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Wrapup: Flyers Ground Jets, 3-0, Phantoms Lose in Syracuse |
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WRAPUP: NEUVIRTH SHINES AS FLYERS GROUND JETS, 3-0
Riding stellar goaltending and a much-needed revival of their struggling special teams, the Philadelphia Flyers avoided a winless five-game road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Winnipeg Jets at MTS Centre on Saturday night. The Flyers went 2-for-5 on the power play and 5-5 on the penalty kill.
Michael Neuvirth prevailed in a battle of Czech netminders, turning back all 28 shots he faced to outduel Winnipeg's Ondrej Pavelec (20 saves on 22 shots). Per Elias Sports Bureau and Flyers manager of media and broadcasting services Brian Smith, Neuvirth set a new Flyers franchise record as he became the first Flyers goaltender to record three shutouts within his first seven starts of a season.
“The first two periods I was seeing the puck well," Neuvirth said to the attending media after the game. "I was fighting the traffic pretty good. In the third I got lucky a couple of times, but I was missing the luck last game [in a 2-1 overtime loss in Calgary], so I got it tonight.”
For the season to date, Neuvirth has posted a .945 save percentage, tying him with the New York Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist for tops in the NHL. Neuvirth's 1.81 goals against average ranks fourth in the league.
On Saturday night, the Jets had a 63 to 43 shot attempt edge against the Flyers but it meant nothing on the scoreboard. The Flyers blocked 19 attempts and Winnipeg missed the net on another 16 tries. The Jets blocked nine Flyers' attempts and Philly missed the net 11 times. Overall, the Flyers played pretty well with and without the puck.
The Flyers, who entered the game in an 0-for-16 drought on the power play, received power play goals in the first period from Brayden Schenn and the mid-third period by Wayne Simmonds. Matt Read added an unassisted empty net goal with 1:35 left in the game.
Schenn's fifth goal of the season (second power play marker) enabled him to retake the team goal-scoring lead from team captain Claude Giroux, who assisted on both of the Flyers' power play strikes in the game. Simmonds' goal was his second of the 2015-16 season and first on the man advantage.
Neuvirth had to come up big early in the game to keep it scoreless. With the teams skating four-on-four with Ryan White and Anthony Peluso in the box for coincidental unsportsmanlike conduct penalties -- things got testy at times between the inter-conference clubs -- Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien rumbled up the right wing and found an open Mathieu Perrault in the left slot. Neuvirth made the save, and the Flyers struck a few minutes later after Alexander Burmistrov went to the box for tripping White.
“The save that [Neuvirth] made in the first period just gave us a little more confidence, and gave us the chance to have the start in the first period that we needed," Flyers' head coach Dave Hakstol said in his post-game press conference.
On Schenn's goal, scored at 5:54 of the first period, the Flyers won a 3-on-3 puck battle behind the Winnipeg net after Jakub Voracek carried the puck into the zone and backhanded it into right corner. With some help from Simmonds, Voraceck regained the puck and sent around the wall to Giroux as Schenn moved out from behind the net to the left circle. Giroux fed the puck to Schenn, who blasted it past Pavelec.
The Flyers were the better team over the majority of the first period, despite getting outshot by a 12-8 margin. Sean Couturier was not able to convert a 2-on-1 rush into a goal, and the Flyers narrowly missed converting their second power play of the period into a goal. Meanwhile, Neuvirth made some tough saves through traffic as he tracked the puck all the way into his body. Philly survived a pair of first-period penalty kills to take a 1-0 lead to the first intermission.
Philadelphia contained the Jets in the second period, holding an 8-6 shot on goal advantage for the period. However, Neuvirth was forced to make a tremendous glove save on Nikolaj Ehlers early in the period to protected the one-goal advantage.
At 4:16 of the second period, R.J. Umberger and Winnipeg captain Andrew Ladd dropped the gloves. The fight was prompted by Umberger hitting Blake Wheeler in the neutral zone after Wheeler had already released a chip pass up the boards. Umberger, who sustained cut after his right eye in the ensuing fight, received an extra minor penalty for interference. The Flyers killed the penalty.
The Flyers had two power plays of their own in the middle frame, but were unable to score on either one. There was a scary moment when Michael Del Zotto got his right leg tangled with the left leg of the Jets' Chris Thornburn and the accidental kicking motion had a similar effect to a slew foot. Del Zotto had to helped off the ice. However, he returned a few minutes later and went on to log 18:28 of ice time over 21 shifts.
