FLYERS POWER PAST TORONTO
A pair of power play goals and a strong overall third period helped the Philadelphia Flyers forge a 4-2 win over the free-falling Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday night at the Wells Fargo Center. Philadelphia capitalized on a couple of Toronto turnovers and twice made quick work of power play opportunities within moments of winning the first faceoff.
Philadelphia got power play tallies by Vincent Lecavalier (five-on-three) and Scott Hartnell to forge a pair of separate one-goal leads they took to the first and second intermissions. In the final stanza, the Flyers sandwiched Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds insurance tallies around a Leafs strike to skate off with the win.
Giroux, who also assisted on both power play goals courtesy of faceoff wins, finished the game with a three-point night. He has recorded at least one point in each of the Flyers’ last 16 wins.
Steve Mason turned back 32 of 34 shots to earn the win in net for Philadelphia. Losing goaltender Jonathan Bernier played well despite yielding four goals on 29 shots. Toronto got goals from James van Riemsdyk and Dave Bollland.
The Flyers went 2-for-5 on the power play. They also went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill. Philadelphia has now successfully killed 36 of 37 penalties (97.3 percent) over the last 10 games. The lone blemish came on the back end of a 5-on-3 PK against Dallas.
After playing a series of elite opponents and top-notch defensive teams, the Flyers ran into an opponent last night that came in on a six-game losing streak and having yielded at least three goals in each of the last six games and in seven of their last eight. Philadelphia furthered Toronto's fall in the wildcard chase by extending those streaks to seven straight losses, seven straight games and eight of nine in giving up three-plus goals.
Over the last nine games, the Maple Leafs have been outscored by 36-22 margin. Compared with recent opponents, the Flyers enjoyed significant time and space to make plays with the puck and establish a forecheck. Toronto also proved generous with turnovers of both the forced (seven credited takeaways) and unforced (seven Toronto giveaways) varieties.
The Flyers also benefited from a few calls that went their way.
With Philly on a two-man advantage early in the first period, penalty killing center Jay McClement stepped in to take a take the first draw. Defensemen Dion Phaneuf and Carl Gunnarsson were the other Leafs out for the 5-on-3. As the linesman presented the puck for the Philadelphia offensive zone draw, McClement prematurely swiped at the puck and inadvertently made contact with the official's hand.
McCement was tossed from the faceoff. That meant that a defenseman would be forced to take the faceoff against accomplished faceoff man Giroux. Leafs captain Phaneuf moved in to substitute for McClement. It was, as expected, a mismatch.
Giroux easily won the draw cleanly to Kimmo Timonen as Vincent Lecavalier got set in his wheelhouse in the right circle. The veteran forward one-timed home his 399th career regular season goal and 16th as a Flyer to give the club a 1-0 lead.
Lecavalier always plays on 5-on-3 power plays, replacing Jakub Voracek. This is done because Lecavalier has the slightly more accurate one-time from the same area of the ice and there is not much skating required on a two-man advantage.
Earlier in the game, Lecavalier was demoted from the Flyers' second line left wing spot to center the fourth line at even strength. Although clearly stung by the decision, Lecavalier went about his business professionally. He played with a bit of positively directed anger in his game and the fourth-line unit with Zac Rinaldo and Adam Hall flanking Lecavalier helped provide the team with a spark of energy.
Rinaldo had an especially good game. In 11:32 of ice time, he drew a pair of penalties on the Leafs, registered five hits, won multiple puck battles and stayed out of the box. For the second straight game, Rinaldo was easily one of the Flyers' most effective forwards.
Top-line right winger Jakub Voracek was also very effective last night despite not registering a point. He used his speed and strength well, with a lot of jump in his skates.
The Flyers had a second important call go their way midway through the first period. On a defensive breakdown by Philly, Toronto defenseman Gunarsson pinched up on the play and scored a would-be tying goal past Mason. However, the goal was immediately washed out because former Flyers forward Joffrey Lupul bumped into Mason in crease at about the same time. Lupul was not pushed and the contact was enough to momentarily disrupt the goalie.
Not much has been going well for Toronto since they beat the Flyers in overtime at the Air Canada Centre on March 8. One thing the Leafs still do have, however, is a dangerous power play. Toronto came into last night's game with the NHL's third-best power play (21.0 percent efficiency).
Late in the first period, the Flyers didn't so much kill off a too-many-men-on-the-ice bench minor as hang in to survive it courtesy of Mason. The goaltender, incidentally, skated to the Philadelphia bench as a delayed penalty was being called because he mistakenly thought the penalty was on the Leafs.
The Flyers, whose focus and energy dropped off after a quick start, took a 1-0 lead to the first intermission. There was still one second left on the bench minor as the opening faceoff was dropped to start the second period.
Running a set play off the center ice faceoff, former Flyers left winger van Riemsdyk received the puck from Tyler Bozak, sped into the offensive zone and snapped a tracer over Mason to tie the game at 1-1. Just four seconds had elapsed since the start of the period.
The JVR goal was the fastest from the start of a period in Maple Leafs' franchise history and the fastest from the start of a period the Flyers have yielded in their own franchise history. It also tied the all-time NHL record, accomplished on Nov. 9, 1957 by the Montreal Canadiens' Claude Provost and on Jan. 12, 1986 by the Chicago Blackhawks' Denis Savard.
