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Wrapup: Flyers Take Step in Right Direction, Down Habs 4-3 |
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WRAPUP: FLYERS TAKE STEP IN RIGHT DIRECTION, DOWN HABS, 4-3
In dire need of a prolonged hot streak to gain ground in the Eastern Confererence standings, the Philadelphia Flyes (16-15-7) took a step in the right direction as they earned their first win in four tries since the Christmas break and defeated the Montreal Canadiens (22-16-3) in regulation by a 4-3 score.
The Flyers got offensive contributions from several different lines and won the special teams battle (1-for-3 on the power play, 4-for-4 on the penalty kill) on the heels of a California road trip where special teams cost them dearly and goals in general were scarce.
Brayden Schenn had one of his best games of the season, scoring a breakaway goal, adding two assists and registering six credited hits. Linemate Sean Couturier had a goal and an assist. Shayne Gostisbehere notched a goal and an assist to at least temporarily take over the NHL scoring lead among rookie defensemen (in many fewer games played). Wayne Simmonds added a power play deflection goal.
“I’ve played with Coots before and have played with Raff [Michael Raffl] in the past and the three of us are pretty big bodies and we were just trying to keep it simple. Coots is easy to play with since he’s always in the right spot for us. We got off to a good start early tonight and just kept it going from there," Schenn said.
Added Couturier, "I think we’ve had some pretty good chemistry in the past and tonight it was good again so hopefully we can build on that and keep producing and keep helping the team."
Winning netminder Michal Neuvirth went long stretches without a shot and had no chance on any of the Montreal goals. Actually, he kicked aside the third Montreal goal in the final minute of regulation but his pad was over the goal line as the puck crossed. Ultimately, he turned back 21 of 24 shots; not a pretty statistical line but a strong enough night to have done his job.
Losing netminder Ben Scrivens (27 saves on 31 shots) likewise had little chance on any of the Philadelphia goals and came up wth several outstanding saves, including two on Claude Giroux from point-blank range and a Jakub Voracek breakaway, to prevent the game from turning into a potential blowout.
Philadelphia did a good job of getting their shot attempts on net -- 31 of 47 attempts went on net -- and came up with a lot of blocked shots. Radko Gudas was credited with a game-high seven of the Flyers' 25 blocks. Montreal also missed the net 16 times.
Something else the Flyers did that has not been the case too often of late, even in wins in the last few games heading into the break: They got off a strong start and controlled the first period.
“Coach has been saying we’re not too good in the league right now in the first period. That was big, we just split up the period into four or five minute segments so it worked out for us and it was a good game," Gostisbehere said.
The Flyers had good early jump and got the game's first two shots through 5:06. The second one, a breakaway by Brayden Schenn off a lead pass by Couturier opened the scoring. Schenn, who had initially dropped his stick and had to go back to retrieve it, went in alone and beat Scrivens through the five hole for his ninth goal and fifth even-strength goal of the season.
"I was looking low blocker and was trying to bring it backhand to forehand quick and never seen it really the whole way so then I tried the five-hole and just tried to get the shot off quick," Schenn said.
Shots were still 2-0 when Nick Schultz was whistled off for hooking behind the Flyers' net at 6:49. Neuvirth made two saves during the penalty kill, which stood as the Habs only shots until a harmless long range shot drifted in with 7:05 left in the first period.
Giroux was wide open in front of Scriven to take a pass from Simmonds and wrist a shot on net from the slot. Scrivens picked it with the glove.
The Habs' fourth shot tied the game. Galchenyuk shook free from Scott Laughton in front of the net and deflected home a point shot by Mark Baberio for his 10th of the season and 14:40. Daniel Carr got the secondary assist. The sequence started with a bad turnover by Luke Schenn and continued with a lucky bounce for Montreal as R.J. Umberger blocked Barberio's initial point shot and the puck went right back to the defenseman on his forehand.
With 1:14 left in the opening period, Giroux went to the net and tried to redirect the puck from near the net as Simmonds sent it in from the high right slot. Scrivens made the save. The puck came loose just after the whistle.
The Flyers hot their first power play of the game with 21 seconds left in the first period as Jeff Petry was sent off for an offensive zone holding minor. The Flyers took 1:39 of carryover power play time to intermission. Shots in the first period were 12-4 in the Flyers' favor.
