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Wrapup: Flyers Earn 3rd Straight Win, Top Sens 4-2 |
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WRAPUP: FLYERS WIN THIRD STRAIGHT, TOP SENATORS, 4-2
Three was a lucky number for the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night. It took three separate one-goal leads plus an eventual empty-net goal to hold off the host Ottawa Senators by a 4-2 count on Tuesday night. Philadelphia earned its first three-game winning streak to date in the 2015-16 season.
Shayne Gostisbehere, Evgeny Medvedev, Wayne Simmonds and Sean Couturier (empty net) scored for the Flyers. Steve Mason was very sharp in turning back 23 of 25 Ottawa shots to earn the win. The Flyers' goaltender had little to no chance of stopping point-blank tallies by Zack Smith or Mike Hoffman. Craig Anderson, who shut out the Flyers when the teams met on Nov. 21, stopped 29 of 32 in a losing cause in this game.
After several games of generating significant offensive zone pressure but no goals and then finally having a breakout game in Saturday's 3-0 road victory over the New York Rangers, the Flyers' second line of Simmonds, Couturier and Read picked up where they left off at Madison Square Garden.
Simmonds had a whale of a game against the Senators, even apart from scoring the game-winning goal and earning the lone assist on Couturier's empty net goal that sealed the win. All game long, Simmonds, who has three goals in the last two games, frequenty caused havoc near the Ottawa net. The power forward had another good night on the cycling and forechecking game. He created a third-period power play for the Flyers. Last but not least, it was Simmonds who blocked a pass with Ottawa pressing to tie the game late in the third period and then fed Couturier for the empty-netter than iced the win.
Couturier, who has also scored in back-to-back games finished with a three-point night. In addition to his empty netter, he had well-earned primary assists on the Flyers' second and third goals of the game. Shooting and carrying the puck with greater confidence, Couturier easily could have had a hat trick among his seven shot attempts but tucked one wide of the net with room to score in close, had four shots on net turned back, and missed the net on a bid for a second empty netter.
Read did not get on the scoresheet in the game but was highly effective in defending passing lanes and creating attacking opportunities up ice. He also matched a single-game career high with six shots on goal.
For Mason, the game was the type that can be hell on goaltenders. In terms of quantity, he did not see much rubber in the first two periods (13 shots) but most of the shots he faced were off the bang-bang difficult variety off of turnovers or other miscues in front of him. The two goals Mason allowed were all but unstoppable. For much of the third period, Ottawa pressed heavily in the Philadelphia zone. The play of the Flyers' goalie (12 saves) was the biggest reason why Philly bent but didn't break in the third period before Couturier sealed the win.
The Flyers opened the scoring at 14:27 of the first period. Flyers captain Claude Giroux made a beautiful cross ice pass to find a wide open Gostisbehere in the right circle. From near the right faceoff dot, Gostisbehere had time and room to measure a top-shelf wrist shot that no goaltender would have stopped. It was Gostisbehere's fourth goal (first even strength tally in the NHL) and Giroux's 12th assist. Brayden Schenn got the secondary assist.
The Flyers' lead did not last long.
At the 17:17 mark of the first period, the Sens cashed in on a bad turnover by Medvedev. In a rush to beat a forecheck that had not yet arrived, Medvedev blindly wrapped the puck around the boards from behind the net. There was nothing but red swweaters in the vicinity of where he sent the puck. Medvedev had a chance to skate with the puck or find a safety-valve pass. When Cody Ceci picked off the puck, he fed a wide open Smith, who was cutting across the slot through the middle. Smith elevated a perfectly placed shot to score his sixth of the season.
Philadelphia re-took the lead at 3:14 of the second period just as the Flyers' first power play of the game was about to expire. Couturier made a perfect pass out of left corner out to Medvedev on the right circle. The 33-year-old Russian blueliner weaved a wrist shot through traffic for the first regular season NHL goal of his career. Michael Del Zotto got the secondary assist.
Barely a minute later, at the 4:20 mark, Del Zotto got beaten at the blueline on an attempted stick check. From there, the Flyers collectively failed their coverages straightened out. Bobby Ryan fed Hoffman, who immediately ripped a bullet past Mason before the goaltender had any chance to adjust.
At 15:33 of the second period, the Senators had a would-be go-ahead goal disallowed. Ryan deflected the puck with a clear-cut high stick. The goal, which severely changed direction and bounced past Mason into the net, was immediately washed out by referee Ghislain Hebert and the non-goal ruling was upheld after brief video review in the Situation Room in Toronto.
As often happens in hockey, the pivotal play of this game was a scoring chance that went awry at one end ending up as a goal at the other. Ottawa superstar defenseman Erik Karlsson fired an errant pass on a dangerous-looking rush for the Senators, which the Flyers turned into a 3-on-2 counterattack. After a pass from Couturier, Simmonds was denied on his initial left circle shot by Anderson but kept skating at the net and stashed home his own rebound. Couturier and Brandon Manning got the assists.
The third period saw the Senators bring heavy offensive zone pressure for much of the frame. Mason continued to track shots well through traffic and control his rebounds. Midway through the period, Simmonds kept his feet moving in the offensive zone and was tripped up by Mark Borowiecki. The Flyers generated two good scoring chances on the ensuing power play but were unable to extend the lead. Even so, it drained two more minutes off the game clock.
During the waning minutes of the third period, the Senators -- who had already lost forward Milan Michalek earlier in the game to a hand injury -- lost center Mika Zibanejad. On the play where Zibanejad got hurt, Flyers defenseman Radko Gudas (five credited hits, two blocks in 24:38 of ice time) steamrolled the crouching Swede moments after a faceoff, chicken-winging him with a blow that made primary contact with the recipient's head. Zibanejad left the game immediately and did not return. Gudas was not penalized on the play but may face supplementar discipline from the NHL.
The Senators pulled Anderson for an extra attacker in the final two minutes. The Flyers put a halt to the all-out 6-on-5 press they faced when Simmonds picked off a slap-pass and then fed the puck to Couturier. Making sure first that he got to the red line to avoid icing in case he missed the net, Couturier guided the puck home to extend the Flyers' lead to 4-2. Ottawa kept Anderson on the bench for a sixth attacker and Couturier narrowly missed another empty-netter.
Going 2-for-2 on the penalty kill, the Flyers ran their string of successful kills to 21 in a row. Philly was officially 0-for-4 on the power play but the Medvedev goal was scored simultaneous to the expiration of an Ottawa minor.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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