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Wrap: Flyers Down Devils in Penalty-Filled Game, 5-3; Phantoms & Prospects |
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WRAP: FLYERS DOWN DEVILS IN PENALTY-FILLED GAME, 5-3
In their respective first games back from a five-night bye week, the visiting Philadelphia Flyers erased a pair of one-goal deficits and went to pull away in a 5-3 win over the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center in Newark on Saturday night.
The Flyers got themselves into early penalty trouble, taking each of the game's first five penalties including three in the first period. Getting saves, blocked shots and clears when they needed them, the Flyers kept the game manageable and later asserted themselves both on the power play and in opportunistic even strength goals when opportunities arose.
The Flyers went 2-for-2 on the power play. They were 2-for-7 on the penalty kill.
Sean Couturier (even strength and power play goals, 24th and 25th of the season), Wayne Simmonds (power play, 15th goal), Travis Konecny (6th goal), and Michael Raffl (8th goal of the season) scored for the Flyers. Jordan Weal (8th assist of the season), Andrew MacDonald (6th assist), Giroux (39th and 40th assists), Jakub Voracek (44th and 45th assists), Ivan Provorov (13th and 14th assists), Couturier (20th assist) and Valterri Filppula (9th assist) picked up helpers.
Giroux's first assist was the 628th point of his career. He surpassed Mark Recchi for 8th on the Flyers' all-time scoring list. John LeClair is next at 643 points. The captain's two-point night moved him into second on the Art Ross Trophy race this season. One spot behind him is Voracek, the NHL 's assist leader.
Couturier, who is tied for third in the Rocket Richard Trophy race, recorded his third consecutive two-goal game; the first two of which were abetted by empty netters. The Selke Trophy candidate has posted four consecutive multi-point games. The center became the first Flyer to post three-consecutive two-goal games in four years. The last was Simmonds from Dec. 21-28, 2013.
Brian Elliott got the start in goal. He finished with 26 saves on 29 shots to earn the win. Some of his biggest saves came while the Flyers had to kill off three penalties in the first period but got the game to intermission tied at 1-1.
For the Devils, Jesper Bratt (11th goal of the season), Kyle Palmieri (power play, 7th goal) and Drew Stafford (power play, 7th goal) tallied. Nico Hischier (19th assist of the season), Taylor Hall (28th and 29th assists), Will Butcher (8th assist), Damon Severson (6th assist) and John Moore (7th assist) chipped in assists.
Cory Schneider took the loss in net. He stopped 20 of 25 Flyers shots.
The Flyers were missing Shayne Gostisbehere (illness) from the lineup. Travis Sanheim started in his place but barely saw the ice (nine shifts and 6:02 of ice time) largely because of all the time the team spent having to kill penalties and then defending a third-period lead.
In addition to his two assists, Provorov was credited with five hits and a blocked shot in 25:14 of ice time. Overall, the Flyers outhit the Devils by a 29-24 margin (Simmonds also had five and Robert Hägg was credited with four). Faceoffs were 32-31 in the Flyers' favor, led by a 5-for-7 night for Nolan Patrick.
Patrick took a pair of bad penalties in the second period but came back later in the game to contribute a couple quality shifts. Overall, he skated 8:59 of ice time.
Saturday's win was Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol's 100th victory as an NHL head coach.
With their fourth straight win, the Flyers joined the pack of five Metropolitan Division teams that are in the thick of the chase for automatic (second-place or third-place), upper wildcard and lower wildcard playoff bids. Second place through fifth place in the Metro is separated by a total of five points.
The Flyers will take an off-day on Sunday. Practice resumes at the SkateZone in Voorhees on Monday as the team prepares to head to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday for another Metro Division showdown; this one with the New York Rangers.
1ST PERIOD SYNOPSIS
Bratt made it 1-0 at 5:43 of the first period. Hall got to a puck first up the right wing as Sanheim came over to defend him. With Radko Gudas sliding across in front, Hischier passed the puck across to his open linemate and Bratt had a tap-in near the left post.
Brandon Manning went to the box at 8:37 of the first period as he hooked Miles Wood on a New Jersey rush. The Flyers killed the penalty but took another penalty moments after it expired; a hooking infraction by Valterri Filppula at 10:43. Philly also got through that one after a nervous early moment on a rebound chance in the slot.
At 14:35, the Flyers knotted game at 1-1. Couturier won a puck battle and moved around the right boards to feed out to MacDonald at the point. Weal then tipped MacDonald's shot on goal, producing a rebound. Couturier pounced in the right slot and fired the puck home.
The Devils got their third power play of the first period at 15:29. MacDonald swung at a loose puck in the neutral zone and was whistled off for a glancing high stick.
First period shots were 13-6 in New Jersey's favor.
2ND PERIOD SYNOPSIS
The Flyers took the game's fourth penalty at 1:33 of the second period on a careless neutral zone high stick by Patrick. The Devils cashed in quickly. Pamieri ripped a one-timer from the left circle over Elliott's stick to the short side for a 2-1 New Jersey lead. Butcher and Hall got the assists at 1:46.
The Devils had a 3-on-1 rush immediately off the next faceoff. Hischier fired over the net.
