WRAPUP: FLYERS EARN VITAL 3-1 WIN IN TAMPA BAY
They won't have any time to celebrate it, but the Philadelphia Flyers churned out a quality 3-1 road win at the Amalie Arena to sweep a Monday/Friday home-and-home set with the defending Eastern Conference champion Tampa Bay Lightning. Earlier in the week, the Flyers dominated the Lightning in a 4-2 decision at the Wells Fargo Center that was not nearly as close as the final score suggested.
Power play goals by Sam Gagner (seventh goal of the season) and Matt Read (11th) built a 2-0 lead by early in the second period of Friday's match. Brayden Schenn (23rd) added an even-strength tally that extended the lead to three goals before the game was halfway finished. Andrew MacDonald, Sean Couturier, Wayne Simmonds and Brandon Manning added one assist apiece. In the defensive zone, MacDonald blocked 10 shots; half of the Flyers’ team total of 20.
Flyers goaltender Steve Mason took care of the rest.
Mason stopped 18 of 19 shots and flirted with a shutout until late in regulation when he yielded an unpreventable rebound goal to Brian Boyle. Tampa goaltender Ben Bishop stopped 19 of 22 shots in a losing cause.
Over the two games, the Flyers outshot the Lightning by a combined 62-37 (40-18 in Philadelphia on Monday, 22-19 in Tampa Bay on Friday). Mason stopped 34 of 37 shots over the two games, facing a tougher overall quality of scoring chances in the second game than the first despite the low quantity of shots in both games.
The game was scoreless until Steven Stamkos was whistled off for a double-minor for high sticking Manning at 5:26. At the 8:57 mark, the Flyers had the game's first goal as the team's second power play unit struck for a goal.
On the play, MacDonald passed from center point to Sean Couturier on the left side, and Couturier put a 50-foot shot on net. In the ensuing scramble, Gagner got a piece of the rebound before J.T. Brown accidentally deflected the puck back into his own team's net. As a result, the play was scored as an unassisted goal for Gagner.
Shots in the first period were 7-7. With Erik Condra in the book for an early second period hooking penalty drawn by Ryan White, the Flyers' second power play unit struck again.
White did not get a point on the play but he set up a heavy screen directly in front of Bishop and behind a weak fronting job by Jason Garrison. After receiving a pass from MacDonald, Read skated down to the top of the right circle and ripped a shot that found the back of the net past the helpless Bishop as White jumped up to allow the puck to get through. Couturier got the secondary assist at the 3:34 mark.
The Flyers extended the lead to 3-0 at 7:56. After Manning had a point shot attempt blocked and Simmonds collected the puck in the deep slot and fired it wide of the right post from 35 feet. With Bishop fully committed to the Simmonds' shot attempt, the puck caromed directly to Schenn, who avoided a Bishop pokecheck attempt which left the goalie lunging and off-balance. Schenn then took the puck around behind the net ahead of Nikita Nesterov and scored on the wraparound.
Philadelphia took a 9-7 second period shot advantage to the intermission. More important, they also took a three-goal lead. In the third period, Tampa was held to just five shots (Philly had seven).
Cooper pulled Bishop for an extra attacker with over three minutes left in the game. Tampa then scored at the 17:18 mark to get on the scoreboard. Mason had no chance on this one. The Flyers played the 6-on-5 rather passively. Meanwhile, the only two players in front of Mason as the puck went to Anton Strålman at the point were Ondrej Palat and Boyle.
Palat deflected Strålman's shot on a screened Mason. The goalie made the initial save but the rebound went directly to Boyle, who potted the rebound for his 10th goal of the season. It was one of few times in the two games where there was no help for Mason when he needed it.
The Flyers responded well. Couturier won a key defensive zone draw after an icing. MacDonald blocked a pair of shots and Mark Streit blocked another. Mason made a clutch save on Nikita Kucherov in the final minute. Finally, the Flyers forced a couple of Tampa turnovers and time expired.
With the win, the Flyers moved within two points of the idle Detroit Red Wings for the lower wildcard playoff seed in the NHL's Eastern Conference. Philly held serve with the Pittsburgh Penguins (3-2 regulation winners against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday).
