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Wrapup: Flyers Let Point Slip Away in 3-2 SO Loss to Ottawa |
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WRAPUP: FLYERS LET POINT SLIP AWAY IN 3-2 SHOOTOUT LOSS TO SENS
Three straight unsuccessful power play opportunities early in the third period, a late third-period wraparound goal and a 0-for-5 showing in the shootout forced the Philadelphia Flyers to settle for one point on a night were a regulation victory seemed well within reach. Instead, the Ottawa Senators, via skills competition, skated off with a 3-2 win.
A first-period breakaway goal by Nick Cousins and a second period rebound tally by Michael Raffl gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead heading into the third period. However, Philadelphia was unable to build on the lead.
“While it’s a lead, we have to do a better job extending the lead in the third period. We played a pretty good hockey game, but whether it’s extending the five on five or on the power play opportunities, we have to do a better job and have to work to extend that lead," Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said.
Ultimately, some poor execution on the tying goal scored by Kyle Turris at 18:01 of the third period proved costly to the Flyers. Turris attacked with speed up the right wing, swinging wide around defenseman Brandon Manning. Steve Mason overcommitted himself to his left and was unable to get across before Turris, in the blink of an eye, swooped untouched around the net and tucked the puck home on a wraparound. Earlier, Mark Stone cashed in a Jakub Voracek to knot the score at 1-1 in the first period.
“I think it was a bit of a line change. It was kind of a broken play. Karlsson was carrying it with a bit of speed and hit Turris outside and just tried to protect the middle and keep him outside and he wrapped it around," Manning said.
Mason's tactical error on the wraparound ended up being the focus of attention on a night where he otherwise played very well in stopping 24 of 26 shots plus each of the first four attempts he faced in the shootout. Finally, fifth-round shooter Erik Karlsson scored to secure the bonus point for the Senators.
Mason, who typically speaks willingly and candidly whether in victory or defeat, elected not to speak to the media after the game. Craig Anderson played well for Ottawa. He turned back 33 of 35 Flyers shots and then went 5-for-5 in the shootout.
Said Manning of Mason, "I think he’s always hard on himself. I think he expects a lot of himself. With probably the majority of the workload going forward, I think he’s a guy that wants to step up and help us out. Like most guys, when you have a game that you should win, it’s tough on everyone.”
Hakstol added, “Turris just made a heck of a play. I’ve seen him do it before, I don’t know if Mase got locked on the left side of the net or not. Whether or not he was a bit slow getting across, I am not sure. It’s a technical evaluation but Turris made a heck of a play. I thought overall that was Mase’s probably best 65 minutes of the year."
Rookies Travis Konecny and Ivan Provorov both played strong games for the Flyers,although neither got onto the scoresheet. In the meantime, Ottawa blocked 22 Flyers shot attempts while the Flyers won 56 percent (40 of 72) faceoffs for the game.
The Flyers went 0-for-4 on the power play against an Ottawa team that has killed off 29 disadvantages in a row. Philly was 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. The latter kill seemed to have the team well set up to close out the game but it wasn't to be.
Anderson made the game's first tough stop, denying Nick Cousins as he attacked with speed down the left wing. He then stopped Matt Read and, subsequently, Claude Giroux from the right side a few minutes later.
At 5:14 of the first period, though, there was no stopping Cousins as collected a Derick Brassard giveaway and hbroke in all alone over the middle and beat Anderson to the stick side for his second goal of the season. The tally was unassisted officially but Brandon Manning ran some legal interference for Cousins.
At 9:34, Jean-Gabriel Pageau beat Michael Del Zotto at the blueline and went on on a breakaway. Mason closed the five-hole and made a good pad save. With 7:29 left in the first period, Mason stoned Ryan Dzingel in close. With 5:35 left, Mason absorbed an Erik Karlsson shot with traffic nearby.
In the final two minutes of the period, a thumping hit by Mark Borowiecki ended a Read rush with authority. After a long delayed penalty, Bobby Ryan went to the box at 19:36 for running over Mason in the blue paint of the crease. The Flyers had 1:37 of carryover power play time heading into the second period.
