FLYERS FALL TO ISLES, 3-1
Barely clinging to the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, the Philadelphia Flyers needed to find a way to hold off the surging New York Islanders at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday night. The Flyers got the start they wanted in an often-dominant first period but could not sustain it, and ultimately fell by a 3-1 final score.
With the Boston Bruins stepping up to defeat the San Jose Sharks, 6-3, on Thursday night, the Flyers fell out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Islanders, who have three games in hand on the Flyers and four on Boston, moved to within one point of the Flyers and two behind Boston.
“That’s the worst part about it. Four point game. Come out, don’t play in the second period, they take over and we’re trying to battle back in the third and we still didn’t do a good enough job. They still have three games ahead of us too so it hurts," Flyers right winger Wayne Simmonds said.
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After being shut out in each of the last two games and scoring a total of four goals in their first four games after the All-Star Break, the Flyers got an early power play goal by Simmonds. That was all they got past winning goalie Thomas Greiss (35 saves on 36 shots).
“It’s tough to explain. We talked about it, we looked at it in practice. You try and try and you only get one goal. Obviously you’ve got to be careful of getting too frustrated. It’s a tough loss against a division opponent. As much as it sucks right now, you’ve got to turn the page and just keep looking at it, stay positive, and keep doing the things that we’ve been preaching about," Flyers defenseman Mark Streit said.
John Tavares (power play), Jason Chimera and Casey Cizikas scored for the Islanders. The Flyers seemed to deflate after both the second and third goals as the Isles scores once in each period. New York controlled most of the second period and the Flyers were a bit fortunate to enter the third period down just one goal. The final goal was a backbreaker; a stoppable shot that went in at an awful time.
Steve Mason was not particularly sharp in goal for Philadelphia even apart from the final New York goal. He finished with 27 saves on 30 shots but the Flyers, who have no margin for error right now, needed a better game from their goaltender.
"I want to make sure we go back and look at some video here and I just have to focus on myself. I would like to have a better effort after coming out from a week and a half break, I would like to come and be a little bit better but the game is over now I have to find ways to put up for next game," Mason said.
"We have to find ways to first take care of our zone defensively and I think our offense comes after that, right now we’re struggling on the offensive front so I just kind of emphasize how much more tight and mistake free we have to be in our defensive zone in order to take care of that right now. I think everybody just has to focus on doing their own individual job.”
Shayne Gostisbehere returned to the Flyers' lineup after a three-game absence. He was paired with Mark Streit. "Ghost" had more good shifts than bad ones on this night. He didn't play a flawless game but it was a pretty solid return overall.
"I thought he worked hard tonight. I thought he moved the puck well and was pretty aggressive with the puck. I thought his play on the power play was solid," Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol said.
Hakstol noted that, for the fourth straight game, the Flyers cranked out pretty good defensive effort. However, the team is not turning defense into transitional offense.
“Well that’s on the work ethic side of the game and the play without the puck. I think we’ve done a good job, there’s no questioning guys want and their commitment. We are doing a lot of really good things there," Hakstol said.
"On the offensive side things aren’t coming easily. You come out of a period like we did in the first period tonight, again that’s two nights in a row, where we probably deserved a little bit better. Yet, that’s the nature of the game, so like I said I think we can all work and be a little bit more complete. We’ll show up and go to work [at practice on Friday].”
Led by five apiece from ex-Flyer Dennis Seidenberg and fellow defenseman Adam Pelech, the Islanders blocked a whopping 32 shots attempts by the Flyers, while Philly came up with 20 blocks. New York also won 59 percent of the faceoffs (27-for-46).
The Flyers generated good earlier traffic and got three shots on goal in the first 1:45 of the game. Mason made his first save on a side-angle shot from the top of the right circle by Anders Lee at 2:38.
Michael Raffl hustled to cancel out and icing. Gostisbehere later skated in a long stride and snapped a shot on Greiss. The Flyers fourth line crashed the net as Roman Lyubimov stepped out from behind the net. Greiss held for a stoppage at 5:01. Giroix won the next draw cleanly and Brandon Manning nearly scored.
