Robby Fabbri scores hat trick in St. Louis Blues' win vs. Philadelphia Flyers
By Rob Rains, The Sports Xchange

St. Louis Blues Robby Fabbri (R) skates back to the bench after
scoring a goal in the first period against the Philadelphia Flyers at
the Scottrade Center in St. Louis on December 28, 2016. Fabbri had a hat
trick as St. Louis defeated Philadelphia 6-3. Photo by Bill
Greenblatt/UPI
| License Photo

Philadelphia
Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol (C) watches his team take on the St.
Louis Blues in the first period at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis on
December 28, 2016. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
| License Photo

St.
Louis Blues Robby Fabbri shoots the puck at Philadelphia Flyers
goaltender Steve Mason in the first period at the Scottrade Center in
St. Louis on December 28, 2016. Fabbri had three goals as St. Louis
defeated Philadelphia 6-3. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
| License Photo
ST. LOUIS -- David Perron and Scottie Upshall
scored 1:20 apart in the third period and Robby Fabbri recorded his
first hat trick of his career to carry the St. Louis Blues to a 6-3 win
Wednesday night over the Philadelphia Flyers.
A power-play goal by Brayden Schenn had put
the Flyers ahead 3-2 at 4:13 of the third period. It was the first
power-play goal by the Flyers in their last seven games and came with 23
seconds left in a hooking penalty to Dmitrij Jaskin, ending a streak of
17 consecutive power plays without a goal for the Flyers.
The lead lasted for just 1:40, however,
before the Blues responded with their first goals in the third period in
their last five games.
Perron deflected a shot by Colton Parayko at
5:53 of the third period, his 10th goal of the season, before Upshall
was able to score the go-ahead goal when he also deflected a shot, this
one from Joel Edmundson, past goalie Steve Mason.
Fabbri scored his second goal of the game at
15:01 of the period to give the Blues the two-goal lead and then
completed his hat trick with an empty net goal. The Blues scored on each
of their first three shots on goal in the period.
The rally allowed backup goalie Carter Hutton
to win his first game since Nov. 3. He had gone 0-3-2 in five games
since that last victory.
The Flyers tied the game 4:32 into the second
period when Nick Cousins tipped in a shot that deflected off Blues
defenseman Carl Gunnarsson past Hutton. The Blues challenged that the
play was offside but the goal was allowed to stand after a video review.
A perfect passing play from Schenn to Travis Konecny to Wayne Simmonds
resulted in the first goal for the Flyers at 3:25 of the first period,
with Simmonds getting the easy tap in from the edge of the Blues' goal.
The Blues responded with a pair of power-play
goals to take a 2-1 lead at the end of the first period. Kevin
Shattenkirk scored at 15:01 of the first period off a pass from Alexander Steen before Fabbri scored the go-ahead goal with just 12 seconds left in the period.
The Blues had received only three power-play
chances combined in their previous four games. It was their first game
with multiple power-play goals since Dec. 1, a span of 12 games.
NOTES: The Flyers welcomed two players back to the lineup after each missed a significant number of games. D Nick Schultz
played for the first time since Nov. 11 after sitting out 21 games as a
healthy scratch while C Sean Couturier returned after missing the
team's 16 games since Nov. 22 because of a lower-body injury. ... The
Blues activated C Paul Stastny
from injured reserve. Because of the extended Christmas break, he
missed only one game with an upper-body injury. ... D Kevin Shattenkirk
played in his 400th career game with the Blues. ... The Blues began a
six-game homestand, the longest of the season, while the Flyers opened a
three-game trip that will continue Friday at San Jose. ... The Blues
will host Nashville the same evening.
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