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Wrap: Flyers Grit out 2-1 Win vs. Oilers |
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WRAPUP: FLYERS GRIT OUT 2-1 WIN VS. EDMONTON
After coming up a bit short in a tight-checking, grinding game on Thursday, the Philadelphia Flyers prevailed in a hard-fought 2-1 game against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center.
Playing with a full face shield after taking extensive damage to his mouth from an errant high stick on Thursday, Wayne Simmonds delivered the game-winning goal with 2:15 remaining in regulation. He also assisted on a Claude Giroux power play goal in the first period, as the Flyers took a 1-0 lead.
"We stuck to it, it was a tight game, both teams with some scoring chances and we stayed with it, and it was a big goal from Simmer," Giroux said.
Simmonds spent four-plus hours at the dentist on Friday, undergoing two root canals. He's not done yet. Depending on how many teeth die, he may need multiple teeth extracted in days to come. That is in addition to two chipped teeth. On Saturday, he notched his fourth game-winning goal and sixth tally overall of the season.
“He is as tough as it gets. All season, he doesn’t miss many games. It was a great play by Lehterä and Fil on that goal and Simmer is always in the right spot. So he knows where to go to get those goals. I wish I learned from him sometimes," Jakub Voracek said.
Simmonds took a feed from center Valtteri Filppula to score the winning goal. After the game, Simmonds also made sure to send some credit to left winger Jori Lehterä; not just for a slick drop pass to Filppula on the passing sequence but for his overall effort in just his second lineup appearance through the first eight games.
“I thought Lehts played great. He played a really good game tonight. Big body, really strong on the puck, makes great plays, those really small plays that you may not notice in the stands. He opens up the ice a bit for skating, and it’s nice playing with him," Simmonds said.
"Very, very strong guy. You watch him play the boards I don’t think too many guys get the puck off him and then he makes those little plays where you’re coming under him and you know hes gonna put it in a spot that you’re gonna skate right into. You know, he was great I thought he got better from his first game, I thought he played well his first game, too, but second game back I thought he played really well tonight.”
Brian Elliott earned the win in goal, stopping 23 of 24 shots. The lone Edmonton goal, an unassisted tally by ex-Flyers farmhand Patrick Maroon at 15:37 of the second period, was a stoppable one. However, the veteran goalie redeemed himself with numerous clutch saves, including a point-blank one on Oilers superstar center Connor McDavid.
Combining matchup duties against reigning Hart Trophy and Art Ross Trophy winner McDavid, the Flyers used both the Sean Couturier and Scott Laughton lines against the top Edmonton line. McDavid had four shots on goal and a blocked attempt but, for the most part, Philly did a good job of taking away time and space to hold him off the scoresheet. Meanwhile, McDavid also had to work hard to get the puck on many shifts, preventing him from attacking.
"He’s a special player, he’s so quick, so dynamic and to be able to keep him off the score sheet like that is huge for our group and I thought we played a really good third period kinda getting on him and not letting their whole team get space and time and Moose [Elliott] did a good job in the back stopping them," Laughton said.
Shayne Gostisbehere, understandably, receives a lot of attention for the offensive side of his game. With an assist on the Giroux goal, Gostisbehere now has 10 helpers and 11 points through the first eight games of the season, tying Hall of Fame defenseman Mark Howe's 1985-86 season for the fastest offensive start by a defenseman in franchise history.
In the meanwhile, Gostisbehere's defensive play has been greatly improved this season, and he had one of the best games without the puck of his still-young NHL career.
"I’ve been working on it every day I can. In the summer too it’s a lot. I’m glad it’s working. It’s getting noticed so I’m just gonna keep my head down and keep going," Gostisbehere said.
Much-maligned defenseman Andrew MacDonald stepped up big for the team on the penalty kill. Especially notable was the way he gritted out a shift in which he was painfully felled blocking a Milan Lucic shot, got back to break up a play in front and eventually generated a skin-of-the-teeth zone clear to relieve pressure.
