Pyorala helps Flyers beat Blues in shootout

PHILADELPHIA (AP)—Mika Pyorala(notes) was satisfied, even if he’s still looking for his first career goal.

Pyorala scored in the shootout to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night.

Pyorala’s goal in the fourth round was the difference as the Flyers won their fourth consecutive game. Philadelphia’s Claude Giroux(notes) and St. Louis’ Brad Boyes(notes) each scored in the second round.

Shootout goals aren’t reflected in a player’s career statistics, so Pyorala will have to wait for his first official tally.

“That’s a little strange, but I hope I get a real goal soon,” said Pyorala, 28, who has played in 14 NHL games.

Pyorala flipped a backhand shot past Chris Mason(notes) in the Blues’ first shootout this season.

“I would’ve liked to make one more save, but that’s the way it goes,” said Mason, who stopped 35 shots. “It took a while to get to our first shootout, so it was a little bit of a feeler.”

Scott Hartnell(notes) scored in regulation for the Flyers, who improved to 83-39-17 overall against the Blues, including 47-12-10 at home. He has a goal in four of his past five games.

“Coming back after playing last night (against Buffalo), we needed to get off to a good start and make sure we were moving our feet and getting on the attack early,” Philadelphia’s Chris Pronger(notes) said. “We were able to do that. We had a pretty decent first period, and it kind of built from there. “

The struggling Blues, who entered with the NHL’s fourth-worst record, have dropped four consecutive games, but coach Andy Murray thinks his team is playing better.

“It was a 1-1 hockey game and both teams were going hard to the net,” he said. “We watched the Flyers team dismantle Buffalo—and Buffalo has been playing very well. Our team battled hard and as long as you keep working like this, you get rewarded down the road. We’ll find a way to get two points if we keep playing this hard.”

Hartnell gave the Flyers the lead with 7:45 remaining in the second period. Streaking down the left side, he deflected Giroux’s cross-ice pass past Mason. His momentum carried him into the net, and officials reviewed the goal to determine whether he kicked the puck as he slid.

St. Louis (5-7-2) tied it in the third when T.J. Oshie(notes) corralled Roman Polak’s(notes) blue-line shot and flipped it past Ray Emery(notes) at 5:43.

The Flyers (9-4-1) almost grabbed the lead again midway through the third. Mason stopped Hartnell’s rebound attempt but his glove appeared to be behind the line in TV replays. The play wasn’t reviewed.

“It was right on top of his pad, and I pushed his pad,” Hartnell said. “I didn’t know where the puck was because I got hit right after. It was kinda weird that they didn’t take some extra time (to review).”

Hartnell also nearly won the game in overtime with some nice stick work, but Mason made a sprawling save.

In his first career game against St. Louis, Emery stopped 30 shots.

NOTES: Mason shut out the Flyers in their only meeting last season. … Philadelphia general manager Paul Holmgren said James van Riemsdyk(notes) likely has a break in the tip of the left pinky finger, after the rookie was hit by a Jeff Carter(notes) shot in the third. … Pronger, who spent 1996-2004 with the Blues, had an assist. He now has a point in nine of his 12 games, and 14 points overall— three goals and 11 assists. … Ole-Kristian Tollefsen(notes) left after slamming into the boards in the third period. Holmgren said he has a mild concussion and could be “out for a little bit.”