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Wrap: Shut out for 4th Time, Flyers Drop 1-0 Decision to Wild |
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WRAP: Shut out for 4th Time, Flyers Drop 1-0 Decision to Wild
Playing for the third time in four nights while wrapping up a four-in-six road trip, the Minnesota Wild played a textbook road game -- patient and disciplined -- and then squeaked out a third period goal off a lucky bounce to defeat the Philadelphia Flyers, 1-0, at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday night. The loss marked the fourth time the Flyers have been shut out this season.
With the loss, the Flyers dropped to 8-7-2 overall and a disappointing 4-3-2 at home. Minnesota improved to 7-7-2 overall, and salvaged a 2-2-0 split of their road trip. The same two teams will rematch on Tuesday, with the scene shifting to the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
The Wild kept the Flyers to the perimeter most of the game, bottling up the areas below and inside the dots. On the flip side, the Flyers didn't yield very much either for the majority of the game. Overall, though, it was a game more to Minnesota's liking despite the puck being in the Wild's end more than Philadelphia's.
“We didn’t finish on one. It was one of those nights where it wasn’t going to be easy to score. We couldn’t find a rebound or a puck around the net, to finish one. They got one, it’s off our stick, off the back wall and they finished one of those. That’s kind of the way the night was, both directions," Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol said.
Of late, pretty much all of the scoring has come from the Flyers top line trio of Sean Couturier (six shots on goal, one blocked attempt in this game), team captain Claude Giroux (zero shots on net, two blocked attempts) and Jakub Voracek (three shots on goal, one blocked attempt, one missed shot). The trio of Scott Laughton, Taylor Leier and Michael Raffl continued to generate chances but not goals.
Other players relied on to provide secondary scoring -- Travis Konecny (four shots on goal, two attempts blocked), a struggling Wayne Simmonds (zero shots, three attempts blocked, two misses), Jordan Weal (one shot on goal, one attempt blocked) and Valtteri Filppula (two shots on goal) -- were once again unable to do so.
“You know what? I think at some point here you have to force it into the net. Whether it is driving the net and have three guys whacking at it or something. Something has to break so we have to work a little bit harder and a little bit smarter and hopefully we get it going on Tuesday," Simmonds said.
Philly's blueline generated 14 of the team's overall 32 shots on goal while attempted 26 of the team's overall 61 shot attempts. While there was some traffic in front on some of these shots and a few resulting scrambles around the net, those low-to-high lanes largely disappeared by the third period.
"Maybe we could have put a little more traffic. Obviously, when you put 30 shots on net and you don’t score there’s something you can do better, but I thought that at the same time they played tough in front, it’s hard to get there like someone said the shooting lanes are hard to find. So you got to first create that lane and then go to the net, but it was a battle," Couturier said.
The lone goal of the game came at 1:08 of the third period. Jason Zucker, who has scored each of his team's last six goals including a natural hat trick last game, collected a friendly bounce off the boards and put a shot in the open side off Flyers goalie Brian Elliott's pads.
Coming off a 41-save shutout in his last outing, Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk was outstanding in goal again for Minnesota. There were times when he got tested, especially during a Flyers push in the latter half of the second period, and he had every answer in his 32-save blanking of Philly.
Elliott also played well for the second straight game. He had to make three pretty tough saves in the first period, came up with a clutch desperation stop on a Minnesota shorthanded bid and kept his team a goal away from at least getting to overtime in a third period where the Wild were the better team. He stopped 26 of 27 shots overall and was blameless on the Zucker goal.
The fact that the Wild, who should have been the fatigued team, outplayed and frustrated the Flyers in the third period was perhaps the most disappointing facet of the outcome; more so than the friendly bounce that produced the game's lone goal.
The Flyers need to do a little better in these tighter-checking games at scratching out enough offense to win. They did it once (vs. Edmonton) but lost at home to Nashville and in this game similar-style game. In all three, the team that stepped up in the clutch in the third period was the one that won.
On the brighter side, the Flyers top defense pairing of Ivan Provorov and Robert Hägg has truly started to click in recent games. In addition to playing another strong defensive game, Hägg arguably played his most active game in the offensive zone since his NHL debut (which was largely played like a sporadic-checking exhibition game) in the final game of last season. Overall, Hägg finished with four shots on goal, six credited hits and one block. Provorov had three shots on net, one hit and two blocks. While this pairing was on the ice for the game's only goal, it was not due to any breakdowns.
"It’s a tight game and couple bounces each way, I think we played pretty good otherwise, We are creating a lot of scoring chances but we need to put the pucks in the net to win," Hägg said.
Travis Sanheim (14:16 TOI) played his fourth straight solid defensive game, although he lacked opportunities to jump into the play offensive. Unfortunately, Sanheim appeared to get injured (possibly an ankle) late in the game. He stayed on the bench rather than going up the tunnel after gingerly hobbling off but appeared to be in discomfort even as he came out at a stoppage for a test skate.
Over the last five games, the Flyers are in a 1-for-15 spell on the power play. They went 0-for-3 in this game, with an empty third-period opportunity while trailing 1-0 looming especially large in Minnesota closing out the game successfully. Philly was 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
“You have to be careful there [about saying power play adjustments are needed]. If it’s just one night, our power play has been pretty good. Tonight, we didn’t connect, we weren’t able to finish on one. I did think it terms of shooting mentality, we didn’t get many off from up top. Overall, especially teams tonight were pretty tough," Hakstol said.
"ur PK worked hard and did a good job, as did theirs and I’ll give them credit for that. Like I said, we didn’t get one in tonight so, obviously we want to do things differently or maybe find a way to get one on the power play. We need to do that five on five as well.”
