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Stadium Series Wrap: All-too-Familiar Story in Flyers' 4-2 Loss to Pens

February 25, 2017, 11:40 PM ET [748 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
STADIUM SERIES WRAP: SAME STORY IN FLYERS 4-2 LOSS TO PENGUINS

Playing at the Heinz Field football stadium did little to alter what has become an all-too-familiar recent script for the freefalling Philadelphia Flyers. Philly got off to a good start and played well overall in their 2017 Stadium Series game against the Pittsburgh Penguins but they wound up playing comeback hockey for much of the game.

""We spent a lot of time in their zone and we were very strong on the forecheck," Voracek said. "We had comebacks early in the season... but it's tough."

Every time the Flyers would be on the brink of getting the game knotted, they would either fail to finish a good scoring chance or, even worse, yield a backbreaking goal to fall back to a two-goal deficit.

"I thought our team played well and did a lot of good things, but we walk away with the wrong result," Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol said, echoing an all-too-common postgame theme of late.

"We're not scoring. That's the bottom line," Voracek said.

So, too, were a pair of third period goals by Pittsburgh that dug two-goal holes after the Flyers had clawed back to get within one.

"That was deflating," Shayne Gostisbehere acknowledged. "We can be sad for ourselves all we want,' call it bad bounces or we can say, 'Well, it's lucky.' But you know, it keeps happening for a reason."

The single biggest difference in the game was the goaltending. Penguins netminder Matt Murray was outstanding in turning back 36 of 38 shots. Michal Neuvirth (25 saves on 29 shots) allowed two bad goals and one that, while not easy, was not impossible to stop.

For the second straight game, Neuvirth disappeared into the trainer's room after the game and never subsequently emerged to talk about a subpar performance in a must-win game. His teammates, to a man, refused to throw him under the bus. Nevertheless, he still had a responsibility to deconstruct the game even as unpleasant as it may have been to go goal by goal on a very disappointing night.

Sidney Crosby, Nick Bonino (power play), Matt Cullen and Chad Ruhwedel scored for the Penguins. Jakub Voracek and Shayne Gostisbehere (power play) tallied for the Flyers.

Special teams canceled out, with the Flyers going 1-for-4 and the Penguins going 1-for-5. The Flyers (Voracek) tallied the lone 4-on-4 goal of the game. The Penguins, however, outscored Philly 3-0 with the teams at full strength; another all-too-familiar story.

The Flyers won 59 percent of the faceoffs in the game. The real-time scorers went nuts with the hit totals in the game, awarding 50 to the Penguins and 39 (with 10 for Radko Gudas) to the Flyers. Philly blocked 16 shots to 12 blocks for the Penguins and only missed the net five times according to the real-time scoring.

FIRST PERIOD

The temperature at the opening faceoff was 36 degrees Fahrenheit. The blustery crosswinds made it feel colder.

The Flyers had the game's first scoring chance. Sean Couturier carried the puck into the left slot and was denied by Murray at 1:31. Neuvirth hugged the post to deny a short-side bid by Ian Cole from a severe angle at 2:56.

The Flyers got the game's first power play at 6:39 after Evgeni Malkin was called for playing with an illegal stick. After spending the early portion of the power play in their own zone, the Flyers' first unit generated a scramble around the Pittsburgh net midway through the advantage.

Raffl hit the post on a good scoring chance. The game remained scoreless.

After a failed clear by the Flyers, Crosby made it 1-0 as he took a cross-ice pass from Jake Guentzel and, from a side angle near the right post, tucked the puck inside the right post at 11:18. The goal was Crosby's 34th of the season. Scott Wilson picked up the secondary assist.

On the next shift, Schenn laid out to block a backhanded shot and then Neuvirth came up big with the glove to rob Cole at 11:36. Shots were 9-7 in the Flyers favor at a TV timeout at the 15:39 mark.