The Flyers are right back in action on Saturday against the Florida Panthers. The Penguins are idle on Saturday. The Red Wings host the New York Rangers. On Tuesday, the Flyers and Red Wings face off head-to-head in Philadelphia.
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PREVIEW: FLYERS @ PANTHERS
In the second half of a two-game Sunshine State road trip, Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (32-23-11) will face Gerard Gallant's Florida Panthers (37-21-9). Game time at the BB&T Center in Sunrise is 7:00 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on CSN Philadelphia.
This is the third and final meeting this season between the teams, the second in Sunrise. The teams played twice in the opening week of the season, with the home team winning each game.
On Oct. 10 in Sunrise, the Panthers jumped on the Flyers early and often, building a 4-0 lead on eight shots over a hellish opening 6:46 of the game. Mason, preoccupied with an unfolding family crisis and later admitting in hindsight that he should not have attempted to play hockey that night, was pulled after his shortest and worst start as a Flyer. Michal Neuvirth went the rest of the way, stopping 19 of 22 shots in relief duty. The Panthers went on to win, 7-1.
Two nights later, the Flyers had their home opener at the Wells Fargo Center as Florida provided the opposition in the back end of a home-and-home set.
With Mason taking an NHL-approved leave of absence from the Flyers, Neuvirth made his Flyers' starting debut. In a 1-0 shutout victory, Neuvirth became the fifth goaltender in franchise history to notch a shutout in his starting debut, joining the ranks of Robbie Moore, John Vanbiesbrouck, Jeff Hackett and Ray Emery.
Brayden Schenn's line rush rebound goal at 5:57 of the first period served as the game's only marker. Neuvirth's 31-save effort included 26 even strength saves and five during penalty kills. He was tested a bit in the first period, saw few difficult chances in the middle frame and then was called upon to make numerous tough saves in the final stanza to nail down the one-goal win. On Oct. 14 against Chicago, Neuvirth went on to post a 30-save shutout to join Hackett (2003-04) as the only Flyers goalies to record back-to-back shutouts in their first two starts as Flyers.
Until now, the Flyers and Panthers have not seen each other since the diametrically opposite games in the early home-and-home. The Flyers not only helped themselves out with Friday night's win in Tampa Bay, they also helped out the Panthers as a bi-product.
Gallant's team was idle on Friday but moved ahead of Tampa into second place in the Atlantic Division by virtue of having played one fewer game to date with both teams at 83 points. The Boston Bruins, who host the New York Islanders on Saturday, are one point ahead of the Panthers for first place. Tampa, which has now lost three games in a row after rattling off nine straight wins, is idle on Saturday.
The Flyers are playing the second game of a back-to-back while the Panthers last played on Thursday, crushing the visiting Ottawa Senators by a 6-2 count. However, Philly had three nights off before their road rematch with the Lightning, including a full off-day on Tuesday. Fatigue should not be a major factor, but the Flyers face the challenge of trying to sustain the way they played against the Lightning while playing another quality home-team opponent that, on paper, should be well-prepared to play them.
Flyers Outlook
The Flyers are 6-1-0 over their last seven games and have won three games a row since sustaining an ugly 4-0 home loss to the lowly Edmonton Oilers on March 2. Nine of the Flyers' remaining 16 games are on the road, where the Flyers currently have a 14-14-4 record as compared to their 18-9-7 home mark.
While Neuvirth has not been confirmed as Saturday's starter as of this writing, he may get the call in the second game of the current back-to-back. After a recent run of starting five straight games, Neuvirth has backed up Mason in each of the last three tilts.
Neuvirth has appeared in 30 games, posting a 16-8-4 record, 2.29 GAA, .925 save percentage and three shutouts. Mason has appeared in 40 games this season, posting a 16-15-7 record, 2.56 goals against average, .916 save percentage and four shutouts (five regulation shutouts).
Jakub Voracek is expected to return from a lower body injury in time for the March 15 game against the Detroit Red Wings. Top-pairing defenseman Michael Del Zotto (torn ligaments in his left wrist, suffered on Feb. 13) is out for the rest of the season. Sparingly used forward Jordan Weal (upper body) has been out since Feb. 16. Weal has resumed practicing with the team but it not ready to be cleared to play.
