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Wrapup: Flyers Earn Gutsy 3-2 win in CHI, Move into Wildcard Spot |
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FLYERS GRIT OUT 3-2 WIN IN CHICAGO, MOVE INTO WILDCARD SPOT
A gritty team effort, resiliency in the face of a pair of one-goal deficits, clutch goaltending and a little self-made good luck late in the game spurred the Philadelphia Flyers to a 3-2 regulation victory over the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center in a nationally televised Wednesday Night Rivalry game.
The win enabled the Flyers to leapfrog the idle Detroit Red Wings in the race for the final wildcard playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. With 80 points, the Flyers (34-23-12) now have one more point than Detroit and still hold one game in hand. The regulation win also brought the Flyers into a first-tiebreaker dead heat with Detroit with 32 regulation/overtime wins (ROW) apiece.
Philadelphia also moved to within two points of the idle Pittsburgh Penguins for the higher wildcard seed. The arch-rival teams will clash head-to-head at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday afternoon. Both teams have played 69 games. Even if the Flyers were to win in regulation on Saturday, Pittsburgh would still hold a 34-33 ROW tiebreaker edge.
Wednesday's game in Chicago was sloppy at times among both teams, but the Flyers hung in tough. They could have come unglued a few times -- especially after yielding an early shorthanded goal and then facing a lengthy 5-on-3 penalty kill. Instead, the Flyers stepped up as needed.
Radko Gudas' bouncing point shot, which deflected off the stick of Chicago defenseman Christian Ehrhoff and into the net at 9:53 of the third period. The Flyers also got goals by Brayden Schenn and Ryan White (power play deflection). Claude Giroux had a nifty assist on Schenn's tying goal in the second period. Philly also received two assists from Sean Couturier and one helper apiece from Andrew MacDonald, Wayne Simmonds and Michael Raffl.
Schenn, the 7th leading scorer in the NHL since Jan. 1, now has 33 points (17 goals, 16 assists) in his last 33 games. White's goal marked the fourth straight Philadelphia power play goal scored by the second unit.
One night after the Flyers received brilliant late goaltending by Steve Mason, it was Michal Neuvirth's turn to come up big between the pipes. Neuvirth turned aside 24 of 26 shots; none bigger than a mid-third period breakaway by Marian Hossa and a couple of stops during the first period 5-on-3 penalty kill.
Hossa scored shorthanded on a first period breakaway to open the scoring. Chicago also got a second period goal by team captain Jonathan Toews. Patrick Kane, Artem Anisimov and Niklas Hjalmarsson had an assist apiece.
Backup Chicago netminder Scott Darling got the start in net. He could not be faulted on any of the Philadelphia goals and finished with 26 saves on 29 shots despite looking a bit shaky at times in his positioning.
The Flyers went 1-for-2 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill. Chicago has now lost four games in a row (0-3-1) for the first time this season; a big part of which has been recent problems executing on either end of special teams.
Toews had a lot of net staring at him from the left slot about five minutes into the first period but hit the post on the attempt. Neuvirth may have gotten a piece of the puck with his stick first. At 6:10,Nick Cousins deflected a shot on goal that Darling covered.
At 7:36, Toews got a hooking penalty behind the Flyers' net. Right after Shayne Gostisbehere broke his stick, Hossa got a shorthanded breakaway and snapped a shot low to the stick side that beat Neuvirth at 8:18. The assists on Hossa's 11th goal of the season went to Artem Anisimov and Niklas Hjalmarsson. The Flyers did not score on the remaining power play time.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare got a high stick penalty at . The Hawks then got a two-man advantage at 10:01 as Chris VandeVelde accidentally flipped the puck over the glass -- all the way across the ice -- from the defensive zone. The Flyers survived, and Neuvirth made a pair of saves including a one-timer save on Artemi Panarin and a late blocker save in addition to Patrick Kane hitting the post early in the disadvantage.
