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Flyers finish strong, excel on power play in win vs. Red Wings

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James OBrien

The Philadelphia Flyers finally fought back after trailing in a contest heading into a third period and won just their second game in Detroit in 24 years on Wednesday, battling back from a 3-1 second-period deficit to beat the Red Wings 6-3.

Yes, you could definitely say it was an unusual win for Philly.

The Flyers’ special teams was the most obvious difference-maker, as they went three-for-three on the power play while their penalty kill took care of six out of seven Detroit opportunities.

It’s easy to key on Claude Giroux’s resurgent top line, as he scored a goal and an assist while Scott Hartnell generated three points. The Flyers are reaping the rewards of Steve Downie’s return, too, as he’s combining with Matt Read and Sean Couturier to give Philly a dangerous 1-2 line bunch.

All three of Couturier (two goals - including the clinching tally - and two assists), Read (one goal, two assists) and Downie (one goal, one assist) found the net at least once on Wednesday.

With this win, the Flyers are now 13-13-2 on the season. They’ve won three out of four games and six out of their last nine.

The Red Wings saw their four-game winning streak come to an end as they lick their wounds with key players such as Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg on the mend. At least it appears that Justin Abdelkader is OK after taking this hit:

That’s not to say that Detroit is smiling too widely about its health ...

Tomas Tatar reports he lost three teeth tonight

— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) December 5, 2013


The Red Wings are still among the East’s better teams at 14-8-7, although they need to turn things around at home, as tonight’s loss leaves them with a strange 5-5-6 record at Joe Louis Arena.

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins