Flyers

“I’m not trying to get too far ahead of myself or live in the past,” he said. “I just want to worry about every challenge that I’m presented with.”

Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds challenged Detroit’s Anthony Mantha to a fight in the opening minute, retaliating for his hit from behind against Claude Giroux on Saturday.

“I just had to finish it off really quick and get back to playing hockey,” Simmonds said. “You just want to make a stand that we’re not going to get bullied. If teams are going to try that, we’re going to step up and defend one another.”

Mantha said Simmonds told him before the game he was prepared to drop the gloves.

“He goes, ‘I hope you’re going to be a man,”’ Mantha recalled. “I said, ‘Will that earn your respect?’ He said, ‘Yeah.”’

Even though Detroit had 38 shots, its only goal came early in the second period when Darren Helm made it 1-all.

“Carter Hart had an outstanding game, but I felt our team also played outstanding in almost every area,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “We just need to score more goals, especially when we are playing a very good defense like that one. Hart had something to do with it, but we have a lot of young players who have learned how to create scoring opportunities but aren’t as good at finishing them.”

Jonathan Bernier started and stopped nine shots in the first period for the Red Wings before leaving the game with an upper-body injury.

“We think it is more of a neck problem and that he’ll be fine,” Blashill said.

Bernier was replaced by Jimmy Howard, who had 11 saves and gave up a goal to Provorov while his view was obstructed on the shot from just inside the blue line. “I never saw it,” Howard said. The Red Wings have lost five of seven, moving closer to being eliminated from postseason race for a third straight year.

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FLYERS >> Host Tampa Bay on Tuesday night.