PHILADELPHIA _ The goal that Shayne Gostisbehere scored on Friday won't be on plays of the week, but the guy's had a rough couple days. He needs the confidence more than the highlight.
Gostisbehere dusted himself off after being benched for three games and scored his second goal of the season and his first on the power play as the Flyers pulled away from the limping Red Wings for a 6-1 victory.
Detroit is the worst team in the league, hadn't scored in a week, is riddled with injuries and its starting goaltender was in the minor leagues two days ago.
Gostisbehere's goal came in the final minute of the first period. He had his back to goalie Calvin Pickard but got enough on a backhanded shot that it was able to deflect in.
Sean Couturier's goal in the final minute of the second period gave the Flyers a 3-1 lead and some breathing room.
James van Riemsdyk closed out the scoring with his first goal in 11 games.
Flyers coach Alain Vigneault said before the game that he just wanted Gostisbehere to be himself. The defenseman admitted earlier in the week to putting too much pressure on himself and vowed to be better.
Vigneault benched rookie Phil Myers and needed to juggle his defense even more after Matt Niskanen took a puck to the face and missed the last 12 minutes of the first period. Niskanen, the team's steadiest defenseman, assisted on Couturier's second period goal.
Kevin Hayes and Oskar Lindblom scored in the first minute of the third period to give the Flyers a four-goal cushion as they improved to 9-2-4 in November.
Carter Hart had another strong game, stopping 32 shots to improve to 6-1-2 at home.
