DETROIT -- Three goals in four games.
That’s what Sean Couturier’s stats read after the Flyers' 6-3 comeback victory over the Red Wings on Wednesday night at Joe Louis Arena.
Couturier drove the net and took a long pass from Steve Downie on the right boards for a go-ahead goal in the third period and then Scott Hartnell added an insurance goal on the power play.
The Flyers had trailed 3-1.
It took 57 ticks of the clock Monday night in Minnesota for the entire complexion of the hockey game to change against the Flyers in a 5-2 loss.
It took a wee bit longer -- 1:49 in the second period. The Red Wings -- much like the Wild -- got a pair of goals to erase a 1-1 tie and make it 3-1.
Yet the Flyers would not go quietly into Motown. First, Matt Read got one late in the second period off a fine pass from Coututier, who was in traffic.
Then the Flyers' slumping power play scored its second of the night with Claude Giroux flipping a puck from the left circle under the crossbar on Jimmy Howard to make it a 3-3 game.
The Flyers got a huge break in that Todd Bertuzzi, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg all missed the game with injuries.
Bottom line? They should take advantage of that and they did. The six goals were a season-high for the Flyers.
Two quickies
First Johan Franzen took a terrific breakaway pass from Stephen Weiss after a complete breakdown of the Flyers' defense and ripped one past Steve Mason. Then Steve Downie got caught holding the stick and Zac Rinaldo went off for tripping, giving the Red Wings a five-on-three power play for 1:52. Tomas Tartar made the Flyers pay dearly with his second goal on the night, as the Wings crashed the net, the Flyers looked discombobulated, and it was 3-1.
Penalties
Didn’t coach Craig Berube and his players say repeatedly they could not take penalties against Detroit because of its still-lethal power play? Well, through two periods, the Flyers had taken six penalties.
Scored first
Detroit did at 10:18 of the first period on a breakdown play three ways. First, Brayden Schenn lost a faceoff to Joakim Andersson. Then Andrej Meszaros lost a board battle to Drew Miller, who fed a tight pass into the slot where Wayne Simmonds lost sight of Tatar. He one-timed the puck high on Mason for a 1-0 lead.
Bad numbers
Detroit was 11-2-1 when scoring first; the Flyers were 1-10-1 when the opposition scored first.
Worse numbers
Since the 1988-89 season, the Flyers were 1-16-2 at The Joe. Their last win here was on Jan. 2, 2011 (3-2).
Special teams
Hey, the Flyers snapped a three-game drought by scoring a power-play goal. Downie made it a 1-1 game at 13:48 of the first period with a hard shot that hit Detroit’s Brian Lashoff and snuck past Howard. Detroit was 1 for 7 on the power play. The Flyers were 3 for 3.
The goalie
Mason was his usual strong self with 32 saves.
Five-on-three
Detroit had two such power plays and scored once on Tartar’s second goal of the game.
Will be reviewed
Luke Schenn’s charging call against Justin Abdelkader will get a review from the league office for certain. Abdelkader went off the ice but did not appear seriously injured. He was in a bad position when hit -- he was far from boards -- and went into the boards head first.
Close call
That would be Abdelkader, who got a breakaway off a Flyers' turnover late in the first period and shot it off the left post, although it appeared Mason got a piece of it with the top of his glove. Bad news was the Flyers had too many men on the ice and got nailed for the penalty on the stoppage.
Faceoffs
Brayden Schenn was saying at the morning skate how “comfortable” he felt at center. Well, through 40 minutes, he was 0 for 10 on faceoffs. Seven of those lost draws came against Andersson.
Scratches
Vinny Lecavalier (back spasms), Erik Gustafsson and Hall Gill. Gustafsson and Gill were healthy.
Loose pucks
The Flyers charter to Dallas on Thursday morning, hours ahead of a major ice storm that is expected to strike late Thursday and go all the way into Friday morning. Ever seen Texans try to drive on ice? They can’t. … Bertuzzi missed the game for Detroit with a shoulder injury, along with Zetterberg (herniated disk) and Datsyuk (concussion).