QUICK HITS: APRIL 21, 2018
1) The Flyers will hold an 11:30 a.m. practice on Saturday at the Skate Zone in Voorhees, NJ, in advance of Game 6 of their first-round playoff series with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Game time on Sunday will be 3 p.m. EDT. The game will be nationally televised on NBC.
2) It would not be a surprise if Saturday's practice is an optional or otherwise a brief and light session. Friday's game was a classic "leave nothing in the locker room" exercise in grit and determination, and players are more in need of rest ahead of Game 6. It is doubtful there will be any updates given on top defenseman Ivan Provorov, who went off in considerable pain right before the hobbling Sean Couturier scored the game-winning goal that sent the series back to Philadelphia.
3) The Flyers pulled off quite the bait-and-switch in starting Michal Neuvirth in goal for Game 5. After Game 4, Dave Hakstol was not complimentary of Neuvirth's relief work for Brian Elliott in what was Neuvirth's first appearance since coming back off another lower-body injury.
"We needed a mindset change, we needed to do everything we could to change momentum and that’s why Neuvy goes in. That’s a tough one on Moose tonight, but from that point on it’s Neuvy’s job to go in and try and close the door and give us an opportunity to dig ourselves back out and change the momentum. That didn’t happen tonight for us," said Hakstol after the Flyers' 5-0 loss on Wednesday.
At practice on Thursday, Elliott practiced in what typically is the net occupied by the goalie who will start the next game: usually a good basis for a guesstimate although not 100 percent reliable. (Note: the practice net side was almost always reliable predictor when Steve Mason was the Flyers' goalie, because he is extremely routine-oriented and you could tell if he was going the next game based on his practice routine the day before, including which net he practiced in when the rest of the team took the ice).
At the Flyers optional morning skate at PPG Paints Arena on Friday, Elliott and Petr Mrazek took reps while Neuvirth did not. However, as the day progressed, there were rumblings that Neuvirth might actually be the goalie who was starting Game 5; most notably by Hakstol refusing to say who would be in goal (normally, he'll confirm his starter after the morning skate because the first goalie off the ice is typically the starter).
The suspicions were confirmed when Neuvirth stepped out onto the ice first for the pregame warmups.
4) AHL update: The Lehigh Valley Phantoms took a 1-0 lead in their best-of-five opening round playoff series with the Providence Bruins as they rode two closely spaced goals in the latter stages of the second period and a 39-save performance by Alex Lyon to a 3-2 victory. Danick Martel scored even strength and power play goals in the first and second periods, sandwiched around a Greg Carey goal that knotted the score at 2-2. The Phantoms erased a pair of one-goal deficits to go to the second intermission leading by a goal. Lyon then slammed the door in a third period that saw the Phantoms get outshot by a 15-2 margin.
Game 2 will be in Providence's Dunkin' Donuts Center on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. EDT. Subsequently, the scene will shift to Allentown's PPL Center for the remainder of the series.
5) OHL Playoffs: It is an understatement to say that the finish to Game 1 of the Western Conference Final between the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Kitchener Rangers was one of the most dramatic conclusions to any junior hockey playoff game ever settled in regulation.
With the game tied at 2-2 and the Greyhounds killing a too many men on the ice penalty incurred at the 18:48 mark of the third period, there was a left circle faceoff in the Kitchener zone with regulation time about to expire. Flyers 2017 first-round pick Morgan Frost won the draw cleanly against fellow Flyers prospect Connor Bunnaman. Frost pulled the puck back to teammate Taylor Raddysh, who quickly shoveled the puck to defenseman Conor Timmins for a final shot attempt. The shot beat goalie Mario Culina and went into the net as the clock hit zero.
Now, the question was whether the puck crossed the goal line before time expired. A long delay ensued. Finally, it was determined that there was 0.1 second on the clock when Timmins scored. Bunnaman was crestfallen as the referee informed him the goal would count, and Greyhounds captain Tim Gettinger was jubilant. As such, the refs' hand signal of a good goal was a foregone conclusion by the time he pointed to the center-ice faceoff dot.
The series opener was not the Greyhounds' A-level game. Their legs seemed tired at times from their seven-game series against the Owen Sound Attack that ended with a bizarre 9-7 win in the deciding match. The Rangers held leads of 1-0 and 2-1, outworking the Greyhounds at several stretches of the game despite a shot disparity in the Soo's favor.
Bunnaman opened the scoring in the game. On a first period power play, he planted himself net-front and shoveled home a puck past goalie Matthew Villalta. Overall, he had three shots on goal and finished with a very painful minus-one due to the buzzer beating shorthanded goal that started with Frost beating him on the faceoff.
Frost was plus-two, had three shots on goal, was 15-for-26 on draws and had the game winning assist. He had a quiet first period and a couple of turnovers on risky passes but asserted himself as the game moved along. He has posted at least one point in 11 of the 12 playoff games the Greyhounds have played to date.
Game 2 is in Sault Ste. Marie on Saturday. Game time is 7:05 p.m. EDT.
6) WHL playoffs; The Everett Silvertips took a 1-0 lead in their conference final series with the Tri-City Americans with a 3-2 home win on Friday night. It was the first loss of the postseason for Tri-City, who had swept each of their two playoff series. Garrett Pilon scored twice for Everett, who took a 2-0 lead to the first intermission and then restored an advantage late in the middle frame.
Top Flyers goaltending prospect Carter Hart earned the win in goal, stopping 24 of 26 shots. He bounced back immediately from a gaffe that led to a Tri-City power play goal (their second of the early middle stanza) and a 2-2 deadlock. Hart badly misplayed a dump-in behind the net and fumbled the puck off his stick for a giveaway. That led to an empty-net tuck-in.
Otherwise, Hart was his usual nearly unbeatable self. He had little chance of stopping the earlier power play goal that cut the Silvertips lead to 2-1 early in the second period. Hart made brilliant saves near the buzzer of the second period and then late in the third period as his team held on successfully to its 3-2 edge. The first Silvertips goal came at the conclusion of a 2-on-1 counterattack that started with Hart making his toughest save of the first period at the Everett end of the ice.
Game 2 of the series is on Saturday night. Game time is 10:05 p.m. EDT.
7) OHL playoffs: The Hamilton Bulldogs blitzed the Kingston Frontenacs for five goals in the first period to render the rest of the game a near-formality. The home side went on to cruise, 7-2, and grab a two games to zero lead in their Eastern Conference Final series.
Flyers 2017 fourth-round pick Matthew Strome did not record a point in Friday's game. He had one shot on goal and minus-one. Strome, who has labored a bit since returning from a neck stinger suffered in the second round, was also held pointless in Game 1 against Kingston; a 6-2 win for the Bulldogs. Overall, he has 14 points (four goals, eight assists) while dressing in 11 of 12 games his team has played to date in the postseason.
Game 2 of the series is in Kingston on Sunday.
8) QMJHL playoffs: The Acadie-Bathurst Titan took a 1-0 lead in their semifinal playoff series against the Victoriaville Tigres with a 6-3 home win on Friday night. Flyers 2016 first-round pick German Rubtsov had one assist and one shot on goal. Overall, he has six points (three goals, three assists) through 10 playoff games. Game 2 of the series is Saturday at 6:00 p.m. EDT.
9) On Sunday afternoon, the Flyers Alumni Team will play a 1 p.m. benefit game at the Lancaster Ice Rink in Lancaster, PA, hosted by the Mitigators and the American Cancer Society Legacy Ball. For more information,
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