Voracek tattooed the end glass with an open but errant shot as the power play resumed at the start of the second period. As the penalty expired, Scrivens gloved a Couturier left point shot and held on for the stoppage.
At 3:20 Gostisbehere ended a mini-point drought as he skated in a stride from the left point blasted a shot high over Scrivens. Umberger and Laughton got the assists on Gostisbehere's 7th goal of the season and first since his overtime goal against Carolina on Dec. 15.
"It’s the way he gets it away," Simmonds said in reference to Gostisbehere's shooting prowess.
"As a winger going out to block a shot, if the D pump fakes it and takes a quick step to the side, you kind of screwed. You watch him play, you get him the puck up top and his feet are always moving. So it’s kind of hard to block the shot. It may not be the hardest shot, but it’s heavy and it gets through the majority of the time. He’s doing a good job out there."
On the next shift, Simmonds was not quite able to steer home a Giroux rebound on a line rush. Tomas Plekanec came up with a block on what otherwise would have been a goal.
The Flyers got their second power play as P.K. Subban was whistled off for a hook just inside the defensive blueline that otherwise would have triggered a counterattack. The Flyers pressed heavily during the early portion of the power play. The second unit also had a chance as Scrivens juggled a long-range shot but Matt Read couldn't get to it in time in front. Finally, the Flyers cashed in late in the power play.
The Flyers won a left circle faceoff and Simmonds deflected Gostisbehere's left point shot past Scrivens to forge a 3-1 lead. Gostisbehere and Brayden Schenn 10th of the season (fourth on the power play) at 8:12. Shots were 22-7 Flyers at this point.
At 12:29 with shots still 22-7, Ryan White received an interference minor. The Flyers got through the kill. At one point, the lefthanded shooting Chris Vandevelde gave the righthanded
Gudas his stick after the defenseman lost his own.
Gallagher cut the gap to 3-2 as he parked himself on the doorstep and deflected home an Alexei Emelin shot off the line rush at 17:03. Max Pacioretty got the second helper. The goal came on the Habs' 13th shot of the game.
At 19:03, White got a boarding penalty for a hit from the side (not from the back) behind the Flyers net. Montreal went to their third power play. Shots in the second period were 10-9 in the Flyers' favor (22-13 through 40 minutes).
The Flyers killed off the remaining penalty time at the start of the third period. Philly went to its third man advantage on a cross-check on the half-boards by Emelin on Brayden Schenn at 2:29 Philly did not do much with most of the ensuing power play. It ended with Scrivens swallowing up a left-circle Giroux one-timer.
For the second time since the Christmas break, a fortuitous bounce off the end boards on a Nick Schultz shot resulted in a Flyers goal. Last time it was Voracek with a goal at the opposite post. This time the shot was a wrister that came out on the same side. Couturier, going to the net, knocked the puck home. Brayden Schenn got the secondary assist on Couturier's seventh goal of the season, scored at the 5:41 mark.
The Canadiens had an odd-man rush that nearly resulted in a Paul Byron goal but Byron missed the net on his shot. He then recovered it behind the net and attempted a wraparound but Neuvirth got his skate over for his 17th save of the game. Moments later, Voracek was unable to finish off a breakaway on a backhander try.
In the neutral zone, Gallagher delivered a hit on Gudas, and both went down. Rising up, Gudas dropped a shoulder on Pacioretty who ended up on the back of his skate rockers and tumbled over backwards.
With 3:19 left on the clock, Couturier got a high-sticking minor in the offensive zone. The Habs immediately pulled Scrivens to skate 6-on-4 on the power play. Giroux and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare each tried long-range attempts at the open net. Montreal finally generated extended offensive zone time at the end of the power play.
With Neuvirth's skate behind the goal line, Carr swept a puck from the doorstep and over the goal line before it was kicked out by Neuvirth's pad. The on-ice ruling was no goal but it was quickly and correctly overturned on video review at 19:03. Lars Eller and Thomas Fleischmann got at the assists.
The Habs continued to attack at 6-on-5 with an empty net. The Habs took timeout with 25.2 seconds left and a neutral zone draw upcoming after a puck was played with a high stick. Neuvirth survived a nearly fatal mistake on a clearing attempt before time expired. The puck hit Pacioretty and came dangerously close to boomeranging into a goal.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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