WRAPUP: FLYERS DOUBLE UP BLUE JACKETS, 4-2
In the penultimate game of the 2016-17 season, the Philadelphia Flyers averted a season-series sweep as they downed the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-2, at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday afternoon.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Michael Del Zotto, Jakub Voracek (power play) and Ivan Provorov scored for the Flyers. The Del Zotto goal was initially disallowed on the ice but was reversed by the officials upon challenge by Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol.
“On the ice it’s a tough play because you see a goaltender go down and a puck find basically an empty net. You know something happened on that front. But it’s a little tougher to see at game speed then when you have the luxury of the video review. On the review it was pretty obvious it was their skater that interfered with their goaltender. So again there’s always judgment involved but it looks pretty clear on video," Hakstol said of the challenged call.
For the Flyers, a 10-game winning streak in November and December, 25-11-4 home record to date and a generally strong set of performances over the final eight weeks of the season were rendered meaningless by a 14-22-5 road record and a free fall in the six or seven weeks following the Christmas break. As a result, all that is one game and an early summer vacation.
"From in and around the month of February through, we didn’t get the results we wanted in February. We played a lot of good hockey. In that month where we came up on the short end and if I look back on an area of the season, the month of January put us in a tough spot,” Hakstol said.
Making what appears likely to be his final start as a Flyer, Steve Mason turned aside 20 of 22 shots to earn the victory. Both Columbus goals were scored on double deflections that each went off a pair of Flyers' skaters. Seth Jones (power play) and Boone Jenner scored for the Blue Jackets.
“You roll with the punches. Sometimes those bounces going to go your way, sometimes they’re not. It’s all part of the maturation process. I think probably when I was a little younger, it would have thrown me off a little bit, breaking a shut out or something. At this stage in my career, I think it’s just something that you move on and focus on the next shot," Mason said.
"We’ve been scoring more goals as the season’s wound down, which great to see. We have the talent in the room to score goals. Obviously, facing Bobrovsky who’s having a wonderful season was great to get a few past him and have a lead to work with. Anytime you have a lead that gives you a little bit of a cushion, the game becomes a little more slowed down for everybody. That kind of worked out our way today."
Over his final 17 starts of the season, Mason posted a 10-5-2 record, 2.14 GAA, .926 SV%, and two shutouts (plus a regulation shutout in the road finale in New Jersey).
Former Flyers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, a strong candidate for his second Vezina Trophy (the first came during the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season in his first campaign with Columbus), got his final tuneup before the playoffs. He was not particularly sharp or focused in what was a meaningless game with Columbus locked into third place in the Metropolitan Division. Bobrovsky stopped 20 of 24 shots to take the loss.
The Flyers went 1-for-3 on the power play. The Blue Jackets were 1-for-2. Philly dominated the faceoff circle, winning 25 of 40 draws. Claude Giroux (7-for-8) led the way.
Columbus has one game remaining. They will likely start backup goalie Joonas Korpisalo on Sunday. The Flyers will likely start Anthony Stolarz against the Carolina Hurricanes at the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday.
"It’s the time to show our heart. We knew today was going to be a tough battle. There are two games left and we won one. We have another one to show the fans we care. We care the whole season. We had a tough one. We would have loved to bring the playoff to the town. It’s not going this way so the only thing we can do right now is play as hard for them," Bellemare said.
After the Blue Jackets generated most of the early pressure and Mason made a pair of point blank saves among his first six saves. Bellemare scored his fourth goal of the season at 12:52 as he surprisingly roofed a shot from the right circle. Chris VandeVelde and Roman Lyubimov earned the assists.
An incidental contact goalie interference call on Couturier caused a would-be goal by Michael Del Zotto to be disallowed at 14:24. The Flyers' bench challenged the call and the referee correctly overturned his call. Del Zotto was credited with his sixth goal of the season. Schenn and Couturier got the assists as the Flyers built a 2-0 lead.
With Bobrovsky down and out, neither Wayne Simmonds nor Travis Konecny were able to tuck home the puck in a scramble around the net with about three minutes left in the first period. Bobrovsky took a silly icing with 1:03 left in the opening period.
First period shots were 10-7 in the Flyers favor.
With Shayne Gostisbehere in the penalty box for holding in the opening minute of the second period, Jones fired a shot that appeared to deflect off off VandeVelde and then Provorov and into the net at 1:07 for a power play goal. The assists went to Alexander Wennberg and Nick Foligno,
Nick Schultz's bid for a rare goal went wide of a partially open net but ex-Flyers Scott Hartnell took a roughing penalty moments later, which gave the Flyers their first power play at 5:51. The Flyers restored their two-goal lead on the power play at 6:42. Taking a cross-ice feed from Claude Giroux, Voracek moved across the right circle and found the five-hole or long side. Simmonds got the secondary assist.
Travis Konecny got a step on Kyle Quincey skating down the right wing and drew a tripping penalty and the Flyers' second power play at 9:13. Giroux narrowly missed a tap-in as Gostisbehere drew several defenders and sent the puck across the slot.
At a stoppage of play at 13:30, Josh Anderson and Brandon Manning exchanged slashes and then dropped the gloves. They received offsetting slashing minors and fighting majors.
