A strong period followed by a disastrous one. A seeming offensive breakthrough followed by a return to scuffling for goals. A win that raises hopes followed by a disheartening loss. The same players scratched from the lineup in favor of the same guys whom they had previously replaced for a stretch of games. An inability to climb above the .500 mark on the season.
That has basically been the Philadelphia Flyers' pattern since Thanksgiving.
Last night at the Wells Fargo Center, Philly captured a 2-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens. It was a solid effort in which the Flyers won on merit, especially in light of last night's game being the third in four nights with a pair of time-zone switches and trips from Ottawa to Chicago to Philadelphia.
Coming on the heels of Wednesday night's 7-2 humiliation at the hands of the best team in the NHL, Philly needed something positive. They got back to playing generally sound team defense and the NHL's most penalized team showed better discipline in taking just one minor penalty in the game (which was successfully killed).
Now, after winning last night against a quality opponent, the team has to show in upcoming games that it took a genuine forward step after its 2-3-1 road trip and 3-3-1 stretch since Thanksgiving. Otherwise, will just continue to run on the same treadmill they've been on for the last few weeks. I am loathe to call last night's game a genuine forward step unless it's followed up in the two division home-and-home sets to come.
First things first. Last night's game was a pretty good one from a Philly standpoint.
Michael Raffl, whose father traveled from Austria to see his first NHL game, got his second goal and third point in the last three matches. Claude Giroux had a goal and an assist. Jakub Voracek had a pair of helpers, including a nifty setup on the Giroux goal.
After giving up 11 goals -- few of which he had much chance to stop -- in his last three starts, Steve Mason turned back 20 of 21 shots to notch the win last night against Carey Price. Mason flirted with a shutout until the final minute of the third period until some loose coverage of a desperation rush and a turnover lead to Alex Galchenyuk trimming the deficit to one goal with 56 seconds remaining on the clock.
The Flyers did make one "new" lineup change last night. The club converted forward Chris VandeVelde's AHL-only contract into a two-way NHL deal and recalled the former Edmonton Oiler to the NHL. He skated seven shifts (5:36 of ice time) on the fourth line, along with Adam Hall and Zac Rinaldo. Jay Rosehill was a healthy scratch. Tye McGinn, who did not appear in a game in his most recent recall to the NHL, was returned to the AHL's Adirondack Phantoms.
The team made a few other changes as well from recent games. Erik Gustafsson returned to the third pairing with Luke Schenn, and Andrej Meszaros returned to the scratch list. Additionally, Craig Berube shuffled around his top two forward lines. Raffl started the game with Giroux and Voracek. Scott Hartnell went to the second line with Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds.
Brayden Schenn, who had the secondary assist on the Giroux goal, was not suspended by the NHL for his somewhat controversial high hit on former Flyers forward Kris Versteeg in Wednesday's game in Chicago. Schenn was not penalized on the play and Versteeg was uninjured on the play but Schenn made careless primary contact with the Chicago player's head on the play.
Quick starts have not been a problem of late for the Flyers. The issue has been the lack of followup. Last night, the Flyers held the Habs to four shots in the opening stanza, while generating nine of their own. The biggest difference is that the remaining 40 minutes were held fairly even and the team continued to play solid defense, rather the Flyers getting swamped.
Raffl opened the scoring at 13:57 of the first period. On the sequence, Giroux beat Tomas Plekanec on a faceoff on the left side of the Montreal zone and the puck went behind the net to Voracek. Raffl got himself open just above the hash marks as Voracek moved out in front. The Czech found the Austrian with an accurate pass, and Raffl fired a wrister past Price.
The reason why Peter Raffl, Michael's dad, was in attendance at the game is that it was the part of the players' fathers trip along with the team -- a nice little annual tradition that the Flyers do. The dads will also come along to the weekend road game against Washington.
Midway through regulation, Giroux doubled the Flyers' lead. Gustafsson made a good lead pass to enable Brayden Schenn to hit the Montreal blue line with speed over the middle. Schenn moved the puck to Voracek. With all eyes focused on Voracek carrying the puck up the right side, Voracek found Giroux with a picturesque cross-ice pass to the right circle. Giroux got the puck on the tape and quickly fired a shot home before Price could get over and get set.
With 6:48 remaining in the middle period, Mason made a dynamic save to keep his team ahead two goals. On the play, Montreal attacked with speed. Galchenyuk rushed the puck down the left wing as Gallagher drove to the net. With Gallagher bearing down on the goalie, the forward re-directed the pass on net but Mason spectacularly went post-to-post to make a pad save. If the much less mobile Ray Emery had been in net last night, that would have been a goal for the Habs.
The Flyers had a golden opportunity to put the game away late in the period and early in the third. Montreal defenseman Alexei Yemelin drew an elbowing major and game misconduct for elbowing Steve Downie up high at 16:15 of the middle stanza. Philly was unable to convert the five-minute power play, leaving the door open a crack for the Habs.
Downie was down on the ice for awhile but stayed in the game.
