The Philadelphia Flyers used balanced scoring and strong goaltending from Steve Mason to defeat the New York Islanders by a 5-2 score at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday night. In so doing, the Flyers swept their three-game homestand before the club heads on the road for a two-game trip to the state of Florida.
Matt Read scored a pair of goals for the second straight game. The first was an even-strength goal that got the Flyers rolling to a three-goal outburst early in the middle period after a scoreless deadlock in the first period. The latter was an empty-net goal that sealed the final score.
Philly also got goals from Wayne Simmonds, Claude Giroux (power play) and Brayden Schenn. Jakub Voracek made the Giroux and Schenn goals possible with strong playmaking work to create the scoring opportunities. Meanwhile, Mason turned back 36 of shots to improve his season save percentage to .933, lower his goals against average to 2.11 and better his record to 7-7-2.
The Flyers are 6-0-1 in the seven games since they got shut out at home by the New Jersey Devils. A club that started the 2013-14 season at 1-7-0 and 3-9-0 is now at 10-10-2 on the still-young campaign. Over the last seven games, a Philadelphia team that started the season averaging a pathetic 1.47 goals per game in the first 15 matches has averaged a robust 3.86 goals per game and have outscored opponents by a 27-10 margin in regulation.
Balanced scoring has been a huge part of the team's offensive uptick. Rather than relying on the Claude Giroux line to carry the bulk of the load, the Flyers have been getting contributions from all around the lineup. Last night, the Flyers got two goals from the third line, one from the second line, one from the first line (with Schenn out with Giroux and Voracek) and one from the top power play unit.
If there was any downside to last night's game, it was the Flyers got a bit sloppy for a lengthy stretch of play after building a 3-0 lead. Before they knew it, their commanding lead had been reduced to a single goal and their streak of having not allowed an even strength goal in five-plus games was gone.
Mason had no chance on either of the Islanders goals. The first, scored by John Tavares, came off a bad line change by the Flyers. The second, scored by (of all players) Eric Boulton, was a set play off a faceoff. The Flyers lost the draw and fourth line winger Jay Rosehill was a spectator in the circle as Boulton went straight to the net to receive the puck.
Schenn's goal restored the Flyers' equilibrium. Now, the challenge for the club to try and build a new streak of defensive stinginess and not to take their foot off a downed opponent's neck when Philly is playing from ahead in the third period.
That will be crucial moving forward. The Flyers have been fortunate to run into numerous recent opponents who are struggling on the defensive side of the puck. The bonanza of scoring chances and the four-goal and five-goal nights won't be there every night.
On the flip side, playing strong team defense and receiving top-notch goaltending gives a team a chance to win EVERY night. The Fyers have entered 21 of 22 third periods leading, tied or trailing by one. The difference between the team now and the earlier part of the season is that the team is doing a better job of keeping its feet moving and there is emerging line chemistry.
Right now, the Flyers seem to have found a good mix on both their forward lines and defense pairings. Each D pairing has a stay-at-home defender and a puck mover. Each forward line has someone to retrieve pucks and at least one player who injects an element of speed and/or creativity.
Incidentally, just as happened last season, Kimmo Timonen has rounded back into form after a slow start. The poor start lasted longer this time around, but the five-time NHL All-Star selection and four-time Barry Ashbee Trophy winner now looks like himself again.
On a teamwide basis, the gold-standard game for the Flyers season to date was the 5-0 shutout win in Ottawa on Nov. 12. All of the elements necessary for success where in evidence in that game: nearly flawless puck management, active sticks, two-way puck support, consistently energetic skating, disciplined play and being able to roll all four lines and all three defense pairs. The result was a nearly perfect 60 minutes of hockey.
To close on another positive note, the Flyers killed off all three penalties they took in this game, ending a stretch of having given up at least one opposition power play goal in four straight games. Philly has now killed seven of its last eight penalties, so the team's PK is showing signs of righting the ship after being the lone significant source of concern during the team's stretch of wins.
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COMING TOMORROW: The Zac Rinaldo PK experiment, prospect updates on Sam Morin, Scott Laughton, Robert Hägg, Shayne Gostisbehere and Phantoms rookies Nick Cousins, Mark Alt and Petr Straka.
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