Shayne Gostisbehere has set two franchise records and an NHL record this season: most goals by a Flyers rookie defenseman (14 to date), and longest consecutive-game point streak (15 games) by a Flyers rookie or any rookie defenseman in NHL history. Gostisbehere needs 13 points to match Behn Wilson's franchise rookie defenseman season record of 49 points (set over 80 games in 1978-79). The top three in points are Wilson, Janne Niinimaa (44 points in 77 games in 1996-97) and Tom Bladon (42 points in 78 games in 1972-73). Gostisbehere is currently fourth.
Team captain Claude Giroux leads the Flyers with 18 goals, 39 assists and 57 points in 63 games. He is followed on the Flyers' scoring leader list by Voracek (10 goals, 38 assists, 48 points), Simmonds (24 goals, 23 assists, 47 points, 129 penalty minutes), and Schenn (23 goals, 23 assists, 46 points). Among Gostisbehere's 14 goals, seven have come on the power play, and four in overtime to go along with 23 assists and 37 points in 48 games. Couturier rounds out the top six with nine goals, 19 assists and 28 points in 48 games.
Panthers Outlook
Saturday's game marks the conclusion of a three-game homestand for Florida. The Panthers bring a 21-9-5 home record into Saturday's game. The club took care of business in their last game, skating to a 6-2 win in Ottawa on Thursday after a 5-4 overtime loss to Boston on Monday.
Jaromir Jagr had two goals in the Panthers' win over Ottawa. Vincent Trocheck racked up a four-point game (one goal, three assists) and both Jussi Jokinen and Jonathan Huberdeau had a goal and an assist apiece. Standout young defenseman Aaron Ekblad rounded out the scoring. Roberto Luongo stopped 26 of 28 shots to earn the win in goal.
The Panthers know how to play with the lead and they generally score first (40 of 67 games to date). Florida is 30-4-6 when scoring first (tied for second most wins in the NHL, and ninth in winning percentage). The team is 22-2-2 when leading after the first period and 26-2-5 when leading at the second intermission. The Panthers have yielded the first goal in 27 games to date, and are 7-17-3 when doing so.
Living legend Jagr, who spent the 2011-12 season with the Flyers, has already topped Mr. Hockey himself, Gordie Howe, for third on the NHL's all-time point list. With 1,853 points, Jagr is 34 points away from tying Mark Messier for second. The 44-year-old Jagr could accomplish that feat next season. Jagr, who has 745 career goals, is 56 goals behind Howe for second on the all-time NHL goal list; a milestone that would likely two two or three more seasons to reach. With 1,108 career assists, Jagr is 27 assists behind Paul Coffey for fifth all-time; a mark that may be reachable next season.
Jagr leads the Panthers in scoring with 51 points (23 goals, 28 assists) in 64 games. He is followed by Jokinen (13 goals, 36 assists, 49 points), Trocheck (20 goals, 25 assists, 45 points), Huberdeau (12 goals, 32 assists, 44 points), Aleksander Barkov (20 goals, 22 assists, 42 points), defensemen Ekblad (14 goals, 13 assists, 27 points in 63 games) and Brian Campbell (six goals, 21 assists, 27 points in 67 games) and third-line center Nick Bjugstad (10 goals, 13 assists, 23 points in 52 games).
Luongo has made 52 appearances this season (50 starts), posting a 28-16-6 record, 2.32 goals against average, 923 save percentage and four shutouts. Backup goaltender Al Montoya has played in 20 games (17 starts), with a 9-5-3 record, 2.10 GAA, and .922 save percentage.
On the injury front, Dave Bolland (IR, lower body) and Willie Mitchell (IR, upper body) are out of the lineup. Teddy Purcell (groin) is questionable for Saturday.
