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Wrapup: Flyers Blank Penguins, 3-0 |
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Wrapup: Flyers Blank Penguins, 3-0
In the final game before the NHL All-Star break and the team's bye week, the Philadelphia Flyers shut out the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-0, at the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday night. It was one of the Flyers most complete 200-foot performances of the season; similar but slightly better defensively than the recent 1-0 loss to Tampa Bay and with significantly more forechecking push and offensive jam.
The Flyers did an excellent job of taking time and space away from the Penguins' dangerous attack, and their attention to defensive detail and strong puck pressure eventually forced Pittsburgh into costly turnovers. When there was a rare breakdown, Brian Elliott erased it.
"We talked about playing with good details with and without the puck just trying to be in the right spots, so you don’t have to run around and do anything too crazy. I think we were supporting each other well with and without the puck. It makes it tough for other teams to make plays when you do that," James van Riemsdyk said.
The Flyers go into the NHL All-Star break and their bye week with 60 points; 27-17-6 overall and 17-4-4 on home ice. They are nevertheless below the Eastern Conference wildcard cutoff line. By virtue of a tiebreaker disadvantage, the Flyers are below the Columbus Blue Jackets in the standings although both teams have 60 points. Philly is one point behind upper wildcard team Carolina and three points behind the New York Islanders for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
The Flyers are 6-2-0 over their last eight games. In that stretch, the team has earned wins over the Washington Capitals, Boston Bruins, St. Louis Blues and Penguins. The 1-0 loss to Tampa Bay could have gone either way. Only a disappointing performance in a home loss to Montreal last Thursday truly blemished the stretch of games. The Flyers earned a 4-1 over the LA Kings before the Penguins came to town.
Tuesday's performance against the Penguins was perhaps the best of the lot.
"When we feel good and we play the right way and dialed in, I feel like we're a pretty good team. We have, obviously, a lot of work to do to be consistent. Teams that make the playoffs and make a run for it, they're very consistent on the road and at home. So, we have some work to do, we know that, but at the same time, we're happy with how we're playing," said Flyers captain Claude Giroux.
After a scoreless opening stanza, Jakub Voracek (10th) scored early in the second period and van Riemsdyk (14th) struck late to build a 2-0 lead. Justin Braun (3rd) scored a long-distance empty netter with one minute left in the game.
Elliott authored a 19-save shutout for the Flyers. Tristan Jarry stopped 27 of 29 shots in a losing cause.
"t was really strong. I thought we were defensive minded and standing over top of guys. Our F3 was really strong tonight, allowing our D to keep up on the play. I thought we frustrated them. You give them time and space and they can make plays. I thought we took it away. We just moved our feet and that way the key to the game," Elliott said.
The Flyers went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and 0-for-3 on the power play.
The Flyers played a very strong first period, generating puck pressure on the forecheck and good gaps defensively. Philly won the majority of the 50-50 battles and races to the puck. They took a 12-8 shot lead to the first intermission and also an edge in quality of offensive opportunities but neither team dented the twine in the opening 20 minutes.
The best chance for Pittsburgh in the first period was an Andrew Agozzino tip in front that went off the post. For Philly, the best opportunity was a Joel Farabee breakaway. The rookie shot over the net in trying to go high to the glove side.
A Jakub Voracek penalty late in the period gave Pittsburgh the game's first power play. The Flyers did some stellar PK work, especially by Kevin Hayes ragging 18 seconds off the clock in the neutral zone. Pittsburgh took 46 seconds of carryover time into the second period. The Flyers killed off the rest in good shape.
"He did it against four guys," a grinning Giroux said of Hayes' PK puck-ragging. "Guys at the bench were yelling at him to get the puck deep. It was a great play but he still makes me nervous when he does that. "
A strong energy shift by fourth-liner Tyler Pitlick was followed by the Flyers' top line opening the scoring on the next shift. A good entry and tape-to-tape pass from Sean Couturier to Voracek left him one-on-one with Jarry in close. Voracek moved to his backhand and beat the goal at 5:26.
Letang took a needless roughing penalty that put his team down on a brief 5-on-3. Unfortunately, the Flyers didn't do much with it. With 6:05 left in the period, Farabee received a neutral zone hooking penalty. The Penguins had early possession but nothing close to a scoring chance. One the Flyers got the puck and cleared (the first of four straight successful clears), Pittsburgh never got set up again. At 18:40, the Flyers pounced on some loose play by the Penguins. Konecny intercepted the puck in the neutral zone and fed van Riemsdyk. JVR beat Jarry through the five-hole for a 2-0 lead. The assists went to Konecny and Giroux.
The Flyers caught a huge break early in the third period. A Marcus Pettersson shot hit the post (2nd post for Pens in the game) and sat in the crease but Crosby couldn't quite get to it for a tap-in. Near the midpoint of the period, Elliott robbed Bryan Rust from point-blank range on a near tic-tac-toe sequence started by Malkin and Crosby.
"It’s something we talked about that they do a lot. A lot of behind the net, quick passes out in front and you just try to get anything you can in front of it. Luckily, it stuck to me," Elliott said about his stop on Rust.
Beyond that, the Flyers did a stellar job at shutting down Pittsburgh, even as they stacked Crosby and Malkin and sent them out almost every other shift. A late power play after a lengthy delayed call on Malkin put the Flyers in the driver's seat. They did not score but two precious minutes ticked off clock. Finally, with Jarry pulled for an extra attacker, Braun scored a long-distance empty netter with exactly one minute left on the clock.
With Michael Raffl (neck/shoulder) unavailable for this game, Farabee had the chance to move up in the lineup and to play with Couturier and Voracek in frequent matchups against Crosby and/or Malkin. The 19-year-old rookie rose to the opportunity.
"I am always up for a challenge. [Crosby] is obviously top-three in the world. He is really fun to watch. We knew coming in we were going to have to stay above him. He likes to kind of swing in their d zone and pick up speed. I thought we stayed on top of him pretty well and they didn’t have much offense from him," Farabee said.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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