Flyers continue to fade on the road

In Glendale,the Arizona Coyotes posted three goals in the first period and extended the push to four goals in the second period in a 6-2 thumping of the visiting Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night.

“We gave up three goals in the first, and you’re not going to win many games giving up three goals in the first,” the Flyers’  Sean Couturier said. “Then you’re playing catch-up hockey, and that’s tough on you. We’re not playing smart.”

Antti Raanta got the start for the Coyotes but did not ice for the third period for lower body discomfort. Not details were available at the end of the game.

Raanta had stopped all 17 shots he faced through the middle frame.

Adin Hill finished the game with 10 saves in the third period when the Flyers scored two goals.

“Yeah, it’s huge for us,” said forward Nick Schmaltz, who had two assists. “We all talked about being better at home and we’ve rattled off three straight (wins), so it’s good for our confidence. We want to make this place a tough place to play.”

Tyler Pitlick and Justin Braun scored the Flyers’ goals.

“We’re getting down early, and it’s hard to claw back, we’ve got to get back to playing a simple game, playing north-south, getting pucks deep and just making easy plays,” Pitlick said. “We can’t let one goal (disrupt us). We’ve got to keep fighting, we’ve got to keep going, we’ve got to play smarter.”

Clayton Keller struck twice for the Coyotes.

Keller, Brad Richardson and  Jordan Oesterle scored in the opening frame for the 3-0 lead.

“We talk about it a lot, don’t change the way you play when you’re up,” the Coyotes’ Lawson Crouse said. “Now we know when get up a couple goals, we really have to keep it going.”

Crouse and Derek Stepan (shorthanded, empty net) also scored for the Coyotes.

“All four lines contributed and, again, if we play a certain (structured) style, we have a good chance to be successful,” Tocchet said.

[WATCH: All Flyers vs. Coyotes highlights]

Carter Hart got the start but got the early hook too when he surrendered three goals on just 12 shots.

“A couple of bad bounces, a couple of things that didn’t go our way,” Hart said. “It’s been the story of the last couple of games on the road, we just have to overcome that first period.”

Brian Elliott relieved Hart and made nine saves.