"You have just got to get up. If you don’t get up, it’s a 5-on-3. There are other opportunities that can arise from it. Do your best and try to hang in there. Wait for some help. Wait until you clear it. It is what it is. Everyone battles through it. You take a shot. You just get up, get back in there and help your guys," MacDonald said.
The Flyers played a strong first period, forcing Edmonton to work hard to get of the defensive zone. The middle stanza mostly belonged to the Oilers, as it was the Flyers who yielded by far the more dangerous chances and got hemmed in with a little too much frequently. The third period saw the Flyers gradually get the better of the play and then go on to get the game-winning score.
"Second period, I thought his [Elliot] best period was the second period. He had 4 or 5 really good saves and a couple of others in that period. We got a little sloppy. In the third period we stayed with it, we didn’t give up a whole lot," Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol said.
"We did the little things that are necessary to win a hockey game. In staying with it, Lehts, Fil, and Simmer finished off a good transition play. It was good solid hockey, and they stayed with it and made one a heck of a play.”
In the first period, a near odd-man rush for Edmonton was canceled out by a high sticking penalty on Brad Malone behind the play at 3:00. The Flyers went on the game's first power play. A Giroux shot from the top of the left circle through a Simmonds screen was the game's first shot. Talbot held on for a stoppage.
After the next faceoff, Giroux skated down below the left circle to collect the rebound of an intial Gostisbehere shot attempt from over the middle and elevated it over Talbot for his fifth goal of the season. Wayne Simmonds deflected the initial shot with his stick angled toward Giroux and leaning heavily on the stick. Giroux pounced and scored. Simmonds got the primary assist and Gostisbehere the second at 3:36.
“I knew we had a guy coming off that back post so I kinda just put my stick down and Ghost takes a slap shot pass, which is a hard pass to handle, so you know I tried to get it in the direction of the net and you know G is standing right there back door," Simmonds said.
An excellent shift for Travis Konecny on both ends of the ice ended with him feeding a pinching Travis Sanheim for a deep center slot shot at 7:17. A TV timeout ensued. Shots were 3-1 Flyers at this point. The Flyers top then followed with a dominant shift that included a good scoring chance for Sean Couturier from the left slot.
One game after Simmonds suffered a facial injury when sitting on the bench, McDavid got winged by teammate Adam Larsson's stick while on the bench. He soon returned to the ice.
Laughton was lucky to avoid injury as he skated back to the bench for a shift change. After jostling with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins moments earlier, Laughton took a cheap-shot from behind by a needless drive-by forearm by Lucic. The Flyers' center was OK. The infraction went unseen by the officials but raised the ire of the players on the Flyers' bench.
"It was kind of a dangerous play," Laughton said. "Fortunately, the door wasn't open. I just went into the dasher a little bit. Like I said, it was kind of dangerous, but those things happen out there."
With 2:06 left in the period, Gostisbehere joined the rush, took a pass from Lehterä and fired a dangerous shot on net that required a tough save by Talbot. The goalie also did a good job at preventing a rebound.
Voracek centered a pass and Couturier had a crack in close with 1.2 seconds remaining. After a very long delay, the clock was corrected for a formality of a right circle faceoff. Shots in the first period were 9-7 in the Flyers' favor. Giroux's last second faceoff win over Ryan Nugent-Hopkins gave the Flyers' an 11-10 edge in draws. Hits were 14-7 in Edmonton's favor.
Most notably, the Oilers recorded 14 blocked shots in the first period to three by the Flyers, as Philly had the puck in the offensive zone for much of the stanza. The Flyers also missed the net four times.
Elliott had to make two tough saves early in the second period. First, off an Oilers rush, Patrick Maroon got open in front. Ellott made a skate save. Later, he denied Zach Kassian.
The Flyers went to their second power play as Lehterä was slashed by Matt Benning taking the puck to the net at 2:05. At the penalty expired, the Oilers got a counterattack led by McDavid. Ivan Provorov saved the Flyers a heap of trouble in front with a good defensive play.
McDavid bobbed and weaved and kept the Valtteri Filppula line and the defense pairing of Gostisbehere and Robert Hägg busy in the defensive zone. However, everything was contained to the perimeter. Edmonton led in second period shots by a 6-3 margin through 6:45.
