POST-PRACTICE UPDATE (1:30 P.M.)
* There were no surprises at practice today, as the Flyers used the same line combinations as recent games. With the club riding a four-game winning streak and playing generally good hockey since the Olympic break, there is no need to make any changes. Erik Gustafsson, Hal Gill and Jay Rosehill remain the likely healthy scratches.
* Craig Berube, who played under Ken Hitchcock both in junior hockey with Kamloops and in the NHL with the Flyers (when Hitchcock was an assistant coach under Paul Holmgren), talked a bit about the hallmarks of a Hitchcock-coached team: commitment to structure and two-way play. Berube said that Hitchcock understood the junior game was a little more wide-open and offense-oriented but that he adapted his style to the NHL and became more of defense-first coach. Asked by Tim Panaccio to compare his own personality to Hitchcock's, Berube grinned and said, "Mine is much better!"
* Jakub Voracek noted that playing against St. Louis requires a lot of patience (much like playing against New Jersey) but success also means being aware of the attacking ability the Blues can bring from their defensemen (a bit like Chicago). Both Berube and Voracek said that the Blues are a bit more physical than the Blackhawks, so the Flyers have to be prepared to match that physicality and to work in tight quarters.
* After practice, Paul Holmgren discussed the signing of Robert Hägg as well as several other issues pertaining to prospects.
- The general manager confirmed that Hägg will finish out this season on an ATO with the Phantoms in the AHL and his entry-level contract will start next season. He said that down the line, the organization sees Hägg as a two-way defenseman with size and mobility who can be above-average in a variety of different areas. He does not think Hägg's strictly offensive-hockey upside is quite as high as Shayne Gostisbehere's. Holmgren said it is a "stretch" to project Hägg being NHL-ready to start next season, but that nothing can be ruled out.
- Holmgren said that the organization would sit down with Gostisbehere and family to discuss the player's direction for next season. They want to get a gauge on whether he feels ready now to make the jump to pro hockey or if he is inclined to return to Union College for his senior season.
- Holmgren said the team has been monitoring a couple of college free agents during the season, and had interest in a couple. Asked specifically about Christian Folin, the GM measured his words carefully but admitted that he thought the UMass Lowell D-man might be ready to step directly into the NHL next year if he's "with the right team."
- Holmgren said that the organization has had "internal discussions" about Russian defenseman Valeri Vasiliev. The player, who dealt with a shoulder injury all season but played as a regular for Spartak Moscow as well as in the World Junior Championships, has opted out of his KHL contract for next season. The player has said that he would be open to coming to North America sooner rather than later. Holmgren said that no decisions have been made as of yet by the organization.
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FLYERS EXTEND WINNING STREAK TO FOUR
It may not have been as complete of a 60-minute performance as their recent home-and-home sweep of Pittsburgh and overtime win against Chicago, but the Philadelphia Flyers did just enough to down the Dallas Stars by a 4-2 count last night at the Wells Fargo Center. The win, Philadelphia's fourth in a row, ran the club's post-Olympic record to 7-2-1.
The biggest difference in the outcome was a spectacular 33-save performance by Steve Mason. Tested frequently throughout the game, especially in the second and early third periods, Mason helped to keep the Flyers ahead whenever Dallas threatened to pull even.
First and third period tallies by Wayne Simmonds --the first on the power play and the latter at even strength -- were canceled out by tallies from Dallas captain Jamie Benn in the same manpower situations in the second and third period. Actually, Benn's second goal came just 30 seconds after Simmonds' second tally.
The Flyers won the game because they jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first period on goals by Mark Streit and Simmonds, and then Mason helped nurse the advantage through several surges of momentum by Dallas. Finally, after the Stars quickly narrowed a 3-1 deficit to 3-2, Michael Raffl put the game away with the clock ticking down near three minutes.
Raffl's goal started as a two-on-one rush led by Sean Couturier. Taking a pass from his center with defender Trevor Daley caught in no man's land, Raffl went in alone on Tim Thomas. The Austrian rookie got the two-time Vezina Trophy winner to commit early and slid the puck home on the backhand.
Dallas got the better of play in the first five minutes of the game, generating four of the match's first five shots. Thereafter, the Flyers controlled the majority of the opening stanza, with the teams finishing 12-12 in shots but the Flyers leading 2-0 where it counted.
Streit's goal was scored directly off a faceoff win by Claude Giroux. The Swiss defenseman cranked up a scorcher for his ninth goal of the season and the 30th scored by a Flyers' defenseman this season.
