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Wrap: Flyers Blank Rangers, 2-0; Flyers Gameday: 1/26/17 vs. TOR |
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WRAPUP: FLYERS BLANK RANGERS, 2-0
The Philadelphia Flyers flipped the script on the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night. Building off Sunday's win in Brooklyn that replaced a negative mindset that crept in over the last month with more of a can-do outlook with the game on the line, the Flyers scored twice in the final stanza to skate off with a 2-0 win.
The Flyers were outplayed in the first period and part of the middle stanza but started to gain cleaner breakouts, more and more offensive zone entries and sustained forechecking pressure as the second period progressed. With the game still scoreless heading into the third period, it was the Flyers who made their own good fortune in the third period by outworking the Rangers and getting rewarded.
Early on, the Flyers heavily relied on Steve Mason to bail the team out of numerous predicaments, and he responded with 27 saves (including 16 in a rather lopsided first period) through 40 minutes. The support level increased significantly in the third period, and he finished off a 34-save shutout for his first notch in the SO column this season (and the team's second).
Mason was locked in most of the game, with good blocker work, coverage of angles (except for a couple initial overplays on near wraparounds), quick pushoffs and strong puck tracking. He was good in physical battles for pucks around the crease and squared to the shooters.
In the third period, the Flyers finally got their goaltender a lead and then some insurance.
Wayne Simmonds cashed in a power play goal (20th tally of the season) as he was the first to a loose puck in a battle around the slot and put it upstairs at 6:09. Brayden Schenn and Jakub Voracek picked up the assists.
Philly went 1-for-3 on the power play (all within the third period). The Rangers went 0-for-3. The Flyers generated a vital kill of a Claude Giroux tripping penalty very shortly after the Simmonds goal; another momentum-builder for the Flyers.
With the lead still at one goal, the Flyers won most of the 50-50 pucks and avoided turnovers that, at best, would have kept them pinned in deep and, at worse, could end up in the net. Finally, after a solid breakout and gaining the offensive zone, the Flyers generated some self-made good luck as Voracek used his strength and elusiveness to protect the puck in the offensive zone and then benefited from a double deflection that ultimately went off the Rangers' Michael Grabner for Voracek's 14th goal of season. Sean Couturier and Giroux received the assists.
New York had a glimmer of life after the Flyers were unable to capitalize on a second power play, giving the Rangers 4:01 with which to work on a comeback bid.
The Rangers pulled Henrik Lundqvist (who was solid in stopping 24 of 26 shots) for an extra attacker in the final three minutes. During the 6-on-5, the Flyers were hemmed in much of the time but kept play to the perimeter, boxing out in front and getting in the shooting lanes.
Finally, with 39 seconds left, Ryan McDonagh tripped Chris VandeVelde as the Philadelphia checking forward was working the puck out of the defensive zone. The Flyers killed off the remaining clock to skate off with two valuable points and a notch in the ROW (regulation and overtime win) column, which is vital in case of an end-of-season tiebreaker.
Philly moved past the idle Boston Bruins into the lower wildcard seed in the Eastern Conference. Both teams have 54 points but Philadelphia holds two games in hand (49 games played to 51 for the Bruins) while the Bruins have a 22-19 ROW edge . The Flyers got no help from the Detroit Red Wings against Boston on Tuesday or on Wednesday in a 4-0 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Leafs, who visit Philadelphia on Thursday, hold a one-point edge, a 22-19 ROW advantage and three games in hand on the Flyers. Currently, the Maple Leafs occupy third place in the Atlantic Division -- an automatic playoff spot regardless of whether Metro Division wildcard or non-playoff teams finish with more points. However, the more Atlantic Division teams the Flyers stay ahead of, the more they improve their chances at holding the wildcard regardless of who ultimately finishes fourth in the Atlantic.
If the Flyers can take a three-game winning streak into the All-Star break, they will be better set up to keeping themselves in the driver's seat for the last playoff spot in the East.
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PREVIEW: FLYERS VS. MAPLE LEAFS
In a battle of teams fighting for playoff spots and playing the second half of back-to-back games before the All-Star break, Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (24-19-6) return home on Thursday to host Mike Babcock's Toronto Maple Leafs (23-14-9). Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 7:00 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on CSN Philadelphia.
This is the second of three meetings between the teams this season, and the lone game in Philadelphia. The season series will conclude in Toronto on March 9.
On Nov. 11 at the Air Canada Centre, the Flyers played one of their sloppiest games of the season -- at least until late December, when the bottom dropped out for several weeks -- in a 6-3 loss to the Maple Leafs.