Gostisbehere made two strong defensive plays on the right-side defensive boards as time neared the seven-minute mark. The Flyers later had possession in the offensive zone when a questionable hand pass call was called around the 7:30 mark. With 10:11 left in the period, Brayden Schenn deflected a shot on net.
Shots at the 10-minute midpoint of the first period were 9-2 in the Flyers' favor.
At 10:50, after a solid hit by Radko Gudas in the neutral zone, Nick Cousins gained puck possession and was hauled down to create the game's first power play. New York left winger Shane Prince went off for tripping.
The Flyers' top unit had good puck movement, and Gostisbehere had a good early keep at center point. Giroux was unable to finish a chance from the left slot. However, shortly thereafter, the Flyers scored to make it 1-0 at 12:07.
Voracek fed the puck out to Gostisbehere at center point. Greiss got most of the puck with Simmonds and Schenn converging on the doorstep. The puck eventually trickled over the line. Simmonds was credited with his 22nd goal of the season (11th on the power play). Gostisbehere and Voracek received the assists.
“I didn’t see much. I kind of poked at the puck late, but that was a good goal by Simmer. That’s hard work in front of the net. That’s the greasy one we were looking for," Schenn said.
The goal was reviewed in Toronto to see if the net came off its moorings before the puck crossed the line. The good-goal call on the ice was upheld.
Greiss fought off a heavy right point shot by Gudas for his 14th save. Shots were 15-3 in the Flyers' favor with five minutes left in the opening period.
Fifteen seconds later, the Islanders went to their first power play. An aerial puck in the neutral zone went to . Streit tripped him and went to the box at 15:15. Mason made a stop on John Tavares near the right post. The Flyers had three successive clears. With 35 seconds left in the penalty, Tavares wristed a seed of a shot from the right circle that eluded Mason and went inside the left post for his 21st goal of the season. Ryan Strome and John Bailey got the assists at 16:40.
Two shifts later, after a near goal by the Islanders at one end, Voracek and Giroux had quick successive chances at the other end but no shot resulted. In the waning seconds of the period, Brandon Manning broke up Tavares in a one-on-battle up the right side.
Shots in the first period were 16-8 in the Flyers' favor at the end of the period.
The second period started with Tavares easily winning the center ice faceoff from Sean Couturier. The Isles chipped the puck out of play, though, and the two faced off again. Once again, Tavares won the draw cleanly.
Near the 2:00 mark, after the Schenn line was hemmed in deep, the Flyers got caught in a bad line change and the situation became worse rapidly after a flat-footed Gudas was beaten at the blueline. Chimera received a pass from Andrew Ladd and chipped it over Mason from in close at 2:15 to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead. Dennis Seidenberg got the secondary assist on Chimera's 12th goal of the season.
At 6:25, Giroux set up a chance for Voracek near the net that was not finished. Moments later, Provorov pinched into the slot for great chance. On the next shift, the Flyers got disorganized in their own end and had a player -- first Gostisbehere and then VandeVelde -- playing without a stick. They eventually escaped without a goal against, penalty or icing.
The Couturier line got caught out on a very, very long shift in the defensive zone. The Islanders were able to get out a complete line change, while Philly pursued the puck in vain and New York generated several shots on goal. Finally, Mason cleanly stopped a point shot at 14:05. A much-needed TV timeout ensued. Second period shots at this point were 11-2 in the Isles' favor (19-18 Islanders overall).
After working hard to get the puck out of the defensive zone including a long scrum on the end boards, Schenn line generated some forechecking pressure before giving way the fourth line. Greiss stopped a blast by Bellemare and then VandeVelde hit the post high to the short side. Another TV timeout followed at 17:53. Shots were now 20-20 for the game (12-4 Isles for the period).
Gostisbehere had a few anxious moments as he lost a puck trying a 1-on-2 spin move in the neutral zone and then caught up a puck behind the Flyers' net. No harm resulted. Greiss made a great recovery save in the final minute, getting over to stop a Dale Weise backhander after he initially seemed to be beaten.
