FLYERS SKATE TO OVERTIME WIN AGAINST DEFENDING CHAMPIONS
The Philadelphia Flyers extended their winning streak to three games in a row with a hard-fought 3-2 overtime victory against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center. The win improved Philly's season record to 4-3-2 after going winless (0-2-2) through four games and put an end to the Kings' six-game winning streak.
The Flyers played one of their best first periods of the season and scored the game's first goal for just the second time in nine games. First period tallies by Michael Raffl and Chris VandeVelde were sandwiched around a Tyler Toffoli shorthanded goal for Los Angeles.
The narrow Philadelphia lead held until 5:01 of the third period when former Flyers captain Mike Richards tied the game at 2-2 on a scramble around the Philadelphia net. The Flyers cinched the win at 2:36 of overtime when goaltender Jonathan Quick and the puck slid over the goal line on a semi-breakaway for former LA forward Brayden Schenn.
For the third straight game, Ray Emery played a strong game in net for the Flyers. Emery stopped 38 of 40 Los Angeles shots to earn the win. Quick, who faced a slew of quality chances for the Flyers in the first and third periods, finished with 40 saves on 43 shots.
Five keys to Philadelphia's win over the Kings:
1) The team got the strong start it needed against a club that entered the game allowing just 1.50 goals per game.
2) Strong back pressure from the forwards and containment by the Flyers defense were evident for significant portions of the game. Philadelphia spent a little too much time in its own end of the ice in the second period but Emery had the answers. Additionally, the Flyers came up with 18 blocks.
3) This was a game where the Flyers improved conditioning came to the forefront. Key players had quick recoveries between shifts and the club still had fresh legs in the third period and overtime. The Flyers hung in well against an LA time that could have ground them down with their 40 credited hits.
4) The Flyers top three lines all stepped up at different times, and the club got three even strength goals from a variety of sources. Jakub Voracek (two assists, five shots, one nifty takeaway on the backcheck) played a superstar caliber game while extending his team leading point total to 13 points in nine games.
5) While the Kings were playing with Anze Kopitar -- a huge absence for Los Angeles -- keep in mind that Philly is without both Braydon Coburn and Andrew MacDonald on defense. To compensate, players such as Mark Streit (plus-three, three blocks, 24:25 of ice time) and Nicklas Grossmann (plus-one, five hits, one block, 20:49 of ice time) stepped up. Additionally, Sean Couturier's line did a solid overall job of checking Jeff Carter's line despite Carter's 12-for-17 night on faceoffs that largely came against Couturier (3-for-15).
The Flyers generated 20 shots in the first period alone, outshooting the defending Stanley Cup champions by six shots. Patience paid off at 5:24 of the opening period as Michael Raffl got himself to a scoring area near the bottom of the right circle and a blocked Claude Giroux shot attempt came right to the Austrian forward. Raffl got rid of the puck quickly and found the net.
The goal was Raffl's third in two games and fifth of the season. He is now tied with Wayne Simmonds for the team goal-scoring lead. Giroux and Voracek earned the assists.
For his part, Simmonds has run into a lot of tough luck of late, going pointless in the last five games despite a slew of quality chances and near-misses. On this night, Simmonds generated five shots on goal -- he has 16 in the last five games. Just as important, he was strong on both the forecheck and backcheck, and delivered three credited hits.
Most of the early pressure belonged to the Flyers. However, at the 13:08 mark, the Flyers' second power play of the opening stanza -- and what proved to be their final one of the game -- went awry.
An attempted pass from Matt Read to Michael Del Zotto bounced across the ice and eluded Del Zotto as he tried to play it with his stick. Toffoli claimed the disk and went off on a breakaway well ahead of Del Zotto, elevating the puck over Emery to tie the game at 1-1 on the unassisted shorthanded goal.
With just 44 seconds remaining in the opening period, the Flyers reclaimed the lead. Moving around the net, Voracek made a tremendous feed to VandeVelde in the slot and VandeVelde made no mistake. An easily overlooked part of the goal was the hockey sense Claude Giroux showed by
not touching the puck as defenseman Nick Schultz sent around the walls. Giroux knew there were no LA players in the vicinity and that Voracek was in a better position to make a play.
VandeVelde's goal was just the second of his NHL career in 51 games and his first as a Flyer in 23 games with the team over parts of the 2013-14 and current seasons. However, he had a beautiful assist last game against Detroit and, like Raffl on the first goal, got himself into a scoring area to be the beneficiary of a good chance.