Flyers Outlook
With the All-Star break on the other side of the Toronto game and the injury-prone Michal Neuvirth having been taken out of Saturday's game against the Devils for precautionary reasons, it would not be surprising if Steve Mason gets another start coming off his shutout of the Rangers. Mason's win on Wednesday was the 94th of his Flyers' career, moving him past Wayne Stephenson into third place on the all-time franchise list.
The streak-scoring Wayne Simmonds now has goals in back-to-back games and three tallies in the last five matches. Ten of his team-leading 20 goals have come on the power play. Brayden Schenn still leads the Flyers with 11 power play goals among his 15 overall ties. Jakub Voracek's two-point game at Madison Square Garden increased his team-leading point total to 44 points (14 goals, 30 assists) in 49 games. Claude Giroux is second with 40 points (11 goals, 29 assists).
On the injury front, defenseman Michael Del Zotto is day-to-day with a lower-body issue.
Maple Leafs Outlook
Toronto has won back-to-back games on Frederik Andersen shutouts and has collected points in eight of the last 10 games (6-2-2) to take over third place in the Atlantic Division. The club has gone a stellar 9-0-2 in its last 11 road games and brings an overall 11-6-6 road record into Thursday's game.
On Wednesday, Andersen stopped all 22 shots he faced against the host Red Wings. He got an early goal by Auston Matthews (23rd overall, 10th time he's scored a game's first goal) before the Leafs opened a comfortable lead with a second-period score by Roman Polak (third) and third period insurance markers from former Flyers left winger James van Riemsdyk (17th) and Nikita Soshnikov (second).
Morgan Rielly missed Wednesday game with a lower-body injury and will most likely remain out until after the All-Star break. Forward /Ben Smith (hand) remains on the injured reserve list for Toronto.
Highly touted rookie Matthews paces the Leafs with 23 goals among his 39 points in 46 games. He is followed by van Riemsdyk (17 goals, 22 assists), Mitch Marner (11 goals, 28 assists), Nazem Kadri (20 goals, 14 assists), Tyler Bozak (12 goals, 18 assists), William Nylander (nine goals, 21 assists) and defenseman Jake Gardiner six goals, 17 assists, plus-12).
Andersen has been a workhorse in goal for the Leafs. He has started 39 games, bringing in a 21-10-8 record, 2.55 GAA, .921 SV% and three shutouts.
Key team stat comparisons (NHL overall ranking)
Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.71 (T-14th), Maple Leafs 3.11 (6th)
Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 3.06 (26th), Maple Leafs 2.72 (16th)
Power play efficiency: Flyers 21.6% (9th), Maple Leafs 23.8% (2nd)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 80.7% (T-17th), Maple Leafs 85.3% (4th)
Shots on goal per game: Flyers 31.8 (4th), Maple Leafs 32.5 (3rd)
Shots against per game: Flyers 29.2 (10th), Maple Leafs 32.3 (T-25th)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 51.3% (7th), Maple Leafs 48.9% (20th)
Projected lineups (subject to change, based on Wednesday)
FLYERS
12 Michael Raffl - 28 Claude Giroux - 93 Jakub Voracek
11 Travis Konecny - 10-Brayden Schenn - 17 Wayne Simmonds
25 Nick Cousins - 14 Sean Couturier - 24 Matt Read
76 Chris VandeVelde - 78 P-E Bellemare - 13 Roman Lyubimov
9 Ivan Provorov - 47 Andrew MacDonald
32 Mark Streit - 3 Radko Gudas
23 Brandon Manning - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
30 Michal Neuvirth
[35 Steve Mason]
Scratches: Nick Schultz (healthy), Michael Del Zotto (day-to-day, lower body), Dale Weise (healthy).
MAPLE LEAFS
25 James van Riemsdyk - 42 Tyler Bozak - 16 Mitch Marner
47 Leo Komarov - 43 Nazem Kadri - 29 William Nylander
11 Zach Hyman - 34 Auston Matthews - 12 Connor Brown
15 Matt Martin - 33 Frederik Gauthier - 26 Nikita Soshnikov
52 Martin Marincin - 22 Nikita Zaitsev
51 Jake Gardiner - 8 Connor Carrick
2 Matt Hunwick - 46 Roman Polak
35 Curtis McElhinney
[31 Frederik Andersen]
Scratches: Josh Leivo (healthy), Frank Corrado (healthy), Morgan Rielly (lower body), Ben Smith (IR, hand).
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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