This is a record that may someday be tied again but is very unlikely to ever be broken. It is doubtful that it is possible to score within three seconds of a center ice faceoff.
In a game of sudden strikes, the Flyers did it again just five seconds into their third power play of the match. With Bolland in the box for interference at 10:58, Giroux won the first faceoff back to Timonen. Hartnell moved to the mid-slot and deflected the puck past Bernier at the 11:03 mark.
The play was video reviewed for a potential high stick by Hartnell. It wasn't even close to a high stick. After a very brief review, the goal was awarded to Philadelphia to restore a one-goal lead at 2-1.
Apart from the Hartnell power play tally, the second period was not a very good one for the Flyers. They were sloppy with and without the puck and over-relied on Mason to bail them out of trouble on breakdowns. After giving up the JVR goal at the four-second mark, Mason stopped the next 13 shots fired on him over the remainder of the middle frame.
With 4:11 remaining in the second period, the Flyers caught a break when Nazem Kadri rather stupidly took a roughing penalty to negate an upcoming power play. The initial infraction was a slash by Mason, who had taken exception to Lupul giving him a deliberate snow shower -- a potential unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, but one that is rarely called -- and gave him a shot in the back of his legs.
As with the first period, the Leafs once again had a late-period power play in the second. Andrew MacDonald went to the box for interference with 2:09 left in the middle frame. Once again, the Flyers didn't so much kill the penalty as survive it thanks to Mason.
The Flyers picked up their play considerably in the third period, especially over the final 15 minutes. However, the closing period was not without a few close calls.
At the 4:55 mark of the period, Giroux made the Leafs pay for a neutral zone turnover by van Riemsdyk. Collecting the puck from Hartnell, the Flyers captain moved into the offensive zone and scorched a left-side shot over Bernier's glove. Moments earlier, Giroux had been on the receiving end of a heavy hit behind the Toronto net.
It did not take Toronto long to respond. At 6:18, Bolland knocked home a puck past Mason to bring the Leafs back within a goal. Thereafter, the Flyers more or less controlled the rest of the game. Once again, the Leafs helped Philly along with careless puck management and the Flyers picked up their puck pressure at both ends of the ice.
At the 12:39 mark, Simmonds established a two-goal lead for good. Phaneuf, who had an-around poor game, pawed weakly at a bouncing puck flipped into the Toronto zone. It went instead to Simmonds, who moved laterally and snapped a quick shot past Bernier for a 4-2 advantage.
Phaneuf punctuated his frustrations by going after Voracek along the walls with 1:19 left in the game. Philadelphia finished the match on the power play.
The Flyers, who have been outstanding on faceoffs after the Olympic break, had another strong night in the circle. They won 34 of 63 draws (54 percent), with every Flyer who took more than one faceoff in the game having a better-than-50-percent showing.
Also of note is the fact that the Flyers blocked 17 Toronto shot attempts. They were led in that department by the hobbling Nicklas Grossmann (who is playing through a foot injury suffered a week ago in the St. Louis game). Grossmann blocked four shots in 21:30 of ice time. He also recorded five of the Flyers' 35 credited hits.
Coupled with regulation losses by the New York Rangers and Columbus Blue Jackets, third-place Philadelphia is now one point behind the second-place club and five ahead of their closest pursuers in the Metropolitan Division. The fourth-place Washington Capitals, now five points behind the Flyers, were idle.
The Flyers upcoming schedule is an extremely difficult one. On Sunday afternoon, the Eastern Conference leading Boston Bruins -- who blew out the Flyers in a late January tilt at the Wells Fargo Center -- come to town. On Tuesday, the Flyers have a road game against the Western Conference leading St. Louis Blues.
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SATURDAY QUICK HITS
* The Adirondack Phantoms dropped a 6-4 road decision on Friday night to the Syracuse Crunch. Jason Akeson and Marcel Noebels each had a goal and assist apiece in a losing cause for the Phantoms, while Cal Heeter stopped just 25 of 31 shots. Newly signed forward Kevin Goumas made his AHL debut. He did not record a point.
* Hockey Sverige and national Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reported that there is NHL interest in Växjö Lakers forward Dennis Rasmussen. Several NHL clubs have scouted the big two-way forward.
The most interested club appears to be the Flyers. Philadelphia has had two of its European scouts watching Växjö in the playoffs. Moreover, Rasmussen fits the mold of the type of player that generally appeals to the Flyers.
Rasmussen is a versatile forward who can play any forward position. The 23-year-old has both a big frame and a bit of grit to his game, and plays a solid all-around game. His offensive game has come on a bit in the last couple years but his main assets are smarts and work ethic in addition to his size and strength.
Throughout this season, Rasmussen has played on a line with veteran Finnish forward Tomi Kallio (who very briefly played for the Flyers during his NHL career). Kallio told Hockey Sverige that he is "one hundred percent certain" that Rasmussen will play in the NHL as soon as next season.
For his part, Rasmussen told the Swedish media that his only focus right now is on Växjö's playoff run. The Lakers have made it to the semifinals. Rasmussen said that he has forbidden his agent from discussing with him anything having to do with his future beyond this season.
Rasmussen is signed to Växjö for next season, but can be released from his contract to sign with an NHL team after his current campaign ends.
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