Photo courtesy of Flyers/Zack Hill
Two Philadelphia Flyers reached NHL career milestones as the team picked up two vital standings points with a 4-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday afternoon. The Flyers grabbed an early 3-1 lead, survived a hairy second period thanks to stellar goaltending and, after the Coyotes clawed back within a goal with 13:27 left in the third period, they closed the game out strong and got an insurance goal.
Michal Neuvirth played another outstanding game in net for the Flyers, stopping 29 of 31 shots to earn the win. Twelve of his saves came in the second period.
Balanced scoring was also crucial. Scott Laughton, Claude Giroux (power play), Sam Gagner and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored for the Flyers. Mark Streit assisted on all three Philadelphia goals in the first period, including Giroux and Gagner's goals spaced just 40 seconds apart. Brayden Schenn had a pair of assists. Nick Cousins and Wayne Simmonds had a helper apiece.
“Coots [Sean Couturier] was out, I was out, and now Jake [Voracek] is out. We have somebody stepping up every night. The lines were pretty good tonight getting some chemistry. We had four lines going tonight and everybody is playing well," said Giroux.
Giroux's goal was his 500th NHL point; all with the Flyers. Streit's three assists gave him 400 career NHL points; 109 with Philadelphia.
"It’s great to get the win, but on a personal level, 400 points is a big achievement. It’s a big honor too, playing here, playing for the Flyers. It’s important but right now, we are in a playoff race and that’s more important than any personal achievements or whatever," Streit said.
The captain liked the way built the lead early and then closed out the game late after the Coyotes got back within 3-2.
“I think we got on our toes and started playing a little harder and playing more as a team. They didn’t have much after that. Neuvy [Michal Neuvirth] is playing some good hockey now and he’s got a lot of confidence. We got to keep going here," Giroux said.
Laughton had two-third of a Gordie Howe hat trick, standing on to fight Kevin Connauton on behalf of Michael Raffl in the second period.
"I know Michael Raffl can take care of himself and I thought at that point of the game we were a little bit back on our heels and I just tried to change the momentum. That’s what I tried to do, I don’t know if it worked but that’s what I tried to do," Laughton said.
Brad Richardson and Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored in a losing cause for Arizona. Max Domi, Shane Doan, Mikkel Boedker and Mike Stone added assists. Louis Domingue stopped 29 of 33 shots for the Coyotes.
The Flyers went 1-for-4 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill. The Coyotes, who rank second in faceoff percentage in the NHL, dominated the circles (36-for-58, 62 percent) but the Flyers generally managed around it well.
"I thought we had a similar start to our last couple of games. Claude, he stepped back in and did his job. He did a good job. I thought everybody else just went right back to work," said Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol.
"I thought the entirety of our third period was pretty good. It was the second period we weren’t very good. Let me qualify that. We didn’t handle their pressure very well. We gave a lot of pucks and a lot of second opportunities back to them on our half of the ice. Give a lot of credit to them. Shift after shift they pressured us into turnovers in the second period. We cleaned that up in the third period. Overall, we played a good third period.”
After a few early bobbles, the Flyers settled in to be the better team in the first period.
Philly was guilty of back-to-back neutral zone turnovers on the game's second shift by Shayne Gostisbehere and Gagner but no danger ensued. Michael Raffl had the game's first shot and scoring chance, deflecting a puck on Domingue at 1:13 from 25 feet out. Nicklas Grossmann blocked a Bellemare shot attempt up into the safety netting at 2:23.
Neuvirth made his first stop as he cleanly gloved a 10-foot shot by Viktor Tikhanov at 2:29. The Flyers goalie then made a close-range stop on Brad Richardson at 3:33 after the Flyers turned over a puck in their own end.
Before a stoppage at 7:36, Domingue had a good stop on Gagner. On the next shift, Neuvirth fought off shot in traffic.
Laughton (sixth goal) opened the scoring at 9:30. Cousins lobbed the puck high over the D in the Flyers' zone to spring Laughton on a breakaway after he grabbed the puck up near the attacking blueline. The second-year pro finished it off by sliding a backhander between Domingue's pads. Streit got the secondary assist as the Flyers grabbed a 1-0 lead.
The Flyers got the game's first power play at 10:02 as Grossmann was penalized for holding moments after he steered Ryan White to the end boards. The Flyers were unable to cash in and Arizona countered as the penalty expired.
