WRAP: FLYERS DROP 2-1 SO DECISION IN COLUMBUS
The Flyers enter the leaguewide Christmas break with a 15-13-8 record; four points and a tiebreaker disadvantage out of the final wildcard playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. On Saturday night, the Flyers dropped a 2-1 shootout verdict to the Columbus Blue Jackets, dropping to 0-1-1 on a four game road stretch bookending the break.
A late first-period power play goal by Seth Jones that pinballed off Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov and into the net was the only puck in regulation or overtime that got past Brian Elliott (35 saves). Oliver Bjorkstrand and Artemi Panarin earned the assists.
Provorov got the goal back at 3:56 of the second period. On the rush, Travis Konecny and Sean Couturier worked a go-and-go play. Couturier then passed to Claude Giroux, who fed the puck out to Provorov for a one-timer at the left point. Scoring his fifth goal of the season, Provorovs shot found the net behind Sergei Bobrovsky (30 saves). Giroux earned his 29th assist of the season and Couturier collected his 16th.
The Flyers had a would-be late second period goal disallowed. At 18:21, Taylor Leier knocked the puck out of the air and into the net but his stick was well above the height of the crossbar.
The first two periods of the game were evenly played. Bobrovsky's best save was a breakaway denial of Giroux. Columbus controlled the play in the third period, outshooting the Flyers by a 15-6 mark, but Elliott nursed the game to OT. The Flyers had a 4-1 shot edge in the 3-on-3 sudden death but could not prevent the game from getting to the dreaded skills competition.
In the shootout, Cam Atkinson, Couturier, Panarin (missed the net) and Giroux all failed to score on their attempts. After Pierre-Luc Dubois scored in the top of the third round, Jakub Voracek was denied by Bobrovsky. The Flyers are 0-3 in shootouts this season. The Blue Jackets improved to 4-2.
Philly went 0-for-3 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.
The Flyers made several line combination changes in Saturday's game. For the first time, Konecny skated on the top line with Couturier and Giroux. Wayne Simmonds moved to the Valtteri Filppula line. Nolan Patrick (who took two penalties in the third period) centered Voracek and Michael Raffl. Leier, absent the last two games due to an upper body injury, returned to the lineup. Jordan Weal was a healthy scratch.
Konecny played 17:22 across 23 shifts. He attempted two shots (one was blocked, one missed the net) and blocked a game-high four shots. Provorov led all Flyers with 27:53 of ice time.
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PHANTOMS EARN 3-2 WIN IN WILKES BARRE
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms enter the Christmas break with a 19-9-4 record; tops in the Atlantic Division in points (42) but in third place based on points percentage. On Saturday, the Phantoms overcame a 1-0 deficit at the first intermission and a 2-1 deficit after two periods to skate to a 3-2 road win over the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Rookie left winger Oskar Lindblom led the way for the Phantoms, scoring the game winning goal (9th tally of the season) at 13:53 of the third period. He found a seam to move in through the slot and take a feed from Chris Conner to put the Phantoms ahead 3-2. Earlier, Lindblom assisted on goals by Conner (6th) and Nicolas Aube-Kubel (9th). Corban Knight assisted on the Conner and Lindblom goals.
After going pointless in the first six games of the season, Lindblom has 23 points in the last 26 games. He has five goals and 10 points in the last nine games.
The Phantoms welcomed rookie defenseman Philippe Myers back to the lineup for the first time since Nov. 25 and just the 15th game he's appeared in this season due to a recurring nagging injury. Myers was plus-one in Saturday's tilt. For the season, he has seven points (two goals, five assists) and a plus-four rating in 15 games.
Lehigh Valley remained without the injured Samuel Morin, Mike Vecchione, Mikhail Vorobyev, Colin McDonald and Cole Badreau. Veteran defenseman Mark Alt and goaltender Alex Lyon remain on NHL recall with the Flyers.
Dustin Tokarski earned the win in goal for the Phantoms on Saturday, stopping 39 of 41 shots. For the season, the veteran goalie has posted a 9-2-3 record, 3.28 GAA, .897 save percentage and one shutout.
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FLYERS NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS: 1984
Happy holidays from all of us at HockeyBuzz! As an annual tradition on the Flyers' blog, we post the 1984 version of the Flyers reading "The Night Before Christmas".
RIP to Pelle Lindbergh, Peter Zezel, Ilkka Sinisalo, Brad McCrimmon, Miroslav Dvorak, E.J. McGuire and Bill Delaney.