Schenn won a battle for a loose puck around the boards and sent it out to Andrew MacDonald at the right point. The puck was quickly rotated D-to-D over to Ivan Provorov, who wristed a rising shot over Bobrovsky at for his seventh goal and a 4-1 lead at 13:48.
At the 16-minute mark, the Blue Jackets cut the gap to 4-2. From the deep slot, Jenner wristed a shot that deflected off Del Zotto and then Andrew MacDonald and skittered past Mason. Gagner and Hartnell got the assists on Jenner's 18th goal.
Schenn's bid for a wraparound goal was stopped by Bobrovsky's skate on the goal line. The Blue Jackets drew iron late in the period. Second periods shots were 10-5 Flyers (20-12 Flyers overall).
At 1:22 of the third period, Hartnell tripped Del Zotto at the red line. He was called for a minor before the Blue Jackets would have benefited with a 2-on-1 rush. An early chance for Simmonds and a great aerial keep at the blueline by Gostibehere highlighted an otherwise unsuccessful power play.
Around the 5:30 mark, Schultz nicely broke up a cross-ice play that would have resulted in a point-blank chance with Mason scrambling to get across if the pass had been completed. Weal forced a turnover in the neutral zone and fed Simmonds for a scoring chance from the right circle at 6:48.
A Manning turnover inside the defensive blueline led to a heap of trouble, forcing him to take a hooking penalty on William Karlsson and Mason to make a tough save before the touch up at 7:08. The Blue Jackets pressured heavily until a vital zone clear by Couturier. The Flyers iced the puck as the penalty expired.
Provorov's bid for his second goal was denied by Bobrovsky with a little over eight minutes remaining in regulation. Shots were 7-4 for Columbus (24-19 overall in Philly's favor) at this juncture. With Provorov caught pinching on his next shift, Simmonds assumed a defensive position on a counterattack. No harm -- or shot- resulted.
Mason stopped a point shot through several layers of traffic and held on for a stoppage. A TV timeout ensued at 15:26. The save was Mason's 18th of the game.
The Blue Jackets pulled Bobrovsky for Filppula blocked a shot, creating a counter chance but Couturier missed the empty net. Later, after a Bellemare intercept, Simmonds missed an empty net. Third period shots were 9-4 in Columbus' favor (24-22 Flyers overall).
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POSTGAME NOTES
1) Before the game, the Flyers held a moment of silence in mourning of longtime player and scout Ilkka Sinisalo, who passed away earlier this week at age 58 after a three-year battle with prostate cancer. The club also presented its annual team awards. The winners:
Bobby Clarke Trophy (Most Valuable Player) – Wayne Simmonds
Barry Ashbee Trophy (Outstanding Defenseman) – Ivan Provorov
Pelle Lindbergh Memorial Trophy (Most Improved Player) – Radko Gudas
Yanick Dupre Class Guy Memorial Award – Steve Mason
Gene Hart Memorial Award – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare
Toyota Cup – Wayne Simmonds
2) With Saturday's victory over Columbus, the Flyers have beaten every team in the Eastern Conference at least one time this season. A victory in Sunday's finale against the Carolina Hurricanes would give the Flyers 56 points at home this season; their highest output since the 2000-01 season.
3) In Steve Mason's final win of his first Flyers season (the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season after coming over from Columbus at the trade deadline was the 100th of his NHL career. His final start of what could be his last season as a Flyer produced his 200th career win. One hundred four of his wins have come as a Flyer; third on the all-time franchise list. His Flyers career save percentage is .918 after this game.
4) With his goal in the second period, Jakub Voracek secured his fourth 20 goal season in the NHL; all as a Flyer. The former Blue Jacket has tallied at least 20 goals in four of the last five seasons, including the lockout year (his first time attaining the mark).
5) With his helper on the Voracek tally, Claude Giroux tied Mark Recchi for fourth on the Flyers' all-time assists list with 395.
6) The three-star points award sponsor, Toyota, is donating $5,000 to Wayne Simmonds' charity of choice -- his own
Wayne's Warriors foundation, which provides youngsters in his hometown of Scarborough,Ontario, the opportunity designed to learn and play hockey alongside NHL role models arranged each year by Simmonds.
7) Corey Mickey, the son of the late Larry Mickey (a Flyers forward in the early 1970s during Fred Shero's first season behind the Flyers' bench), was in attendance at Saturday's game with his wife and son. During the first intermission, Mickey met his dad's former Flyers teammate and longtime junior and NHL hockey opponent, Joe Watson.
The Flyers Hall of Fame defenseman recalled how Larry Mickey specialized in one of the players' favorite pranks at the airport (back in halcyon days when NHL teams flew commercial flights). While sitting in the terminal, Mickey would attach a thin piece of string to a dollar bill and leave the bill sitting on the floor. As other passengers went to grab the dollar, Mickey would yank the string. Frequently, he induced people to chase after the elusive dollar until the hockey team's laughter gave the joke away.
8) Flyers Alumni players took part in the traveling NHL Centennial festivities that are at the Wells Fargo Center for the final weekend of the season.
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