1ST PERIOD
Minnesota's Tyler Ennis had a scoring chance off the rush in the game's opening half minute. After Provorov carried the puck up ice, swung behind the net and switched sides with partner Hägg. From the left point, the Swedish rookie ended up snapping the Flyers' first shot on goal.
Philly got the game's first power play at 1:39. Chris Stewart got the gate for boarding Radko Gudas in the Flyers' zone. The Flyers won the first faceoff and snapped a puck on net. Dubnyk prevented a rebound. After a lost puck at the point and a center ice turnover by Giroux, Elliott made a stick save on Mikko Koivu from below the left circle. Back in the Minnesota end, Travis Konecny had a good look on a shot from the hash marks.
On an initially outnumbered counterattack against the Flyers' top line, Provorov hustled back to break up the play. Shots were 5-2 in the Flyers' favor through seven minutes.
Gudas drifted a right point shot through some traffic. Dubnyk fought it off for his 8th save but left a rebound that the Flyers were unable to get to in time. The Filppula line generated some pressure as time ticked down to 5:59 left in the period. Shots were 9-4 Flyers at the ensuing TV timeout.
After a keep by Provorov at the left point, Jordan Weal had a chance below the left circle. Dubnyk was squared to him, though, and there was nothing at which to shoot. A stoppage ensued at 15:51.
Elliott knocked away a tough deflection by Koivu at 19:51 for his fifth save.
First period shots were 12-5 in the Flyers' favor. Shot attempts were 18 (four blocked, two misses) to 7 (two blocked) in Philadelphia's favor.
2ND PERIOD
Voracek got a neutral zone holding penalty 47 seconds into the second period. The Wild got their first power play. Midway through, Zucker attacked with some speed and cut inside with the puck from the left circle but was not able to get into good shooting position before the puck was knocked away by Elliott.
At 5:19, Elliott cleanly stopped a 3-on-1 rush for Minnesota as Nino Niederreiter elected to shoot from the high right slot. Dubnyk responded at 5:57 after Couturier took a drop pass from Giroux at the top of the left circle and blasted it on net.
Giroux took a hooking penalty on Eriksson Ek as Minnesota attacked. Elliott stopped a scoring chance near the right post before the whistle. Simmonds fired over the net on a shorthanded bid. The Wild attacked the other way with speed but Elliott denied Marcus Foligno with 42 seconds left on the penalty. Koivu had a crack in close with six seconds left on the penalty.
Midway through the game, the shots were 17-13 in the Flyers' favor but 8-5 for Minnesota through the first 10 minutes of the second period. On the next shift, the Flyers' top line pressured and a Hägg point shot caused a rebound scramble around the net.
Couturier had a great scoring chance down low with about 6:30 left in the period. Konency created a rebound chance off the rush on the net shift and then a Gudas shot set another scramble in motion.
The Wild generated a wave of pressure with Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin missing the net from good shooting areas. Filppula was dragged down with no call but, later in the shift, Eriksson Ek hooked Filppula and got the gate at 18:34. The Flyers went on their second power play. The Flyers took 34 seconds of carryover time into the third period.
Second period shots were 11-9 in the Flyers favor (23-14 Flyers overall). Shot attempts were 19-18 in Philly's favor. The Flyers missed the net five times (seven overall) and were blocked three times (seven overall). The Wild missed the net four times (four overall) and had five shot attempts blocked.
3RD PERIOD
The Flyers generated nothing of not with their carryover power play time, failing to get organized at all. Konecny fired a routine shot on net from above the left circle after the Eriksson Ek penalty expired.
The Wild broke the scoreless deadlock at 1:08. A Matt Dumba shot from the right point banked off the end boards and the red-hot Zucker was there near the post for his sixth goal in the last three games and 9th overall. Niederreiter got the secondary assist.
The Scott Laughton line had a good forechecking shift after the Zucker goal.
Gudas lost a puck to Chris Stewart inside the defensive blueline but the Flyers did not pay for it. At the other end, the Laughton line generated its second straight good shift. The Flyers were kept to the perimeter on several shifts to follow and the Wild generated some forays of their own.
Third period shots were 6-4 in Minnesota's favor through eight minutes.
The Flyers got a crucial power play at 8:32 as Brodin was called for holding Voracek as he tried to swing out in front from behind the Minnesota net. Failed entries and low percentage plays that went for blocks or easy clears followed for both Philadelphia power play units.
Filppula had a left circle shot stopped by Dubnyk with 7:52 left. It was the netminder's 28th save of the game and 5th of the period.
Elliott stopped a trailing Eriksson Ek from the mid slot to keep the game at 1-0 at 14:34. It was Minnesota's 11th shot of the period.
Sanheim hobbled off with 4:19 left after his skate twisted awkwardly under him as he went to the ice after a bump in the corner.
Voracek took an offensive zone holding penalty at 16:11. The Wild played it conservatively, making sure they didn't get any risky passes.
The Flyers pulled Elliott for a 6-on-5 with just over a minute remaining. Philly called timeout after a Minnesota icing with 57.6 seconds left.
After a keep by Gostisbehere, Voracek fired an unscreened snap shot on net from the right point with 35.3 seconds remaining. Giroux won the draw and the Wild were unable to clear but Philly couldn't get a puck in through a pileup of bodies. One final faceoff ensued after Dubnyk covered a puck with 4.2 seconds on the clock and a Minnesota timeout. Giroux won the draw but Gostisbehere's right point shot was blocked.
Third period shots were 13-9 in Minnesota's favor (32-27 overall in Philly's favor). Overall shot attempts for the game were 61-46 in the Flyers' favor. The Flyers had 11 third-period shot attempts blocked (18 overall) and missed the net four times (11 overall). The Wild had seven shots blocked in the final stanza (12 overall) and missed the net three times (7 overall).
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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