Playing for the fourth time in three nights but for the first time with their preseason roster in one venue, the Philadelphia Flyers dropped a 3-2 decision to the New York Rangers at the Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers fell to 1-2-1 in the exhibition schedule.
After a scoreless (and rather dull) first period in which the Rangers outshot Philly by an 8-2 margin, Derrick Brassard opened the scoring at 1:10 of the second period. Flyers defenseman Samuel Morin was tied up with his check on the end boards to the left of goaltender Steve Mason. Morin's partner, Mark Streit, went behind the net on the other side to challenge Mats Zuccarello but did not arrive quite in time.
With both Flyers defensemen behind the net and no forwards helping out, Brassard was wide open in the slot. Once he received the centering feed from Zuccarello, Brassard had all sorts of time and room to pick a corner from point blank range and he made no mistake.
The Rangers changed goaltenders at the 11:21 mark of the middle stanza, as Cam Talbot came in for starter Martin Biron (barely tested in making six saves). Less than two minutes later, the Flyers knotted the game.
Maxime Talbot skated up the left wing and rifled a shot high over his namesake, who is no relation. The puck pitch-backed quickly out of the net but there was no doubt it had gone in. Hal Gill and Kris Newbury earned the secondary assists at the 13:26 mark.
The Rangers took the lead again in the final minute of the middle stanza. Brandon Manning covered Andrew Yogan a little too loosely near the right circle but the play looked harmless until former Flyers forward Darroll Powe slightly re-directed the puck past Mason as the Ranger jockeyed for position with Braydon Coburn to the left of Mason. Yogan and Conor Allen got the assists at 19:26.
Sean Couturier, who has played back-to-back excellent games even apart from compiling three points, got rewarded with the game-tying goal at the 2:28 mark. The center was johnny-the-spot near the net to claim a loose puck and put it home before Talbot could get to it. Jakub Voracek received credit for the lone assist but Jason Akeson also contributed to the pressure in the offensive zone.
New York took the lead for good at the 5:30 mark. Once again, the goal came about because of a coverage breakdown in the slot. On this play, Gill stumbled in front and ended up slightly on partner Mark Alt's side. Meanwhile, Vincent Lecavalier and Akeson got too closely bunched together above the circle and Akeson reacted too late to offer support in helping to cover Benoit Pouliot in prime scoring range. Brassard and Dylan McIlrath drew the assists.
A late tripping penalty on Alt gave the Flyers little time to work with late in the game. Once they got Mason pulled for an extra attacker, the Flyers had a great scoring chance in the final minute of play. Lecavalier found an open Voracek cross-ice just above the left circle. Voracek's high rising shot beat Talbot over the glove side but narrowly sailed high and wide of the top right corner of the net.
The Flyers will make a set of roster cuts as the training camp scene shifts to Lake Placid, NY. The team's next preseason game will be one week from today, when they play host to the New Jersey Devils at the Wells Fargo Center on Sept. 24.
NOTES:
* Below are the line combinations the Flyers used tonight:
Scott Hartnell - Vincent Lecavalier - Wayne Simmonds
Jason Akeson - Sean Couturier - Jakub Voracek
Max Talbot - Chris VandeVelde - Michael Raffl
Kris Newbury - Adam Hall - Derek Mathers
Samuel Morin - Mark Streit
Brandon Manning - Braydon Coburn
Hal Gill - Mark Alt
Steve Mason
[Yann Danis]
* After starting last night on a scoring line, the Flyers took a look at Michael Raffl on a checking unit tonight. That was by design, according to head coach Peter Laviolette. It was said that Raffl is going to get every opportunity to win the third line left wing job, and may be ahead of Tye McGinn, Scott Laughton (who would have to be displaced from center to wing to fill that spot) and the offense-oriented Jason Akeson right now for that role.
* The Flyers signed Samuel Morin to an entry-level contract today. The contract is eligible to slide for each of the next two seasons. Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said before the game that the move would have been made even if Morin had not looked so generally solid in camp thus far.
Morin still has some rough edges to smooth out as he develops but has shown that he has immense potential in many different aspects of the game. Quite frankly, he is a bit ahead right now of where I thought he'd be back in June when the Flyers first drafted him. Morin won't make the team this year in all likelihood but he is starting from a strong foundation to possibly make things very interesting come next year's roster battles.
Earlier today, I asked Flyers' director of scouting Chris Pryor for his take on Morin's strong debut yesterday. Craig Berube used Morin in a host of different game situations and he didn't look overwhelmed at all.
"Anytime a kid comes in and plays like he did in his first NHL game you are happy, because, until that point, you don't really know," said Pryor. "So far, he's handled it well."
In tonight's game, Morin skated 22:22, including 2:10 of power play time and 3:54 of penalty killing duty. Once again, he handled his duties rather well for an 18-year-old player in his first NHL camp. Morin was credited with a couple of blocked shots and engaged a bit with Derek Dorsett in the third period, with each going off on minors.
* Peter Laviolette said after the game that he intends to get Gill into some more matchup-oriented shifts as camp progresses, which suggests that the veteran tryout will stay on for awhile despite some rough patches in the two games he's played thus far.
* Gill, who will be making the trip with the team to Lake Placid, said that he's trying as best as possible to approach camp the same way he did in the many years where his contract and roster spot were a foregone conclusion.
The veteran of 1,100-plus NHL games was also quick to praise the potential of his young defense partner, Alt, after the game tonight.
"I've worked with him a few days in camp as well as tonight," said Gill. "He has a good idea of what he wants to do, and he has a lot of ability to play this game. Like most young defensemen, he's working on putting it all together, but I think he's going to be a real good player."
* Even part from his goal tonight, I thought Couturier was the best Flyers forward on the ice tonight. The muscle he added over the summer, coupled with simply being a little more experienced now despite his youth, have enabled him to win a lot battles in the offensive zone. It was also an encouraging sign that he won eight of 11 faceoffs (73 percent) tonight.
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