In the third period, Philly held the Habs without a shot for a stretch of more than eight minutes, although the Habs ultimately had eight shots to Philly's nine. With 6:35 left in the game, Mason made the initial save on a Galchenyuk shot before a diving Gionta pushed the puck into the net with his stick. The goal was immediately waved off and the no-goal call on the ice stood upon video review.
The previous night in Chicago, the Flyers came out on the wrong end of a video review on a Michal Handzus goal. The puck was directed toward the net with a distinct kicking motion and may or may not have grazed off the heel of Handzus' stick near the crease. It was tough to tell. Since the call on the ice was "good goal" and it was debatable either way on whether Handzus subsequently got a stick on the puck, the call rightfully stood.
The 2-0 lead held until the final minute of regulation. With Price pulled for an extra attacker, the Canadiens generated their lone goal of the game with 55.1 ticks left on the clock.
On the sequence, Downie and Mark Streit sagged a bit on their coverages as the Canadiens carried the puck all the way up the ice from their own end on the 6-on-5 rush. Nicklas Grossmann rotated over to his defensive partner's side and denied an initial backhand shot by Brian Gionta but his attempted clearing pass went directly to Galchenyuk.
Through a screen in front, Galchenyuk threw the puck at the net. Mason got some it but not quite enough, and it trickled over the goal line. The Habs got no closer. With the win, the Flyers extended their home winning streak against the Canadiens to six straight games. The streak dates back to the start of the 2010-11 season.
Next on tap for the Flyers is a home-and-home set with the Capitals, featuring games in DC on Sunday and Philly on Tuesday. From there, Philly has a home-and-home with the Columbus Blue Jackets. These are four straight divisional games, and it is important for the Flyers to start increasing the pace in which they pick up points.
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FRIDAY QUICK HITS
* In his first game in Philadelphia since being bought out his contract last summer, Montreal Canadiens forward Daniel Briere had no points and three shots on goal in 14:14 of ice time. A playoff beast for the Flyers and one of the NHL's nicest players off the ice, Briere received a warm welcome when he first took the ice.
* Signed to a minor league contract over the summer after not being retained by Edmonton, Chris VandeVelde was one of the final preseason roster cuts made by then-coach Peter Laviolette during the exhibition season. He played well early in camp but struggled over the latter portion, and wound up back in the AHL. VandeVelde played good two-way hockey for Terry Murray's Phantoms, generating seven goals and 13 points in 23 games.
* Several people have asked me what the Flyers "have against" Tye McGinn, who has been unable to stay in the lineup for either Laviolette or Craig Berube despite having some success at the NHL level. I do not think it's a matter of anyone having something against the player, who brings some grit to the table and can score some goals when he goes to the net.
However, the sense I get is that he's viewed as one of those AHL/NHL "tweeners" who can fill in for a time at the top level, whereas the organization sees more speed and versatility in Michael Raffl.
If so, it is not just the Flyers who hold that view. Before the Oct. 24 game against the Rangers, I offhandedly asked a pro scout from another NHL team if he thought McGinn was going to stick around and become an NHL regular. The player had recently scored three goals over a two-game stretch and was one of the few Flyers winning board battles and driving to the net.
The answer I got caught me off-guard. The scout was not too enamored of the player, despite the doses of success he's had when given the chance to dress for the Flyers.
"It's possible, sure," he said. "But he's one of those players who may not have a full-time role at this level."
I asked why not.
The scout said, "He is good on the walls but he's not someone you want out there against other teams' best lines. He's got OK size and he's a game kid, but he's not really going to be a regular scorer up here. He's still a below-average skater. He'll battle for you, though, and he goes to the net. He fights a little bit, but that's not going to be his role. There are players like him in most organizations. Some of those guys find ways to stay up here but more of them don't. So that's what he's up against."
The scout knew what he's talking about, because McGinn was returned to the AHL by the Flyers the very next day. Scott Hartnell had returned after an early-season injury. The club also wanted to take an extended look at Michael Raffl at the NHL level. The organization liked his skating and two-way upside (apparently more than they like what McGinn brings).
I sort of understood the move, but still disagreed with it and felt McGinn deserved a longer look this time around. He was still the Flyers' leading goal scorer at the time. McGinn was subsequently recalled a couple more times but has not dressed in an NHL game since early November. In the meantime, he has five goals, seven points and 16 penalty minutes in 18 games for the Phantoms.
I will add here that I have personally liked what I've seen of McGinn in the times I've seen him both with the Flyers and Phantoms. I thought he'd earned a longer look, both last season and early this season. In fact, I liked his nose for the net and work ethic from the first NHL rookie training camp I saw him play.
I still think McGinn deserves a chance to eventually stick in the NHL as more than a short-term callup player. He seems to know what the organization wants him to improve and my impression of him is that he's a pretty hard worker. At 23, it's certainly not too late. He's still one of the young players in the organization that I like.
* With the Flyers finally having a couple nights off without a game, I will be working in some blog topics on Saturday that have been in the works for awhile. Coming tomorrow, I will talk about Mark Streit in the lead section, followed by an in-depth discussion of defense prospect Shayne Gostisbehere (similar one-per-day profiles will follow on other prospects when the Flyers have their four-night break over Christmas). I will also highlight a few hockey books for your holiday shopping list.
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