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Wrap: Isles Blank Flyers in Game 1, 4-0 |
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In the first game of their Second Round series, the Philadelphia Flyers were shut out by the New York Islanders, 4-0, at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Monday evening.
Andy Greene (1st goal of the playoffs) scored the game's only goal in the first or second periods. In the third period, the Islanders capitalized on Flyers breakdowns as J-G Pageau (5th) and Anders Lee (4th) put a stranglehold on the game. Devon Toews (1st, empty net) added the fourth New York goal.
Semyon Varlamov recorded a 29-save shutout for the Islanders. Most of his tough saves came in the second period. Carter Hart (25 saves on 28 shots) held the Flyers in the game through a rough first period. Ultimately, he was hung out to dry twice in the third period.
The No. 1 shot blocking and hitting team in the NHL, the Islanders blocked 22 shots to 10 for the Flyers. The Flyers won the Corsi battle, especially after dismal 1st period, and finished at 57.27% of the shot attempts but the Islanders had 55% of the high-danger shot attempts and converted 2 of their 11.
Sean Couturier had one of the worst playoff nights of his NHL career. He was a key culprit on the second Islanders goal, making a rare attention-to-detail lapse. He also spent far too much time in his own zone, especially in the first period on a 37.5% Corsi night for him.
Game 1's outcome hinged on three plays: the Islanders taking advantage of a mismatch and getting traffic in front on their first goal, three Flyers behind the net (including Sean Couturier, who is usually automatic in covering in front with both D-men engaged) and a wide open Pageau in the dead slot, and then a 3-on-2 that turned into a wide-open chance for Lee.
The Flyers spent the first three-plus minutes of the game largely hemmed in their own end because of an unusually aggressive Islanders forecheck and several turnovers. New York went right at the Nate Thompson line with Brock Nelson and Mathew Barzal's line. It paid off as Nelson won a battle and Greene scored on a point shot through layers of traffic that beat Hart to the glove side at 6:06.
Kevin Hayes had a breakaway chance off a great lead pass from Travis Konecny but was unable to score on a backhand try. Later, Greene came up with blocks on what initially looked like good scoring chances for Claude Giroux and Konecny.
Otherwise, the first period was all Islanders, and the Flyers needed 14 saves in the period by Hart -- including an excellent glove save against Nelson -- to keep the deficit to one. The Islanders took 1:36 of power play time into the second period after a late-period interference penalty on Derek Grant.
The Flyers staged a strong PK on the carryover Grant penalty and went on to dominate puck possession for the decided majority of the second period. They attacked with better pace, kept their feet moving and got some effective keeps and pinches from the D. Much of the Flyers territorial edge was confined to the perimeter and low-to-high plays but Philadelphia got the puck to the inside several times.
Most notably, Varlamov was equal to chances from the slot by Giroux (set up after a long forecheck by the Thompson line) and another by Scott Laughton. Varlamov authored 15 saves while Hart came up with 7.
The Flyers dug themselves a deep hole at 2:54 of the third period. They had both defensemen (Travis Sanheim and Phil Myers) behind the net, as well as center Couturier -- whose assignment in that situation was to guard the house -- and it ended up for a wide open point blank chance for Pageau off a pass out from Leo Komarov. He didn't miss.
Then the Flyers yielded a 3-on-2, which Lee converted off a gorgeous pass from Barzal at 8:50. Matt Niskanen gambled by coming over to Ivan Provorov's side to challenge the pass and Lee had a virtual empty netter.
Vigneault gambled by pulling Hart for an extra attacker with a little less than eight minutes left in the game. It backfired as Toews scored a long-distance empty-net goal at 12:21.
Games 2 and 3 will follow in quick succession on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday night. With Couturier, Claude Giroux and Konecny all still goalless in the playoffs and Hayes with one, the team has to find a way to get their top players scoring to win this series.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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