LONDON, Ont. - Philadelphia Flyers winger Wayne Simmonds says he has experienced racism throughout his life and hopes what happened during a shootout loss against the Detroit Red Wings Thursday night wasn't another example of it.

The rangy forward, who scored in the last minute of regulation play to send the exhibition game into overtime and ultimately a shootout, took the first shot of the tie-breaker and admitted a bit of shock when a banana came flying into his path as he zeroed in on Detroit netminder Jordan Pearce.

"I don't know if it had anything to do with the fact I'm black," the Toronto native said. "I certainly hope not. When you're black, you kind of expect (racist) things. You learn to deal with it."