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Wrap: Flyers Beat Leafs, 4-2; Phantoms and Prospect Updates |
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WRAPUP: FLYERS BEAT LEAFS, 4-2
The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-2, at the Air Canada Centre on Saturday night. Despite yielding the game's first goal, Philadelphia put forth a solid road effort across all three periods as they were dangerous off the rush and in transition and also received strong goaltending on this night.
Brandon Manning (1st goal of the season, one assist), Jakub Voracek (2nd goal, 14th assist), Valtteri Filppula (power play, 5th goal) and Claude Giroux (6th goal) tallied for the Flyers. Nazem Kadri scored twice (5th and 6th) for Toronto.
Playing arguably his best game to date as a Flyer, Brian Elliott was sharp in making 28 saves on 30 shots for his fifth win of the season (5-2-0). Frederik Andersen suffered his first career loss against the Flyers, having trouble on glove-side opportunities as he stopped 26 of 30 shots.
Sean Couturier turned in a Selke Trophy caliber performance for the Flyers on this night. He did yeoman work both with and without the puck, especially during a crucial 5-on-3 penalty kill early in the second period with two Flyers defensemen (Shayne Gostisbehere and Robert Hägg) in the penalty box. He also assisted on Voracek's goal with a pass up the walls. For good measure, Couturier went 10-for-16 on faceoffs, including a vital clean win back to Ivan Provorov for a clear on the 5-on-3 kill.
Flyers defensemen did an effective job joining the attack in this game, and Flyers forwards were effective in providing support. Twenty of the Flyers' 30 overall shots on goal were registered by defensemen.
The win was potentially costly for the Flyers, however. With the Flyers on the power play midway through the game, Gostisbehere was boarded by Toronto's Leo Komarov. He eventually got up, recorded his 12th assist of the young season on the sequence leading up to Filppula's power play goal, and finished the second period. However, Gostisbehere did not return to the ice for the third period.
The official word from Flyers general manager Ron Hextall is that Gostisbehere sustained an upper-body injury. He will be re-evaluated in the next day or two.
The Flyers went 1-for-1 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill. At even strength, Philly tallied three goals (two by the top line, one by the fourth) and Toronto nabbed two.
Philly staged a strong early penalty kill after Couturier was called for a trip along the offensive side boards at 7:03. However, after the penalty expired, the Leafs grabbed a 1-0 lead at 9:09.
On the play, Provorov and Radko Gudas were both on the far right side of the ice as the dangerous Austin Matthews entered the Flyers zone. Beating Provorov wide, Matthews feathered a pass across to Kadri, who streaked down an open lane on the opposite slot. Kadri made no mistake on a play Elliott had virtually no chance to stop.
The Flyers got the goal back at 12:06 of the first period on a nicely conceived sequence by the fourth line. Scott Laughton (2nd assist of the season) found Manning joining the rush and Manning, who lost a would-be goal last game due to a goaltender's interference ruling on Brandon Manning upon coach's challenge, hammered a shot past Andersen.
Philly grabbed a 2-1 lead at 18:38 of the first period. Voracek carried the mail into the offensive zone, made a power move to the inside to take puck to the net and slid the puck past Andersen. Voracek now has goals in back-to-back games. Gudas drew his 2nd assist of the season along with Couturier's sixth assist and 13th point of the season.
First period shots were 10-6 in Toronto's favor, but Philly had the edge in the cash register.
The Flyers played a strong period, taking the play to the Leafs for much of the stanza -- except for one wave of clear-cut Leafs momentum that Philly eventually short-circuited.
The Flyers' second power play unit delivered a 3-1 lead at the 11:03 mark on a goal off the rush. Gostisbehere, back on his feet after getting drilled in the numbers by Komarov, moved the puck ahead to Travis Konecny. Attacking with speed, Konecny (4th assist of the season) saucered a cross-ice pass to Filppula. From the left circle, Filppula fired a rising shot that beat Andersen high to the glove side.
Leafs head coach Mike Babcock read the riot act to his players after the club fell behind by two goals and had been soundly outplayed up to that point of the period. To their credit, the Leafs responded with their biggest push of the period and turned up the pressure even further after drawing back within a goal.
Voracek tried and failed to knock a puck past Ron Hainsey at the point, ending up taking himself out of the play. The play turned into a scramble and Kadri eventually ripped a shot that hit the camera in the back of the net and quickly came back out. The play, correctly, was ruled a good goal and then confirmed on a brief replay delay. Connor Brown and Hainsey received the assist as the Maple Leafs made it 3-2.
Toronto's attack continued until a Flyers' counter-punch at 15:20 sent the Leafs' reeling. Voracek made a bank pass off the boards that Giroux grabbed in stride, and raced off on a 2-on-1 rush, joined by Couturier. Showing patience as he moved into shooting range in the left circle, the Flyers captain opted to pull the trigger rather than try a pass. Giroux sniped the puck over Andersen's glove for a 4-2 lead.
The rest of the period saw the Flyers get the better of the play and apply late pressure. Shots in the middle stanza were 16-8 in Philly's favor.