With 5:22 left in the first period, the Blackhawks took an icing.The Flyers were not able to generate anything off the ensuing offensive faceoff. As time ticked down to about 3:20, Scott Laughton drove to the net and got a backhanded tip on net on a delayed penalty that Darling stopped with his left pad. Panarin received an interference penalty at 17:06.
The Flyers' second power play unit tied the game with 18 seconds left in the power play after Sam Gagner worked the puck into the zone where Couturier got it. With Ryan White screening Darling in front, MacDonald weaved a center point shot at the net and White deflected it home. Couturier and MacDonald got the assists on White's ninth goal of the season at 18:48. The tally marked the fourth straight Flyers PPG tallied by the second unit.
With 29.4 seconds left in the period, VandeVelde took an undisciplined elbowing penalty along the side boards. The Blackhawks took 1:31 of carryover power play time into the second period.
Shots in the first period were 12-8 in the Blackhawks' favor. The Flyers won 16 of 26 faceoffs including eight of 11 by Giroux.
The Flyers killed off the remaining penalty time on VandeVelde. About two-and-a-half minutes into the period Neuvirth denied Panarin on a short-side attempt.
Neuvirth made an acrobatic save on a Kane shot but never really got his bearings back again as the Blackhawks made it a 2-1 game on a scramble around the net. Toews followed up his own wraparound attempt by elevating the puck over Neuvirth's pad from a sharp angle along the left side of the goal line with three Flyers on the other side. Kane earned his 52nd assist of the season on Toews's 25th goal of the season at 4:58.
Darling made a tough save on Giroux as he shot the puck from the right circle right off the faceoff; Giroux has done that a few times this season and scored a goal that way.
Gostisbehere hit the post at one end and at the other end at about the 11 minute mark, Andrew Desjardins also put a puck off the post.
The Flyers retied the game on a 2-on-1 rush. With Giroux carrying puck up ice against Duncan Keith, the center's path to the net was cut off. Giroux whirled around and found an open Schenn with a tape-to-tape pass. Schenn made no mistake from the right circle, scoring his 24th goal of the season. Simmonds got the secondary assist at 13:02.
Darling robbed Simmonds from the doorstep with 4:21 left in the period. Simmonds outworked Michal Rozsival to get in scoring position.
In the final minute of of the period, Gudas drilled Hossa with a big hit near the benches, nearly depositing the veteran forward in the bench. Schenn blocked a shot in the final half minute as the Hawks pressed heavily.
Shots in the second period were 17-10 Flyers; 25-22 Flyers through 40 minutes.
The pace of play in the early minutes of the third period was methodical. There was only one shot -- by Philadelphia -- in the opening six minutes of the period. Much of the play was along the walls or the neutral zone. Few tape-to-tape passes were completed by either side.
With 11:48 left in the third period, Chicago took an icing. The Blackhawks gained control and Hossa went off on his second breakaway of the game. Neuvirth stoned him this time; the first save of the period for the Flyers' goalie and a huge one, especially after going eight-plus minutes without seeing a single shot.
The Flyers took their first lead of the game at 9:53. Gudas' right point shot severely deflected off Christian Ehrhoff's stick and hippity hopped inside the right side of the goal post. Gudas' third goal of the season was assisted by Couturier and Raffl.
With 5:03 left, Neuvirth stopped a Kane shot at the side of the net off a Toews feed and covered the puck in front of him for a stoppage. On the next shift, Neuvirth's right pad stuffed Panarin's one-timer from the circle.
Chicago continued to press. The Flyers' Simmonds took an icing with 3:21 left. Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol called timeout. Giroux won the draw and the Flyers got a clear. After play swung back to the Philly end, a Keith turnover created a 2-on-1 chance but puck carrier Matt Read was broken up by Brent Seabrook.
With two minutes left, Darling was pulled for an extra attacker. The Hawks generated plenty of offensive zone time and a last-ditch chance for Kane on a carom off the end boards. Time expired.
The Flyers will take a much-deserved off-day on Thursday and then begin preparation for Saturday afternoon's matinee against the Penguins.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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