Los Angeles was the superior team in the second period, although Philly had its moments. The Kings generated 10 shots to seven for the Flyers, which is not a huge disparity but the territorial play was definitely in LA's favor. Six charged giveaways by the Flyers -- many near the blueline or the neutral zone -- did not help. However, Philly did a good job at mostly keeping LA to the perimeter in the offensive zone, and Emery took care of the rest.
Emery made a circus save about seven and a half minutes into the second period that will probably make the highlight reels for the rest of the season. On the play, Emery found himself seated in the crease and somehow got a glove on the puck to keep the Flyers ahead by a 2-1 score.
The third period was fast-paced and exciting, with both clubs have runs of momentum. At the 5:08 mark, a struggling shift for the Flyers fourth line (VandeVelde, Jason Akeson and Zac Rinaldo) and the defense pairing of Luke Schenn and Shayne Gostisbehere ended with the Kings tying the game after the fourth line was on the ice for one minute and two seconds.
With the Flyers collectively scrambling around, Philly ended up with four players on the right side of the ice as Richards claimed the puck near the opposite side of the crease and tapped it in ahead of Emery. Drew Doughty, who made a strong play to draw multiple Flyers toward him and Kyle Clifford earned the assists.
Both teams had their chances to win in regulation. It should also be noted that referees Dan O'Halloran and TJ Luxmore put the whistles away in the third period and did not call any penalties on either side, despite a few pretty obvious ones. The Kings outshot the Flyers by a 15-14 margin in the third period.
Early in overtime, some airtight checking by Couturier on Carter and some puck support by Matt Read near the defensive blueline created a turnover and brought a roar from the crowd. The noise would get much, much louder at 2:36 of the extra frame.
Los Angeles defenseman Jake Muzzin turned the puck over to Brayden Schenn, who went off on a semi-breakaway, a half-step ahead of Muzzin's stick checking attempt. Quick absorbed the puck but the goalie and the puck both went over the line with Schenn and then Simmonds (with the puck already over the line) jamming away.
The play was initially ruled no-goal on the ice. However, when reviewed in Toronto, the call was overturned. Schenn was awarded his third goal of the season -- and second straight game-winning goal -- and the Flyers had a victory.
Both Quick and Richards argued with the officials that Schenn and/or Simmonds had interfered with the goaltender. Quick, who did not talk to the media after the game, received a 10-minute misconduct.
Next up for the Flyers is a two-game road trip to Florida. The team will hold an optional skate tomorrow morning at 11:30 a.m. and then depart for a game in Tampa Bay on Thursday. On Saturday, Philly opens its November schedule with a game in Sunrise against the Florida Panthers. The Flyers next play at the Wells Fargo Center on Nov. 4, facing off against the Edmonton Oilers.
POSTGAME NOTES AND QUOTES:
* The following was the NHL Situation Room's explanation of the video review on the game-winning goal by Brayden Schenn: "At 2:36 of overtime in the Kings/Flyers game, the Situation Room initiated a video review to further examine a play at the Los Angeles net. The original call by the referee closest to the Kings net was 'no goal' but after the four on-ice officials huddled, the call on the ice was changed to "good goal." Video review supported the final on-ice decision that the puck crossed the Kings goal line on the original shot by Brayden Schenn. Good goal Philadelphia."
* Jakub Voracek's second assist was the 200th of his NHL career to date. He has registered three consecutive two-assist games and has four multi-point efforts in the nine games the Flyers have played this season. Per the Flyers' Brian Smith, Last Voracek didn’t have a multi-point game last season until November 12 and didn’t have his fourth of the campaign until December 17.
* Michael Del Zotto led the Flyers with 26:25 of ice time in this game. He finished with three credited hits, three credited blocks and was plus-one despite being out for Tyler Toffoli's shorthanded breakaway goal on Read's skittering pass attempt.
* Shayne Gostisbehere skated 12:40 of ice time over 16 shifts in his second NHL game. He was minus-one with three attempted shots (one on goal, one that got blocked, one that missed the net). The rookie was charged with two giveaways. Gostisbehere provided a nerve-racking moment in the game when he skated the puck from behind the net out directly in front of his own net with Kings players nearby. However, he was able to skate himself out of trouble.
* Brayden Schenn on his overtime goal: “ It was the end of the shift for me. From blue line to blue line just trying to get my feet moving as fast as possible. I’m sure he was too, end of the shift I guess with the fresh ice, it pushed the goalie a little. ...Game winners are always nice. Like I said, makes it a little extra special against a team that drafted you. It’s obviously a huge win for our team and we got to keep moving forward.”
* Wayne Simmonds on the back pressure the team was generating: "It was huge. They’re a team with a D like that to get them to the rush. Especially with Doughty and Martinez and those guys. And we had our defense and on top of that our 4 and 5 guys came back and if they turned up we had guys to pick up their men and our defense did a very good job of communicating with us when they were behind us."