Philadelphia hung on to its narrow lead through several Winnipeg scoring chances early in the third period. Neuvirth made stops on Wheeler and Byfuglien within the first two minutes. With Radko Gudas (five hits, three blocks, three giveaways charged in 20:59 of ice time) in the penalty box for roughing Burmistrov, Winnipeg got set up but the Flyers' penalty kill stepped up to thwart the attack.
First, Luke Schenn blocked a Byfuglien slap shot. Wheeler shot a puck over the net. Neuvirth turned away a blast by Jacob Trouba. Finally, Del Zotto blocked a shot attempt by Mark Scheifele.
At the 8:42 mark, Tobias Enström went to the penalty box for tripping Voracek. The Flyers went to their fifth and final power play of the game. As the man advantage clock ticked down to 58 seconds, Philly extended its lead to 2-0.
During extended puck possession in deep by the Flyers, Voracek skated around the behind the net but saw everything sealed off. Rather than forcing a low percentage wrap around or pass into traffic, Voracek held onto the puck and then passed out to Mark Streit at center point. Streit rotated the puck rapidly to Giroux, and the Flyers' captail ripped a shot at the net.
A diving-out Pavelec got the initial shot but the puck still lay loose near his pad. Simmonds immediately pounced and swept the puck on the backhand into a yawning net. Giroux and Streit earned the assists. On the play, Giroux recorded his 311th career regular season assist to pass John LeClair for 11th on the all-time franchise list.
Through the first 13-plus minutes of the third period, the Flyers limited Winnipeg to just four shots on goal. With six minutes left, Del Zotto gave a puck away and Neuvirth came up with a deflected Adam Lowry shot from about 20 feet from the net.
With time ticking down near 3:45 left in the game, Streit blocked a pair of Scheifele shot attempts in quick succession. The Jets maintained possession, however, and the Flyers narrowly escaped as Perrault and Burmistrom shot over the net and then Neuvirth turned away a Byfuglien blast from 60 feet away. The Flyers finally iced the puck and Hakstol called timeout. White won the ensuing faceoff.
The Jets pulled Pavelec for an extra attacker. With 1:35 left in the game, Read blocked a Perrault shot attempt up high in the Flyers' defensive zone and immediately took possession. The forward then guided a puck from the left side boards along the red line into the vacant net 95 feet away. The goal, Read's third of the season, was unassisted.
Philadelphia killed a final penalty into the last minute of play. They preserved the shutout and ended the road trip with three points.
The Flyers will play three of their next four matches at the Wells Fargo Center in a stretch that will see the club have five of seven games on home ice through Nov. 23. The stretch starts on Tuesday night, as Patrick Roy's Colorado Avalanche pay their lone visit of the season to Philadelphia.
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PHANTOMS DROP 2-1 DECISION IN SYRACUSE
One night after dropping a 4-2 decision at home to the Hershey Bears, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (4-7-0) sustained a 2-1 road regulation setback to the Syracuse Crunch on Saturday night.
A pair of early goals by Jonathan Marchessault (fifth and sixth of the season; four of which have come at the Phantoms' expense over two games) made the difference. Anthony Stolarz (31 saves on 33 shots) went on to play a strong game in goal in a losing cause. A late second period power play goal by Flyers' salary cap exile Andrew MacDonald, assisted by Shayne Gostisbehere and Tim Brent, was the lone goal for Lehigh Valley.
The defense pairing of Gostisbehere and MacDonald was on the ice for both of Marchessault goals in the first period, along with the forward trio of Chris Conner, Petr Straka and Danick Martel. Second year defenseman Robert Hägg made his return to the Phantoms' lineup first the first time since getting injured on Oct. 16 in Springfield. Hägg narrowly missed tying the game in the waning minutes of the third period.
The previous night, rookie defenseman Christian Marti made his North American pro hockey debut after missing the start of the season with a shoulder injury. He had a nightmarish debut, going minus-three against Hershey, and was a healthy scratch in Syracuse. In the meantime, Gordon dressed defenseman Jesper Pettersson as a fourth-line winger in Saturday's game.
The Phantoms are right back in action on Sunday, hosting the Binghamton Senators (3-7-0) and hoping to salvage two points from their weekend three-in-three. Game time at the PPL Center is 5:05 p.m. ET.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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