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Wrap: Flyers Escape Detroit with 3-2 OT Win |
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WRAP: FLYERS ESCAPE DETROIT WITH 3-2 OT WIN
It certainly wasn't pretty and it may not have been deserved, but the Philadelphia Flyers kept up their winning way on Tuesday night with a 3-2 overtime road win against the Detroit Red Wings in their first-ever meeting at the brand new Little Caesar's Arena.
Detroit, playing the second half of back-to-back games and for the third time in four nights, did not look like a tired-legged team. The Flyers, playing for the fourth time in six nights and third in four but with an off-day on Monday, were the team that was not sharp early or late. The only period where the Flyers kept their feet moving and reasonably took care of the puck and gap control was the second period.
The final shot on goal totals -- 31 for the Flyers and just 21 for Detroit -- were deceptive. The edge in quality of chances, at least in the first and third periods, was markedly in Detroit's favor. The Flyers' benefited immensely from Detroit missing the net 14 times as well as Philly coming up with 17 blocks (led by four by Andrew MacDonald).
Penalty killing, rarely a Flyers strength, was a boon in this game over two important kills. The Flyers also went 1-for-2 on the power play and kept momentum going even after they did not come up with a goal on their first man advantage.
Combine the special teams play, some clutch goaltending, a whole lot of bad puck luck for Detroit on wide open chances and a bit more overtime magic from Travis Konecny, and it added up to just enough for Philly to leave Detroit with a win.
Detroit had the better of play in what was a sloppy, low-energy period for the Flyers and skated off with a 1-0 lead that easily could have been 3-0 or 4-0 if not for the Wings' inability to capitalize on point-blank chances. The Flyers took over in the second period, and brought a 2-1 lead into the third period. The latter 12 minutes of the third period was all Detroit, as they tied the game and then came within a whisker several more times of taking the net but were unable to hit gaping nets.
Finally, the game had a bizarre finish on a play that nearly was offside before Konecny scored his second straight OT winner after setting up an OT winning goal two games earlier. Konecny is only the second Flyer to score back-to-back goals in overtime; Sami Kapanen did it on Dec. 28, 2005 at Atlanta and Dec. 29, 2005 at Carolina.
Andrew MacDonald (2nd goal of the season), Jakub Voracek (power play, 9th) and Konecny (overtime winner, 9th) scored for the Flyers. Voracek (46th assist of the season), Couturier (22nd and 23rd assists) and Claude Giroux (42 assists) collected the apples.
Brian Elliott made several fantastic saves at critical times and also got very fortunate numerous times on plays where he was dead-to-rights. Ultimately, he authored 19 saves on 21 shots that actually made it onto his net.
Jonathan Ericsson (2nd goal of the season) and Frans Nielsen (11th goal) scored for Detroit. Luke Glendening (4th and 5th assists of the season) picked up helpers on both goals in first game back from the injured reserve list. Tomas Tatar (9th assist) got the primary assist on Nielsen's game-tying goal in the third period.
Petr Mrazek got the start in goal and set a career shutout minutes streak before he was solved on a MacDonald point shot through traffic early in the second period. He went on to stop 29 of 31 Flyers shots.
Detroit center Dylan Larkin was a threat all night with his speed and creativity. However, he ended up as a goat on this night due to an awful penalty that came back to bite his team, some unfinished chances, a turnover at the defensive blueline that started the game-ending sequence and then standing around to argue for an offside while play was ongoing rather than making an effort to recover defensively before Konency won the game for Philadelphia.
The Flyers lost Michael Raffl, who had been playing excellent hockey, to a lower-body injury in the second period. He did not return for the third period, which resulted in a lot of line juggling for the Flyers.
Since their 0-5-5 winless streak, which ended on Dec. 4, the Flyers have gone 16-5-1. The team is 5-1-0 since its bye week.
1ST PERIOD SYNOPSIS
The Flyers iced the puck twice in the first 2:18 of the game. There were no shots on goal through the first four minutes but there were several Detroit scoring chances, particularly one where Radko Gudas had to block a Tyler Bertuzzi scoring chance in the slot.
The first shot came at 5:01 on a routine point shot by Shayne Gostisbehere. At the other end, Elliott denied a Frans Nielsen backhander from the bottom of the right circle. Larkin missed a half open net from point blank range around the six-minute mark, as the Flyers got away with an initial turnover behind the net.
Detroit took took a 1-0 lead at 10:42. Ericsson fired a harmless left point at the net but it hit Brandon Manning in the skate and deflected past Elliott. The lone assist went to Glendening.
Philly continued to struggle to generate any sort of pressure. At the other end. Provorov broke up a would-be 3-on-2 rush at the blueline around the 12-minute mark of the period.
As time ticked down near six minutes left, the Flyers had three separate chances to get the puck out of the defensive zone and failed each time. Finally, a Gudas clearing pass deflected off a Detroit stick and out of play.
Although Detroit dominated puck possession -- and held a 1-0 lead -- shots on goal were only 4-4 through 16 minutes. A puck was poked away from Zetterberg by Nolan Patrick, preventing a tap-in chance with 4:30 left in the period.