The third period saw Toronto bottled up and unable to generate sustained pressure until late in the game. By now, the Flyers were down to five defensemen. Meanwhile, Dave Hakstol was also sparingly used rookie Travis Sanheim sparingly, so it was often the quartet of Provorov,Gudas, Hägg and Manning with periodic hand-picked turns for Sanheim.
Babcock pulled Andersen for an extra attacker with over three minutes left on the clock. The Leafs attacked in waves, and Elliott had to come up with some tough saves. Toronto got no closer and the Flyers cleared the zone a couple times in the waning seconds without icing the puck to preserve the two-goal victory.
Shots in the third period were 12-8 in Toronto's favor; 30-30 for the game.
The Flyers return to action on Monday, hosting the Arizona Coyotes at the Wells Fargo Center.
NOTES:
1) Nolan Patrick remained out of the Flyers lineup with an upper-body injury. He is still officially day-to-day.
2) Provorov led all Flyers with 27:11 of ice time. He had five shots on goal in six attempts, blocked two shots and was credited with one hit and one takeaway apiece.
3) Gudas led the Flyers with five credited hits. Overall, the Flyers outhit the Leafs by a 32-29 margin and blocked 15 shots to eight by the Leafs.
4) Sanheim skated 13:09. He recorded five shots, two credited hits, and one credited takeaway among 18 shifts; one of which was a rough shift that ended with a pressure-relieving save by Elliott but most of the other shifts were effective.
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PHANTOMS SIX-GAME WIN STREAK SNAPPED
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms saw their six-game winning streak come to an end on Saturday night, as they dropped a 5-4 regulation verdict to the Hartford Wolf Pack at the PPL Center in Allentown.
After Hartford took a 2-1 lead into the third period, the Phantoms struck quickly for a pair of goals to briefly lead 3-2. After the Wolf Pack re-tied the game at 3-3, Lehigh Valley took another short-lived lead before Hartford struck back for two goals -- the latter with 1:43 remaining in regulation -- to send the Phantoms down to defeat.
Rookie forward Oskar Lindblom and rookie defenseman Philippe Myers each recorded their respective second goals of the 2017-18 season as well as an assist apiece. Lindblom now has five points (two goals, three assists) over his last three games, and six points (two goals, four assists) during a current four-game point streak after going pointless in the first six games of the season.
Danick Martel notched his 10th goal of the season for the Phantoms, increasing his AHL-leading total. Rookie center Mike Vecchione notched his eighth assist of the young season on Martel's goal.
Mark Alt (2nd of the season) scored the final Phantoms goal, providing a short-lived 4-3 lead. Veteran defenseman Will O'Neill assisted on the Alt goal along with Myers' first-period power play goal. Greg Carey (Myers' goal) and Phil Varone also respectively chipped in an assist apiece to round out the Phantoms players who added to their point totals.
In a losing cause, Alex Lyon stopped 26 of 31 shots.
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FLYERS PROSPECTS: SATURDAY STANDOUTS
1) OHL: Flyers 2017 first-round pick Morgan Frost, who recorded a goal among 11 shots on net in the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds' 6-3 loss on Friday night to the Sarnia Sting, feasted off the Flint Firebirds on Saturday night. Frost scored a goal in the latter stages of the second period then set up one for Boris Katchouk in the final minute of the frame. In the third period, Frost tallied his second goal of the game. The Greyhounds breezed, 7-0. Overall, in 15 games this season, Frost now has 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists).
2) QMJHL: Flyers 2016 first-round pick German Rubtsov was one of the few bright spots for the Chicoutimi Sagueneens on Saturday, as the team sustained an 8-2 whipping from the host Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. Rubtsov scored both Chicoutimi goals (both on the power play), registered four shots on goal on six attempted shots, was not out for any of the Armada even strength goals and was credited with a pair of hits as well as going 6-for-12 on faceoffs. Overall, the Russian has 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in 12 games played.
3) OHL: Maksim Sushko has a six-game point streak (seven goals, three assists, 10 points) for the Owen Sound Attack. He kept the streak going with a goal on Friday in a 5-2 road win against the Kitchener Rangers and an assist on Saturday in a 3-2 home win over the North Bay Battalion. Fellow Flyers prospect Connor Bunnaman scored for Kitchener in the Friday game.
4) NCAA: Michigan junior center Cooper Marody had a six-point weekend (one goal and five assists) in a weekend Big 10 road split with Penn State. On Friday, Penn State prevailed in overtime, 5-4, with Michigan striking back for a 5-2 win in the return match.
5) NCAA: Ohio State sophomore Tanner Laczynski enjoyed a five-point weekend (three goals, two assists) as his team swept a weekend non-conference set against Robert Morris with a 5-3 home win on Friday and a 3-1 away win on Saturday.
6) NCAA: 20-year-old Wisconsin freshman defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk posted four assists over the weekend as his team split a pair of games with St. Lawrence; winning 4-2 on Friday and dropping the return match. 6-3.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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