Instant Replay: Flyers 4, Wild 1

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The Flyers had two Christmas wishes heading into Monday: Being back in third place of the Metropolitan Division, and more importantly, back in a playoff spot.

They got those gifts with a highly-energized 4-1 win over the Wild and a Blackhawks win over the Devils Monday night.

The victory was also the Flyers' ninth straight at home, the team's longest such streak since October of 2005.

The best thing about this game was the Flyers kept pressing the attack to the very end instead of sitting back and coasting or going into lockdown mode.

The Flyers' top line of Claude Giroux centering Michael Raffl and Jakub Voracek continued to pile up points.

They have been very hot lately and two of them are on point streaks (see "Streaking" portion of Instant Replay).

Through two periods, they had a goal and four points as the Flyers led 3-1.

In the six games since head coach Craig Berube reformed the No. 1 line, it has 28 points -- 10 goals, 18 assists.

Giroux leads the group with 12 points (five goals), followed by Voracek (four goals). Raffl has five points (one goal).

Injuries
The Wild’s Zach Parise -- 15 goals, 27 points -- was a late scratch with a foot injury. Flyers goalie Steve Mason took some contact early in the second period and was down on the ice and slow to get up. He spent a good minute stretching out but seemed fine after.

Penalties
The Flyers continue to take too many of them and got burned in the first period killing them. Wayne Simmonds even picked up a roughing call at 20 minutes, giving the Flyers three penalties that period. The Flyers finished with five penalties in the game. That is one thing that will irk Berube going into the break, no doubt about it.

Milestone
Scott Hartnell’s assist on Luke Schenn’s goal in the first 1:52 of the game was the left wing’s 500th career NHL point.

First shot
This was a rarity for the Flyers -- they scored on their first shot of the game. Schenn’s goal was the result of him pinching to get the Hartnell rebound in the right slot.

Special teams
The Flyers' power play came into the game just 2 for 22 (nine percent) over its previous five games. They got off quickly in this one with Simmonds’ power-play goal at 10:51 that made it 2-0. Perfect tic-tac-toe passing from Giroux across ice to Voracek, back to Simmonds at the left post. Overall, the Flyers were 1 for 4 on the power play while the Wild were 1 for 5.

Penalty kill
The Flyers had to kill off 1:40 of the Wild’s two-man advantage in the first period and gave up a five-on-three goal to Mikael Granlund after Ryan Suter had hit the crossbar and Jason Pominville had a shot over an empty net.

The Flyers have given up five such goals this season. That made it 2-1.

Different goalie
The Flyers caught a break with Wild goalie Josh Harding out ill. They faced Nick Backstrom, who came into play with a 3.19 goals-against average and .895 save percentage.

Big hit
Zac Rinaldo on Granlund in the second period that had Backstrom screaming at the officials.

Big saves
Mason’s shorthanded stop on Pominville early in the second with the Flyers holding a 2-1 lead and his point-blank stop in the third period on Mikko Koivu coming down the slot with the score 3-1, which was even more outstanding.

Faceoffs
The Wild did a number on the Flyers in the first period, winning 67 percent of the draws. Sean Couturier was 1 for 6.

Streaking
Giroux and Voracek each have career-high point streaks. Giroux’s is seven games, Voracek’s is eight games.

Scratches
Steve Downie (upper-body injury) and Erik Gustafsson (left knee sprain); defenseman Hal Gill and forward Jay Rosehill were healthy scratches.

Road trip
The Flyers leave Friday afternoon for a six-game road swing. Although they will be back at the Skate Zone for practice on Jan. 6, they will play one more road game Jan. 7 at New Jersey.

Home again
The next Flyers home game is Jan. 8 against Montreal.

Loose pucks
Minnesota came into the game with a 1-6-1 record in its last eight road games, a stat that heavily favored the Flyers. … The Flyers will not practice again at the Skate Zone in Voorhees, N.J., until Friday morning before leaving after for Edmonton.

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