Patrick went right back to the box on another high-sticking penalty at 5:35. The Flyers killed their fifth manpower disadvantage without allowing an New Jersey shot.
The Flyers finally got their first power play at 10:24. The Flyers knotted the game at 2-2 at the 11:53 mark via a one-timer blast by Giroux from the left side that Simmonds deflected into the net. Assists went to Giroux and Voracek.
At 17:58, the Flyers got their second power play. Brian Gibbons interfered with Voracek off a faceoff. Couturier took a perfect feed from Giroux and fired a laser-beam of a one-timer from the left hash marks home high to the blocker side for a 3-2 lead and his second goal of the game at 18:16.
The penalty parade continued with a Travis Konecny slashing penalty at 19:17. Gudas blocked a shot moments before the period expired.
Second period shots were 11-5 Flyers (18-17 Devils overall).
3RD PERIOD SYNOPSIS
The Flyers killed off the carryover time on the Konecny penalty at the start of the third period. At 4:28, on a delayed New Jersey penalty, Provorov sprung Konecny on a breakaway. He was denied by Schneider but immediately stuffed home the rebound for a 4-2 Flyers lead. Couturier got the secondary assist.
Capping off a 200-foot rush, Raffl made it a 5-2 lead at 12:04 of the third period as he scored on the backhand to complete a tic-tac-toe passing sequence. Voracek and Filppula got the assists.
Elliott made tough back-to-back saves off a defensive breakdown as he denied Blake Coleman and then Gibbons on the rebound follow-up attempt.
The Devils continued to push. Robert Hägg took a tripping penalty at 18:51. Stafford scored an otherwise meaningless power play goal at 19:15 to cut the final Flyers' margin of victory to two goals. Severson and Moore drew assists.
Third period shots were 11-8 Devils (29-25 Devils overall).
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PHANTOMS GRIND OUT 2-1 WIN VS. HERSHEY, REMATCH SUNDAY
Goals have not been easy for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms to come by in recent games but they scratched out just enough to earn a 2-1 win over the Hershey Bears at the PPL Center on Saturday night.
Welcoming Flyers 2013 first-round pick Samuel Morin back to the lineup for the first time since Dec. 12 (and for just his second game since Dec. 1), the Phantoms finally had an intact blueline corps. Morin showed some rust during the game but settled in as it went along. He finished with two shots on goal, a late second-period tripping penalty and an even plus-minus.
However, it was rookie defenseman Philippe Myers who was the blueline standout on this night. Myers continued his stretch of getting better and better on both sides of the puck in the games since his own return from a nagging injury. Myers' stat line looked ordinary (no points, one shot, even in plus-minus) but he was a significant difference maker with several good defensive reads, at least two tough keeps at the offensive blueline, strong first passes, and using his combination of size and mobility to strong effect when he had the puck on his stick.
The Phantoms got goals from perennial AHL All-Star defenseman T.J. Brennan (6th) and Matt Read (5th). Cole Bardreau (4th assist) got the lone helper on the Brennan goal, while Reece Willcox (6th assist) and Colin McDonald (4th assist) collected the apples on Read's game winner.
Dustin Tokarski got the start in goal for Lehigh Valley. He stopped 29 of 30 shots, including a first period penalty shot by Hershey's Nathan Walker (16:02) after the Australian forward was grabbed from behind by Brennan on a shorthanded breakaway. One the penalty shot, Walker moved in very deliberately, then gained speed and moved left, where he was met by a pad save by Tokarski.
In a scoreless first period that was basically like a reverse version Flyers' game in Newark, the Phantoms had three straight power plays but could not capitalize. However, they showed a greatly improved forecheck at five-on-five and performed much better in 50-50 puck battles than in Friday night's debacle against Springfield.
The Bears broke through for a power play goal to take a 1-0 lead at 6:47 of the second period.
From the left circle, Riley Barber (12th goal of the season) found the five-hole on Tokarski. The assists went to Connor Hobbs (2nd) and Lucas Johansen (11th).
At the 10:45 mark of the middle frame, Brennan tied the game at 1-1. On a 2-on-1 rush in which he was joined by Phil Varone, Brennan elected to shoot. The puck hit the long-side post, pinballed off the backside of goaltender Vitek Vanecek (22 goals and 24 shots) and into the net. Bardreau got the assist.
Tempers flared at the 12:14 mark. Colby Williams lined up Danick Martel for an open ice hit and then blatantly left his feet to deliver a head shot to the diminutive Phantoms' forward. Nicolas Aube-Kubel made a beeline for Williams and a fight ensued. Williams received a checking-to-the-head match penalty while Aube-Kubel (who clearly did the right thing) got an instigation penalty and automatic 10-minute misconduct on top of the fighting major.
Martel did not return to the game. He will be re-evaluated on Sunday. Williams could face supplementary discipline from the American Hockey League.
At 8:43 of the third period, Read (in his second game back from injury) deflected home a Willcox shot as the Phantoms took the only lead they'd have -- or need -- in the game. Team captain McDonald got the secondary assist.