Key team stat comparisons (NHL overall ranking)
Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.55 (T-20th), Panthers 2.70 (T-10th)
Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.56 (14th), Panthers 2.39 (6th)
5-on-5 Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 106/101, Panthers 123/106
Power play efficiency: Flyers 18.9% (14th), Panthers 16.4% (27th)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 79.8% (21st), Panthers 81.5% (T-12th)
Shots per game: Flyers 30.5 (T-10th), Panthers 28.3 (28th)
Shots against per game: Flyers 31.0 (T-23rd), Panthers 29.6 (13th)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 50.2% (12th), Panthers 49.8% (T-17th)
Projected lineups (subject to change, will be updated)
Flyers
10 Brayden Schenn - 28 Claude Giroux - 17 Wayne Simmonds
12 Michael Raffl - 14 Sean Couturier - 89 Sam Gagner
21 Scott Laughton - 52 Nick Cousins - 24 Matt Read
76 Chris VandeVelde - 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 25 Ryan White
47 Andrew MacDonald - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
55 Nick Schultz - 32 Mark Streit
23 Brandon Manning - 3 Radko Gudas
35 Steve Mason
[65 Anthony Stolarz]
Scratches: Evgeny Medvedev (healthy), R.J. Umberger (healthy) Jakub Voracek (out, lower body), Jordan Weal (IR, upper body), Michael Del Zotto (IR, wrist), Michal Neuvirth (stomach virus).
Panthers
11 Jonathan Huberdeau - 16 Aleksander Barkov - 68 Jaromir Jagr
36 Jussi Jokinen - 21 Vincent Trocheck - 18 Reilly Smith
48 Logan Shaw - 27 Nick Bjugstad - 24 Jiri Hudler
28 Garrett Wilson - 17 Derek MacKenzie - 22 Shawn Thornton
7 Dmitry Kulikov - 5 Aaron Ekblad
51 Brian Campbell - 44 Erik Gudbranson
46 Jakub Kindl - 6 Alex Petrovic
1 Roberto Luongo
[35 Al Montoya]
Scratches: Quinton Howden (healthy), Steven Kampfer (healthy), Kyle Rau (healthy), Teddy Purcell (questionable, groin), Dave Bolland (IR, lower body), Willie Mitchell (IR, upper body).
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FLYERS ALUMNI: JA HOCKEY CHALLENGE & OFFICER HARTNETT BENEFIT
On March 12, the Flyers Alumni Team will play its eighth annual
JA Hockey Challenge to raise money for Junior Achievement of Delaware. The event will be held at Fred Rust Arena at the University of Delaware, starting at 4 p.m. with the game at 7 p.m. ET.
This year, attendees will have a chance to have their photo taken with the Stanley Cup. There is also a family skate with free rentals and a host of other family-friendly activities, auctions and more.
Admission is $10, Stanley Cup photos (up to five people may pose) are $20 per pose. All proceeds go directly to Junior Achievement of Delaware.
For more information on the 2016 JA Hockey Challenge,
click here.
On Sat. March 26 at 3:00 p.m. ET at the Flyers Skate Zone in Northeast Philadelphia, the Flyers Alumni Team will play the Philly's Finest team in a
benefit game for Officer Jesse Hartnett and his family.
This game was not originally on the Flyers Alumni game calendar, but when the Philadelphia police officers on the Philly's Finest team contacted the Alumni about the possibility of setting up
a benefit for Officer Hartnett, the Alumni acted quickly to add it to the schedule.
On January 7, 2016, Philadelphia police officer Jesse Hartnett, 33, was traveling on his police cruiser at 60th and Spruce Streets. According to reports, 30-year-old Edward Archer approached the vehicle and opened fire on the driver's side. Archer fired 11 shots, three of which struck officer Hartnett.
The story initially received widespread media attention, not only in the Delaware Valley but also on a national level because Archer claimed to be acting in the name of Islam and on behalf of ISIS. Subsequent investigation revealed that he had no direct affiliation with any terrorist group, and was acting alone. When that fact was learned -- combined with the fact that Officer Hartnett survived the senseless attempt on his life -- the story dropped out of media focus despite the ongoing hardships that the policeman faces.
Officer Hartnett has had to undergo multiple surgeries to repair severe damage to his arm. He still faces an arduous road to recovery. Thus, the Philly's Finest Hockey Team approached the Flyers Alumni Association and asked if a game could be set up to raise money for his needs as well to raise awareness of the dangers policemen face on a daily basis.
Admission is $20, with all proceeds going directly to provide assistance for Officer Hartnett's needs. The admission includes the game, beer donated by the Fraternal Order of Police and food donated by Mission BBQ. The Flyers Alumni with meet and take pictures with fans after the game. However, be aware that space is limited.
For more information on the Flyers Alumni vs. Philly's Finest benefit for Officer Hartnett,
click here.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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