Second period shots were 13-10 in the Islanders' favor.
The Flyers controlled the puck to start the third period but could not get a friendly bounce of the puck. New York iced the puck at the 59-second mark.
Casey Cizikas whiffed on an initial shot from the right circle, regained it and reached around Gostisbehere with a spinning wrist shot. Mason never moved and the puck went in at 1:21 on a potential back-breaker of a goal. Johnny Boychuk got the lone assist on Boychuk's sixth goal of the season as the Islanders took a 3-1 lead.
Mason made a shoulder save and got crashed into Brock Nelson on the net shift. A peeved Simmonds went after Nelson near the benches. Simmonds received a roughing double-minor to a two-minute minor for Nelson. The Islanders went to their second power play. Cousins served the extra minor.
In the final 16 seconds of the power play, Mason made a good lateral movement save on Strome after a cross-ice pass by Tavares and lost his mask in the process.
Schenn nearly brought the Flyers back within a goal cutting in front of the net from left to right but careened past the net as he was upended. On the net shift, Greiss was down and out but Couturier couldn't finish from a severe angle. Mason then made a tough save at the other end.
With 10:14 left in the third period, Greiss covered a loose puck near the right side the net before a TV timeout. The puck dribbled to the Islanders' goalie after Manning, who had lost his stick, bowled over Lee behind the net.
Weise powered to the net with around nine minutes left, but could not score. At the end of the shift, Schenn collected a Gudas rebound and backhanded the puck over the glass.
Giroux drew an interference penalty on Prince skating up the right wing. The Flyers went to their second power play at 12:27. The first unit had trouble getting organized for the first 1:04. The second unit came out after an offside, and fared little better. Streit brought a puck back in offside as the power play expired. Third period shots at this point were 8-5 in New York's favor (32-29 Isles overall).
Cousins momentarily saw a lane to the net but lost control of the puck, which dribbled in weakly on Greiss as the Flyers' forward kept going to the net. He forced a cover for a stoppage with 2:38 left. The Giroux line came out for the ensuing offensive zone draw. Gostisbehere fired a shot that a screened Greiss never saw but the puck went just wide of the net. With 1:57 left, Voracek was high sticked near the net by Thomas Hickey. Mason was pulled for a 6-on-4 attack.
Greiss stopped Voracek shot off a Giroux feed for a stoppage with 1:26 left. Giroux didn't get all of a one-timer. Voracek lost a puck, but the Isles missed the empty net from the neutral zone. A late desperation chance for Voracek went awry.
Third period shots were 10-9 Flyers (36-30 Flyers overall). The Flyers will practice at the Skate Zone in Voorhees on Friday and then host the San Jose Sharks in the final game of a five-game homestand that started promisingly but is now 1-2-1.
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QUICK HITS
* The Flyers held a moment of silence before the game following the tragic passing of Wissahickon Warriors player Nick Bond. Lauren Hart wore a Wissahickon jersey in his memory while performing the Star Spangled Banner. Earlier in the day, Lehigh Valley Phantoms goaltender Anthony Stolarz tweeted an appeal for Flyers fans to support a GoFundMe campaign for the Bond family.
* QMJHL: Flyers 2016 first-round pick German Rubtsov returned to the Chicoutimi Sagueneens lineup on Thursday in grand fashion, assisting on one goal and then scoring a pair of markers to spark his club to a 5-2 win over the Val-d'Or Foreurs.
* Former Flyers captain Keith Primeau will join Hockey Hall of Fame writer Jay Greenberg on Friday at the Barnes & Noble store in Marlton, NJ to sign copies of Jay's "Flyers at 50" book. The signing event starts at 6 p.m. ET.
* On Sunday, attending fans at "Flyers Day" at the Blue Cross River Rink's Winterfest will have the opportunity to skate with Flyers Alumni notables Brian Propp, Brad Marsh, Joe Watson, Doug Crossman and Todd Fedoruk. The event starts at noon. For more information,
click here.
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