* Simmonds on the winning play: "I saw it go over the line. I think they said no goal because I pushed him over. But the puck was over the line far before I even got to the crease."
* Los Angeles coach Darryl Sutter on the same play: "They have the right to review it so whether it was or not… it doesn’t matter if I think it’s correct or not correct. Really has no bearing on anything. He was safe at third and out at home. "
* Flyers captain Claude Giroux on the team's surge over the latter part of the month of October: “We’re trying not to look at the big picture too much, we’re trying to go game by game. We’ve been playing well, but there’s times in games where we’ve kind of had a letdown. The second period we didn’t play as well as the first period, but we [did a lot of] good things and we were able to get those two points.”
* Flyers coach Craig Berube on the pacing of the game and the impact of the Flyers' improved conditioning: " I thought they picked it up in the third period which was a real good sign because I thought the second was again, with the turnovers in the neutral zone, caused a lot of the problems. That’s the reason you play in your end too much. I thought we picked up the pace in the third, especially at the start of the period, which was key, and was led by Giroux’s line.”
* Berube on whether he will continue to "ride" Emery while the goaltender is on a roll of strong performances:It’s not about riding Ray. He is a good goalie. I told you guys before, I use both goalies. I mean, he’s playing well. I’m not riding him, he is playing well.”
* Berube on the job Sean Couturier's line did against Jeff Carter's line: "They did a good job. Not only them, whoever was out there against them, our defense… it’s a tough line to check. They’re big, they all skate well, they support the puck, and they control the play. I thought that our guys competed really hard against them, kept them to the outside for the most part. They did a good job.”
* Voracek on his own all-around play: "For me it was not always about points. It was about how I feel on the ice, if I can contribute differently than in points. I feel good, I had a couple scoring chances, especially in the third period to get a lead, but didn’t go in. So, I’m happy that Schenn got that overtime goal.”
* Voracek on the play of Michael Raffl: "He’s more experienced. You know he is a second year and he is learning a lot. He’s hanging out in front of the net, where all the pucks are. He’s got a very good shot and good score on the puck. Like I said before, I don’t see a reason why he shouldn’t score 30 goals.”
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QUICK HITS: OCTOBER 29
* The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (4-2-0) return to home action on Wednesday night. The club will take on the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins at the PPL Center in a 7:00 p.m. match.
* The entire hockey world was saddened this evening by the revelation that "Mr. Hockey," Gordie Howe suffered a severe stroke on Sunday morning. I was able to separately reach Mark and Travis Howe this evening. They report that, while Gordie's situation is bad, he was able to at least speak his first words today.
The 86-year-old patriarch of hockey's first family is resting at daughter Cathy's house in Texas. Sons Mark and Marty were en route today to be with their father. Grandson Travis was able to FaceTime with Gordie, along with his wife and Gordie's great-granddaughter.
It speaks volumes about the class and dignity of the Howe family that they recognize how much Gordie means to everyone and are providing updates to their best of their ability at this most difficult of times. I am sure I speak for everyone at HockeyBuzz in passing along thoughts and prayers to Gordie and the entire family.
* On a much happier note, I am honored and thrilled to announce that the Flyers' Alumni Association has invited me to do some work on behalf of their
official website. Additionally, we hope to develop some cooperative opportunities between HockeyBuzz and the Alumni's endeavors to build awareness of their work in the Delaware Valley, public appearances and games. I will have more on this in weeks to come.
* Speaking of the Flyers Alumni, HockeyBuzz's own Brad Marsh will be in town this weekend and will suit up with them for a game on Saturday. It is always a pleasure to catch up with "Marshy".
* On another happy note, dual congratulations go out to former Flyers equipment man (and my co-author on a yet-to-be-completed book project) Kevin Cady. Kevin was contacted by former Flyers first-round pick Dan Lucas, who is the head coach at Cheverus High School in Portland, ME. Lucas asked Cady to be an assistant coach. A graduate of Cheravus himself, Kevin early accepted the opportunity to coach at his alma mater.
The primary calling in Kevin's life after leaving the Flyers in the mid-1980s has been law enforcement and detective work. Our upcoming book -- he is the primary author with some assistance from me -- will look at a real-life cold case investigation of a 1971 case that has never officially been solved.
Since retiring from the Portland police department, Kevin has gone into private investigations. Recently, his agency filmed a television pilot for a potential cable series on polygraphs and investigations. It would be tremendous if it actually became a series but even having a pilot filmed is a feather in the agency's cap and speaks to their expertise in the field.
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