The Bears brought some heavy pressure at junctures of the third period but could not find an equalizer. Oskar Lindblom, who had earlier been denied at the post by Vanecek on a stuff-in try, made a crucial defensive play to break up a pass in front in the waning seconds of the game. Tokarski made 15 saves in the final stanza as the Phantoms closed out the win.
The scene shifts to Hershey on Sunday for the second half of the home-and-home set. The Phantoms will be playing for the third time in as many nights. Lehigh Valley's lineup on Saturday was as follows:
10 Greg Carey - 26 Phil Varone - 9 Cole Bardreau
18 Danick Martel - 21 Mike Vecchione -16 Nicolas Aube-Kubel
28 Oskar Lindblom - 24 Matt Read - 13 Colin McDonald
19 Radel Fazleev - 11 Steve Swavely - 36 Alex Krushelnyski
3 Samuel Morin - 5 Philippe Myers
43 T.J. Brennan - 44 Reece Willcox
8 Will O'Neill - 2 Mark Alt
35 Dustin Tokarski
[34 Alex Lyon]
Scratches --Injury: 14 Corban Knight, 15 Mikhail Vorobyev; Healthy: 20 Max Lamarche, 37 Mark Friedman; Veteran Maximum: 22 Chris Conner.
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PROSPECT UPDATES
* OHL: It took plenty of exertion and three separate comebacks from one-goal deficits that sent them to the third period trailing (3-2) but the superior firepower of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds finally prevailed in a 7-4 home win over the Mississauga Steelheads on Saturday night.
Late in the third period, Flyers' 2017 first-round pick Morgan Frost collected even strength and empty net goals to solidify the win. He finished with three shots on goal, a plus-two night (+4. -2) and three shots on goal.
Frost now has a 20-game point streak (16 goals, 27 assists, 43 points). Taking it back over the span of his last 29 games (23 G, 34 A, 58 PTS), he's averaged an even 2.0 points per game. His updated season totals and OHL rankings: 42 GP, 27 G (5th), 44 A (1st), 71 PTS (1st), +50 (1st).
The Greyhounds now have a 29-game point streak (28-0-1) and a five-game winning streak since their 23-game winning streak was snapped in a 4-3 shootout loss to Mississauga on Jan. 4. With Saturday's loss, the Steelheads fell to 18-23-1 on the season.
Now 37-3-3 on the season, Sault Ste. Marie returns to action on Anthony Salintri and the Sarnia Sting (49-12-2) on the road on Friday night in what should be a good test to see if Frost and the Hounds can continue their streaks. Although the second-place Sting are a whopping 17 points behind the Greyhounds for the top spot in the West Division, Sarnia is otherwise tied with Matthew Strome's Hamilton Bulldogs for the second-most points in the OHL this season.
* OHL: Strome, who entered Saturday on a goal-scoring tear, did not record a point and was minus-one with two shots on goal. Even so, Hamilton down the visiting Flint Firebirds by a 4-3 score. For the season, he has 44 points (25 goals, 19 assists) in 40 games. Hamilton (27-9-6) visits Maksim Sushko's Owen Sound Attack (16-17-7) on Wednesday.
* WHL: Playing for the first time since backstopping Team Canada to the gold medal at the 2017-18 World Junior Championships, Flyers 2016 second-round pick Carter Hart made his return to the WHL's Everett Silvertips lineup on Saturday. Hart turned back 31 of 33 shots in a 5-2 road win over the Spokane Chiefs. For the season, Hart is 14-3-1 with a 1.36 GAA, .960 save percentage and five shutouts. The Silvertips (26-16-2) return to action to Sunday, visiting the Portland Winterhawks (26-13-3).
* OHL: Team captain Connor Bunnaman did not record a point, had one shot on goal and was 4-for-8 on faceoffs as the Kitchener Rangers earned a 5-3 road win over the Saginaw Spirit on Saturday. For the season, he has 17 goals and 35 points in 40 games. The Rangers are right back in action on Sunday, hosting the London Knights.
* QMJHL: Flyers 2016 first-round pick German Rubtsov (29 GP, 9 G, 20 A, 29 PTS, +2) and the Acadie-Bathurst Titan are on the road on Sunday to take on Flyers 2016 second-round pick Pascal Laberge (39 GP, 8 G, 16 A, 24 PTS, -4) and the Quebec Remparts. Game time will be 3 p.m. ET.
* NCAA: Flyers 2016 second-round pick Wade Allison was held off the scoresheet and did not record a shot on goal as Western Michigan fell, 4-3, on the road to St. Cloud State on Saturday. For the season, sophomore power forward has 15 goals, 15 assists and 30 points in 22 games.
* NCAA: While Allison had a quiet night, Tanner Laczynski was a force for Ohio State in a 5-1 win at Penn State on Saturday. Laczynski produced a three-point game (one goal, two assists), eight shots on goal and was plus-two. For the season, the 20-year-old sophomore now has 31 points (10 goals, 21 assists) and a plus-14 rating in 23 games.
* NCAA: Cooper Marody and Brendan Warren both lit the lamp as Michigan skated to a 3-1 road win at Minnesota on Saturday. Marody has nine goals and 31 points in 22 games. Warren has six goals and 10 points.
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