Pittsburgh got their first power play at 16:25. Provorov was called for a defensive zone hook on Matt Cullen. Philly had a good shorthanded bid as Couturier cut inside and snapped a shot on Murray. After the penalty expired, Murray made a stop on Schenn, who released the puck quickly from the left slot.

First period shots were 11-7 in the Flyers' favor.

SECOND PERIOD

Michael Raffl went down in a heap early in the second period as the result of an undetected spear by Cameron Gaunce. He got up and was OK. On the next shift, shortly before a long-range shot by Wayne Simmonds, Brandon Manning hit Jake Guentzel (who did not have the puck) high without a penalty.

Shayne Gostisbehere went off for interference right off a defensive zone faceoff at 5:08. The Penguins went on their second power play. The Penguins capitalized as a cross-ice pass made its way to Bonino, who scored short-side high on a catchable puck.

The Flyers went to the power play for the second time as Eric Fehr roughed Voracek behind the play at 7:20 after an initially clean hit in the neutral zone. Missed nets by Gostisbehere and Giroux canceled out good puck movement but eventually Voracek scooped a right circle circle shot that Murray stopped.

Neuvirth kept the deficit to two as he moved quickly laterally to deny Guentzel as he pinched on the play and took a pass in the left slot.

Dale Weise and Kunitz mixed it up in an after-the-whistle scrum at 10:50. Both got roughing minors, setting up 4-on-4 play. The Flyers cut the gap to one goal as Voracek won a battle behind the net, stepped out in front and swept the puck past Murray for his 16th goal of the year at 11:14. Andrew MacDonald got the assist.

Couturier had a golden chance to tie the game on the next shift but was stoned by Murray in front.

Neuvirth was able to reel in a rebound on a Hörnqvist shot for a stoppage at 17:47. A would-be Crosby in the final minute of the period was disallowed because the net was already off its moorings (courtesy of Crosby bumping into it earlier in the shift). As a consolation prize, Pittsburgh got a power play at 19:09 on a holding call against Manning. The Penguins took 51 seconds of power play time into the third period.

Second period shots were 12-11 in the Flyers' favor (28-18 Flyers though two periods).

THIRD PERIOD

With the winds kicking up, the teams switched sides at the start of the third period (with the long change for the first 10 minutes, ala the second period) and then switched back at the 10-minute mark.

The Flyers killed off the remaining penalty time. Weal went to the net as Murray covered a loose puck in front at 1:32.

Pittsburgh made it 3-1 at 1:50 with a backbreaking goal. Cullen surprised Neuvirth on a wraparound. The goalie made the save but Cullen got to his own rebound and beat Neuvirth through the pads for his 10th goal of the season. Fehr and Tom Kuhnhackl got the assists.

Guentzel took an offensive zone holding penalty at 6:34. After Simmonds nearly potted one in close, Gostisbehere ripped home a center-point blast through a Simmonds screen right in Murray's line of vision. Gostisbehere's fifth goal of the season (ending a 30-game drought) was assisted by Giroux and Schenn.

The Pens nearly regained a two-goal lead as a Crosby tip in front went off the top of the net. The teams switched sides with third period shots at 6-6 (34-24 in the Flyers' favor).

Philly received a critical power play on a trip of Couturier by Gaunce at 11:19. A weak shot by Voracek, a Schenn scoring chance in the left slot and lengthy unproductive stretch by the second unit was all the Flyers generated.

The Penguins scored right off an offensive right circle draw to open a 4-2 lead at 14:06. Malkin won a draw cleanly back to Ruhwedel, who wristed a quick point shot past Neuvirth, who picked up on the shot late.

Gostisbehere went off for intereference with Cullen in the defensive zone at 15:41. Pittsburgh generated several shots on goal but the score remained 4-1. The Flyers pulled Neuvirth for an extra attacker but with 2:00 left, Simmonds took a slashing the stick penalty near the offensive blueline,

Third period shots were 11-10 Penguins (38-29 Flyers overall).
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