Simmonds first goal was the third and final scoring opportunity of a dominating first power play of the game (Philly had only two) for the Flyers. After a couple of near misses, Simmonds tapped home a rebound in the crease of a shot that hit the post. Scott Hartnell and Jakub Voracek earned the assists on Simmonds' 22nd overall goal and 13th power play goal of the season.
Dallas narrowly escaped further damage on a late-period power play by Philly.
The second period was basically the opposite of the first. The Flyers were in control in the early minutes but then Dallas took over to control the decided majority of the frame. The Stars outshot the Flyers by a 17-13 margin.
A turning point in the momentum came on a shift where Jamie Benn simply shrugged off the checking of Luke Schenn to gain the offensive zone. The Stars' deadly top line went to work in the Flyers' end of the ice, and Mason had to be sharp on scoring opportunities for Benn and Tyler Seguin.
Shortly thereafter, the Flyers got into penalty trouble. Back-to-back minors on Zac Rinaldo and Michael Raffl created a 31-second five-on-three power play for the Stars. Mason made 10-bell saves on both Alex Chiasson and Benn to kill off the front end of the penalty.
However, with the Stars still on a 5-on-4, Benn finally got his team on the board. Finding a seam in the defense, Benn took a pass from Seguin and cut in to score. Alex Goligoski got the secondary assist on Benn's 28th goal of the season.
Mason had to come up big several more times to preserve the lead. Cody Eakin, who was Dallas' most effective forward apart from the top line, was denied on a good chance in close.
The third period was more under control, with Dallas outshooting Philly by a modest 6-4 margin. More importantly, the Flyers outscored the Stars 2-1 on the scoreboard to clinch a two-goal victory.
Simmonds' second goal, scored at the 12:21 mark, started with the winger putting on a burst of speed through the neutral zone. He moved to the right circle and snapped a shot past Thomas. After the game, both Thomas and Dallas coach Lindy Ruff said it was a chance that should have been stopped. Vincent Lecavalier and Brayden Schenn assisted on Simmonds' 23rd of the season.
Benn responded just 30 seconds later, however. He potted a favorable carom off the back boards to narrow the gap to 3-2 and the 12:51 mark. Seguin and Chiasson assisted on Benn's 29th tally of the season.
That set the stage for Raffl's dramatic insurance goal with 3:12 left on the clock. Raffl's ninth tally of the year was assisted by Couturier and Kimmo Timonen. Dallas pulled Thomas for an extra attacker with about two minutes left in the game but there was no further scoring. Simmonds narrowly missed an empty netter.
The Flyers are back in action on Saturday afternoon when Ken Hitchcock brings his NHL-leading St. Louis Blues to town.
NOTES:
* After the game, Flyers coach Craig Berube and several players said that the club was not satisfied with its overall performance last night, especially in the second period. Deservedly so, much of the credit for the win was given to Mason.
* Benn's power play goal ended a streak of 20 consecutive successful penalty kills by the Flyers.
* The Flyers blocked 24 Dallas shot --tying two other games for second-most this season -- and they had 23 shots blocked. The combined 47 blocks between the two teams was the highest in a Flyers game this season. Andrew MacDonald led the way with four for the Flyers. Nicklas Grossmann, Claude Giroux and Luke Schenn had three apiece.
* After yesterday's morning skate, I asked Grossmann if there is still any special meaning to him about playing his former team. He said, "I was there for a long time and I have a lot of good memories. But there aren't a lot of guys left that I played with, so it's almost like playing a different team." Among Grossmann's teammates at the time of his trade to the Flyers, only defensemen Trevor Daley and Alex Goligoski, forwards Jamie Benn and Vernon Fiddler and goaltender Kari Lehtonen remain.
* Tim Thomas started last night's game wearing a white mask. In the second period onward, he switched to a black mask.
* In addition to my usual Flyers and Stars coverage for HockeyBuzz, I covered last night's game for the Dallas Morning News. To read my game report with postgame take from the Stars' locker room,
click here.
* The Flyers will hold a noon practice today at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. I will have a post-practice update to today's blog.
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FLYERS AGREE TO TERMS WITH HÄGG
Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren confirmed earlier this morning that the Flyers have agreed to entry-level contract terms with 2013 second-round pick Robert Hägg. The 19-year-old Swedish defenseman will be here on Monday.
The youngest regular starting defenseman in the Swedish Hockey League this season, Hägg had an up-and-down campaign for Modo but demonstrated the combination of size and mobility that many scouts project could someday help him become an above-average NHL defenseman.
Terms of the contract were not announced. However, it is likely that Hägg will finish the 2013-14 season on an amateur tryout contract (ATO) with the AHL's Adirondack Phantoms and then his entry-level deal will kick in for next season.
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