Couturier went offside on a pass from Giroux on what would have been a golden scoring chance at 16:03. The Filppula line, courtesy of Voracek occupying the puck along the left side, had some offensive zone possession time but a pass back to Provorov with traffic moving in front went awry.
Filppula won a draw cleanly back to Gostisbehere, who moved into good shooting range but missed the net. Michael Raffl got a weak shot on net in the waning seconds.
First period shots on goal were 5-4 in the Flyers' favor but the scoring chances markedly favored Detroit.
2ND PERIOD SYNOPSIS
The Flyers knotted the game at 1:10. Voracek dug the puck out of the corner and fed out to MacDonald at the point. Using a screen in front to his advantage, MacDonald fired a rising shot into the net.
Immediately after the MacDonald goal, Zetterberg got loose and had a prime scoring chance moving into the slot. Elllott robbed him. On the next shift, Detroit worked a give-and-go and Anthony Mantha tipped a pass to the right post up and out of play.
Patrick had a decent chance near the net at 2:03. Mrazek was there to make the save. Two shifts later, Tomas Tatar tested Elliott,
The Flyers got the game's first power play, after a long delayed call and two shot attempts, at 9:23. Luke WItkowkski went to the box for what was called charging on Raffl in open ice; more of a slightly late hit than a charge.
On the power play, Mrazek stopped a Simmonds tip of a Gostisbehere shot and then Simmonds was unable to get to a rebound of a Gostisbehere shot. Konecny one-timed a blast on net with 47 seconds left.
The Couturier line applied massive pressure on an extended shift in the offensive zone after the power play expired. Finally, and Brandon Manning shot hit the post with Mrazek beaten. The game remained 1-1.
Raffl, after losing his stick, took a holding penalty in the defensive zone at 16:01.
Couturier had a scoring chance off a Detroit turnover at the red line but shot a rolling puck over the net, trying for the high glove side.
Bertuzzi was robbed by Elliott on a bang-bang chance in front off a perfect pass from Andreas Athanasiou from near the right corner.
Larkin blatantly tripped Konecny down low in the Detroit zone and went to the box on a silly penalty that his team paid for quickly. Giroux made a pass to Couturier in the left circle. Mrazek got the rebound but the rebound went to Voracek, who patiently moved across and fired the puck in the net at 19:23.
The Red Wings challenged the goal, claiming goalie interference on Simmonds in the blue paint. The challenge was overruled and Detroit lost its timeout. The Flyers officially took a 2-1 lead.
Second period shots were 18-7 Flyers (23-11 overall in Philly's favor).
3RD PERIOD SYNOPSIS
Raffl, who skated his final shift late in the second period, did not come out for the third. The Flyers juggled combinations, with Jori Lehterä taking shifts on the Filppula line among a variety of other personnel juggling.
Detroit went right to the attack and hemmed the Flyers in deep on the period’s first shift but no scoring chances developed. Two shifts later, Elliott fell down stopping a puck behind the net but stayed with it, and no harm resulted. Detroit then had an odd-man rush with Gostisbehere joining the rush and Konecny having a little backhanded pass knocked away for a counter.
Over the next five minutes, the checking was very tight with little operating space for either team. Shots were 3-1 Detroit through 8:30.
Detroit then started to break through again, with regularity.
On a scrambling shift in the defensive zone, Giroux got to a loose puck in the crease and tucked it under Elliott for a stoppage.
Larkin then sliced through the defense, beating both Provorov and then a desperately diving Gostisbehere, but was poke-checked by Elliott. The Flyers goalie then snagged the puck out of the air.
Patrick stepped up in the neutral zone and batted down an aerial Detroit pass to prevent a potential rush with speed.
Detroit tied the game with a line-rush goal at 10:44. The Wings too advantage of a massive gap over the middle. Nielsen, from the right slot,
On the very next shift, Detroit came within a whisker of scoring but Bertuzzi fired over the lunging sticks of MacDonald and Elliott but also over the net. The Wings continued to pressure heavily.
Goulbourne took a shift with Couturier and Konecny. Hägg, at 14:33, was called for boarding Bertuzzi on a hit behind the Flyers’ net. The Flyers killed the penalty.
Gostisbehere stayed with a circling Larkin and blocked a shot. With 1:11 left, after the Flyers yet again failed to get a puck in deep and the Wings countered, Bertuzzi had a rebound sitting uncovered in the slot and Elliott down and out but failed to score and took the net off its moorings. He slammed his stick in frustration.
With 14 seconds left, Mantha shot over the net from the slot. By the skin of their teeth, the Flyers hung on for a point.
Third period shots were 10-7 in Detroit’s favor (30-21 overall for the Flyers)
OVERTIME SYNOPSIS
At the 27-second mark, Konecny weaved overtime magic again. Under pressure from Konecny, Larkin lost the puck to Couturier at the blueline. Konecny scrambled to get onside, and very narrowly avoided touching the puck. He then went in, fired a shot from the top of the right circle and found the short side of the net over Mrazek’s glove.
The goal was the only shot of OT (31-21 overall for the Flyers).
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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