A deflected pass and a defensive breakdown by the Flyers resulted in Arizona's Brad Richardson tying the game off the rush at 13:31. Arizona had numbers and Neuvirth had no chance at a save once a pass from Domi went across to Richardson as he drove the net from the right wing. Doan got the secondary assist as the score was equalized at 1-1 on the Coyotes' eighth shot of the game.
The Flyers went back to the power play at 14:40. Ekman-Larsson set a pick behind his net as the Coyotes attempted to break out. The power play lasted just 13 seconds. The Coyotes had a 3-on-1 counter attack and a backchecking Streit was called for slashing (more of a hook, actually).
Philly got its third power play at 17:01 as Antoine Vermette went off for a needless hooking penalty. The Flyers made the Coyotes pay and took a 2-1 lead. From the left circle, Giroux (17th goal) steadied a pass and then wristed a shot through a screen over Domingue to the short side. Streit and Schenn got the assists at 17:41 .
On the very next shift, the Flyers made it a 3-1 lead. Streit and Couturier worked a puck out of the defensive zone up the right side, with Couturier getting it ahead to Gagner after it went off the stick of Ekman-Larsson and then off an official's skate. With space to attack, Gagner (5th goal) beat Domingue from the right circle at 18:21.
The Coyotes got their first bonafide power play (but second official one) at 18:34 as Brandon Manning was called for hooking as Arizona attacked the net. Shots in the first periods were 15-12 in the Flyers' favor.
In the second period, the Coyotes had the early pressure and Neuvirth escaped after leaving out a dangerous chance near the net. Play settled down for much of the first half of the period with four shots apiece.
Kevin Connauton wanted a fight behind the play with Michael Raffl, who didn't oblige. Scott Laughton stepped up for his teammate at 10:19. Laughton lost fight but that wasn't the point.
The Coyotes came out with some zip right after the fight and Neuvirth stood his ground around the net to keep the score 3-1. Neuvirth had to stop five chances from close-to-medium range to bring his save total to 19 at a stoppage of play at 12:29.
VandeVelde got a tripping penalty behind the Arizona net at 13:21. Neuvirth stepped up big again to deny a pair of chances. With five seconds left on the kill, Michael Stone went off for a high stick behind the Coyotes net at 15:16. Philly could not capitalize.
Shots in the second period were 12-8 in Arizona's favor; 24-24 through 40 minutes.
Gostisbehere got a hooking penalty near the Flyers' net at 4:09 of the third period. Arizona went on its fourth power play. They did not score on the power play but scored with 13:27 left to cut the gap to 3-2.
The deadly Ekman-Larsson pinched up to the left circle and snapped his 16th goal of the season past Neuvirth after a cross-ice pass from Mikkel Boedker. Stone got the secondary assist.
Hanzl crashed the net at about the 11:30 mark and the puck arrived at the same time, going off the attacker's skate and off the post. Had it gone in, it would have a been a tying goal as there was no kicking motion involved.
Gostisbehere did a nice job tying up his man's stick and blocking down a shot from high in the zone when Arizona seemed well set up. Not long after that, the Flyers had a 3-on-1 rush but a pass intended for Giroux went wide. Domingue then kept his team alive with a clutch save on Schenn from the left slot.
With 4:10 left, the Coyotes had a right circle faceoff in the offensive zone. Vermette beat Couturier cleanly but no harm resulted and the Flyers got the puck out of the zone.
The Flyers had a 3-on-1 rush that initially seemed to fizzle out as Wayne Simmonds ran out of room near the right post but he managed to poke the puck through into the crease with Domingue sprawled. An alert Bellemare pounced immediately and poked the puck home for his fifth goal of the season and second key third-period goal in an as many games. Schenn got the second helper at 17:15.
Domingue pulled with about two minutes left. No further scoring ensued. Final shots were 33-31 Flyers; 9-7 Flyers in the third period.
With the win, the Flyers temporarily moved within one point of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the lower wildcard seed in the Eastern Conference. However, the Penguins were also in action on Saturday, hosting the Winnipeg Jets, and hold an additional game in hand beyond that.
The Flyers will take an off-day on Sunday. On Monday, after the NHL trade deadline passes and Jim Watson is inducted as the 25th member of the team Hall of Fame, the Flyers will host the Calgary Flames.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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