Nolan Patrick stole a puck in the neutral zone with good anticipation and snapped a shot on Talbot on the rush. On the next shift, Gostisbehere skated in untouched from the point, took a cross ice feed with net to shoot at but fired it a little too high and missed the net.
Edmonton went its first power play at 10:13 of the second period. Laughton was called for holding the bigger Maroon behind the Flyers' net. The power play was canceled out at 10:54 as McDavid's high stick caught Andrew MacDonald on the visor of his helmet. The Oilers then got a 31-second 4-on-3 (sans McDavid) on a marginal slashing penalty on Hägg as he tried to cancel out an attacker's stick. The Flyers got through the 4-on-3 and subsequent 5-on-4.
Several minutes of scrambling play ensued at both ends. Finally, Patrick lost a puck to in defensive zone corner. Maroon stepped out from a side angle in front of Hägg and scored from the bottom of the right circle as the shot slide eluded the goalie's stick and slid under gap beneath the right pad. His unassisted goal (2nd of the season) came at 15:37.
"Nolan tried to move the puck. Maroon made a good play, it was 1 on 1 in the corner. A broken stick always complicates things a little bit, but I don’t think that affected the play. Nolan tried to make a play to put the puck back to a soft area behind our net, it didn’t work that way. We didn’t have that second layer there quick enough to cover it," Hakstol said.
Ellliott, who should have stopped Maroon's shot from that angle, made a much tougher stop on McDavid on a 2-on-1 off the rush before a TV timeout with 1:13 left in the second period.
In the final minute of the period, the Couturier line established the Flyers' first extended pressure in awhile. Talbot stopped a right circle shot by Voracek. Second period shots were 11-8 in Edmonton's favor (18-17 overall for the Oilers).
The Flyers were guilty of three separate icings in the first 2:04 of the third period. Elliott stopped a right point shot off a clean right circle win by Edmonton for his first save of the stanza.
Gostisbhere broke up successive rushes -- the first on a 3-on-2 -- as the Oilers brought some speed through the neutral zone. Third period shots were just 2-1 Flyers through the first 6:09 at a TV timeout.
Raffl was penalized for offensive zone interference at 8:56, setting a pick for Laughton. MacDonald was hobbled blocking a Lucic slap shot just above the knee, but still got back to break up a play in front and eventually, after heavy Edmonton pressure, got a clear. In the final 15 seconds, Giroux cleared a puck in front.
A strong shift by Konecny hemmed the Oilers in and Edmonton iced the puck with 6:02 left in the third period. The top line followed it up with very heavy pressure, including a brilliant centering pass by Giroux that created a heavy scramble in front.
Sanheim was pulled down on a breakout opportunity. A Flyers hand-pass ended play in the neutral zone with 3:09 left. MacDonald came out for a skate during the TV timeout. He stayed in the game.
The Flyers grabbed a 2-1 lead with 2:15 remaining. Gostisbehere started the breakout and off the Flyers went. Fiippula took a drop pass from Lehterä, weaved over the middle and found Simmonds oncoming at the right hash marks. Simmonds (6th goal of the season) made no mistake at 17:45. Filppula and Lehterä (1st point as a Flyer) got the helpers.
Edmonton pulled Talbot for an extra attacker. Strong checking kept the Oilers at bay to nail down the third win of the homestand.
For the fourth straight game, the Oilers lineup was missing Leon Draisaitl (eye, concussion symptoms); half of their potent one-two punch along with McDavid. The Western Conference team dropped to 2-5-0 on the season, while Eastern Conference club Philadelphia improved to 5-3-0.
With the win, the Flyers ensured themselves of a winning record on their five-game homestand. The club can now go for an eight-point stretch as they prepare to play the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday before heading out for road games in Ottawa and Toronto. The Flyers will have an off-day on Sunday and then practice at the Skate Zone in Voorhees, NJ on Monday.
Philadelphia native Ian Walsh, a former Junior Flyers player as a youth, refereed his 1,000th game in the NHL. He was recognized by the Flyers, Oilers and the NHL in a special pregame ceremony.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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