The Philadelphia Flyers got their six-game road trip off to a good start, at least in terms of a favorable end result, as they captured a 3-2 win via shootout over the Nashville Predators on Saturday night.
Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier scored in regulation. Vincent Lecavalier was the lone scorer for either side in the shootout. Steve Mason denied two successive shooters before Matt Cullen shot wide of the net to end the game. In regulation and overtime, Mason stopped 34 of 36 shots.
The Predators were forced to play this game without the services of franchise defenseman Shea Weber, who is day-to-day with an eye injury. The most experienced NHL blueliner in the Nashville lineup was Roman Josi, who has all of 116 career NHL games under his belt. Goaltender Marek Mazanec stopped 22 of 24 shots in regulation and overtime before yielding to Lecavalier and denying Giroux in the shootout.
The Flyers were rather sloppy in their play for large segments of the game, but battled through on a night where they didn't have anything close to their A game. They got enough clutch saves from Mason and scratched out just enough offense to earn one point. Then they grabbed the skills competition bonus point from the tie for their first non-regulation victory of the season. Officially, the team got back to the .500 mark at 12-12-2.
Even for Mason, who has by far been the team's MVP and most consistent player, it was something of an uneven night.
Mason was spectacular at times, including a 10-bell save on Matt Hendricks in the shootout when he seemed to be beaten. There were numerous breakdowns on front of him that he erased. For example, early in the first period, Mason had to come up big to stop a one-timer by an uncovered Patric Hörnqvist from the dead-red range in the slot.
On the other hand, both Predators goals in this game came off stoppable shots that leaked through openings left by the goaltender. In the past, that might have caused a downward spiral for Mason but he showed his maturity and mental resolve by getting right back on top of his game after facing some in-game adversity.
In the final half-minute of regulation, Mason stoned David Legwand from the slot after highly regarded rookie defenseman Seth Jones rushed the puck from end-to-end. In overtime, Mason had to make a pair of tough stops on Colin Wilson.
On Friday, the Flyers got off to a quick start with a Scott Hartnell goal in the opening minute. Last night, Matt Read had a golden chance to get the Flyers on the board in the opening two minutes, receiving a pass from Couturier in prime shooting range. He was unable to beat Mazanec.
At the 16:49 mark of the first period, an attempted pass by Couturier got snuffed out by the Nashville defense but went directly to Giroux in the high slot. The Flyers captain roofed an unstoppable howitzer of a slapshot past Mazanec for an unassisted goal.
The lead lasted exactly one minute. Mason did not get fully squared as Mike Fisher shot from the circle to the goalie's right. Hörnqvist, who passed the puck to Fisher from the corner, earned the lone assist. This was not an especially dangerous chance and was, arguably, just the second "soft" goal that Mason has allowed this season -- the other coming in the season's third game in Carolina (Peter Laviolette's final game as head coach).
The score remained deadlocked at 1-1 until the third period. The Flyers managed just 13 shots over the final 45 minutes of play, while the Preds had 23. In fact, Philly got outshot in all three periods as well as overtime.
The Predators easily could have taken the lead in the second period. Mason, almost singlehandedly at times, kept the game tied at 1-1. He made two extremely difficult stops on Gabriel Bourque on re-directed shots. With Mason in net, the Flyers are giving up many fewer deflection goals than they did under their previous starting goaltender.
At 5:05 of the third period, Wilson worked his way past Jakub Voracek to track down a puck dumped in by Gabriel Bourque. From the circle to Mason's left, Wilson slid a rather weak backhander through Mason's legs. The goalie was still moving and had not yet gotten set for the shot. Not a good goal to give up -- especially with the game tied in the third period -- but the goalie immediately redeemed himself over the remainder of the game.
With 6:53 remaining in the third period, the Flyers re-tied the score. Andrej Meszaros pinched up on the play to receive a puck from Steve Downie. Meszaros made perhaps his nicest offensive play since 2012 as he made a nifty cross-crease pass to a wide open Couturier. The third-season center got the puck near the right post and finished the play off to make it a 2-2 game.
Couturier, who opened the season without a goal in the first 19 games, has now scored in back-to-back games. He has three goals and six points in his last seven games.
In the shootout, Lecavalier tallied the winning goal on a wrist shot over Mazanec. Lecavalier skated very deliberately into the left circle, then picked up speed as he cut in toward the net. The goalie was perhaps a little too passive as Lecavalier went to his backhand and then back to his forehand as he got to the lower right slot. By the time Lecavalier pulled the puck back to his forehand again, he had a great shooting angle and made no mistake.
The Flyers are back in action in Minnesota on Monday night. It will be the team's third game in four nights, and the second game of a cross-country six-game road trip.
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