First period shots were 10-9 in the Flyers' favor.
The Flyers did not capitalize on the carryover power play. At 5:13, Borowiecki jackknifed Read along the walls and down to the ice in the Ottawa zone . The Flyers' forward went off in discomfort.
Ottawa tied the game at 1-1 at the 7:09 mark of the second period. After a turnover by Voracek, Stone took a cross-ice pass from Marc Methot in the deep right slot and snapped a shot past Mason for his third goal of the season.
The Senators had a 2-on-1 rush cooking but the play went offside with 12:09 left in the second period. Ottawa gained its first power play at 9:11 on an interference call on Mark Streit against Ryan just inside the blueline. With 19 seconds left, Mason cleanly picked a Methot point shot with his glove.
Anderson hung on to a Manning shot through traffic for a stoppage with 7:09 left in the second period. Philly kept the puck in the offensive zone.
At 13:18, Raffl popped home a rebound of a Dale Weise shot after Pierre-Edouard Bellemare won a left circle faceoff. Michael Del Zotto, who passed over to Weise, got the secondary assist on Raffl's second goal of the season.
Stone was unable to finish off a breakaway against Mason. The Flyers goalie then melted down a point shot for a stoppage. As Ottawa maintained possession, Mason stuffed Pageau in close to the net.
As time ticked down near the final two minutes of the middle frame, the Giroux line generated very heavy pressure and several shots. On a center-ice faceoff at 18:50, Pageau was called for delay of game for closing his hand on the puck and shoveling it. Philly pressed heavily until the buzzer. The Flyers took 50 seconds of carryover power play time into the final period.
Shots in the second period were 16-9 Flyers (26-18 Flyers overall).
Philly did nothing with the remaining power play time. Bellemare snapped a routine unscreened shot on net for a stoppage one second after it expired.
The Flyers flurried close to the Ottawa net, forcing Mike Hoffman into a hooking penalty at 1:41. With the second unit out, Anderson gloved a softly deflected shot off the stick of Read. That was all Philly generated.
Ottawa took a third straight penalty -- too many men on the ice -- at 4:57. Once again, the Flyers got a little too fancy with superfluous passes and were unable to create anything of consequence.
Borowiecki blasted a point shot that Mason saw all the way and gloved at the 10-minute mark for his 20th save of the game. Thirty seconds later, Gudas dumped Turris with a clean shoulder check just inside the blueline. Ottawa crowded in and there was some cursory pushing and shoving but nothing further ensued.
Konecny was joined by Provorov on a 2-on-1 rush but the pass rolled off Provorov's stick. With 6:03 left in regulation, a Voracek shot off the rush was deflected out of play.
At 14:05, Schenn picked up a high sticking minor in the defensive zone against Turris. The Flyers killed off the penalty with authority.Bellemare, without a stick, controlled the puck on the wall and kicked it down the ice and then delivered a check on Karlsson near the benches. Wayne Simmonds had a counterattack chance about 20 seconds later.
Ottawa tied the game at 2-2 at 18:01. Turris went wide on Manning, swung around behind the net with speed and scored on a wraparound with Mason overcommitted to the other side. Karlsson got the lone assist.
Shots in the third period were 8-8 (34-26 Flyers through regulation).
In overtime, Streit put a routine shot on net. Later, the Giroux lined twisted and turned the Senators in their zone. After Gostisbehere blatantly had his stick grabbed away with no call, Ottawa tried one pass too many on a 2-on-0 breakaway and Turris did not score.
Shots in OT were 1-0 Flyers (35-26 Flyers for the game). The game went to the skills competition.
In round one, Cousins, moving left, was unable to finish. Mason snapped a Turris shot up with his glove.
In round two, Giroux could not complete a backhander. Mason made a sprawling glove save on Ryan.
In round three, Voracek got stuffed at the left post. Dzingel attacked with speed but was denied on a five-hole attempt.
In round four, Konecny tried to go five-hole and could not finish. Stone also went for the five hole and was stopped.
In round five, Schenn tried a stick-side wrister that got knocked away. Karlsson got Mason moving and beat him between the pads to get the bonus point for Ottawa.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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