 6:51. Athanasiou made a power move to split the Flyers defense and send the puck bar down at 11:50. Howard had to make a save on Giroux when he got a breakaway with three minutes remaining in regulation. Zetterberg had a couple of good shots in the final minutes. Mason made a big save on a slap shot from Smith.
