RECAP: FLYERS DOWN DUCKS IN OT, 3-2
Three-quarters of the way through a treacherous four-game western road trip to begin the 2017-18 season, the Philadelphia Flyers have four points in the bank. On Saturday night, the Flyers never trailed and dominated puck possession but coughed up a pair of one-goal leads to the injury decimated Anaheim Ducks before pulling out a 3-2 win in overtime.
Wayne Simmonds (fourth goal of the road trip) notched the game-winner at the 44-second mark of an overtime in which Anaheim never had a single second of puck possession time. The winning score was set up by Sean Couturier, who earlier tallied an even strength goal in the second period. Ivan Provorov opened the scoring in the first period, a split second after a Flyers power play expired.
Recording the 500th point of his NHL career, Antoine Vermette scored a four-on-four goal in the first period that knotted the game at 1-1. Cam Fowler scored an unassisted shorthanded goal that tied the score at 2-2 early in the third period.
The Flyers went with the same lineup as they did on Thursday night in Los Angeles, with two differences. Brian Elliott started in goal, and Nolan Patrick and Valtteri Filppula switched lines at 5-on-5. Travis Sanheim remained in the lineup, while Sam Morin was scratched for the third straight game along with forward Jori Lehterà¤.
Anaheim goaltender John Gibson by far saw the tougher chances in the game, stopping 34 of 35 Flyers shots. Three saves in particular stood out. In the first period, he made a 10-bell save on Patrick from the slot after a feed from Konecny. Shortly before the Provorov goal, Gibson robbed Flyers captain Claude Giroux. Finally, in the last half-minute of regulation, Gibson stole a point for his Ducks team as he kept the game at 2-2 with an outstanding save on a wide-open Konecny from the right slot after a perfect passout from Patrick behind the net.
Elliott did not have to be spectacular, and the game-tying shorthanded goal by Fowler was a potentially deflating one for Philly but the Flyers netminder came up with a few important early stops in the game. He ran his Flyers record to 2-0-0 by stopping 21 of 23 shots. He was screened on a first period blast by Brandon Mantour but got help from the crossbar.
The Ducks were missing seven regulars from the lineup: team captain Ryan Getzlaf, veteran forwards Ryan Kesler and Patrick Eaves, highly regarded hulking young forward Nick Ritchie and key defensemen Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen. Anaheim also had a nervous moment as former Hart Trophy winner Corey Perry limped up the tunnel after taking a friendly-fire shot off his foot during an Anaheim power play. He walked off the sting and quickly returned to the ice.
With so much firepower and size missing from the Ducks lineup, the main task for the Flyers became one of containing the top Anaheim line of Rickard Rakell, Andrew Cogliano and Perry. They did a good job in that regard. Ivan Provorov had an especially strong and physical two-way game on top of scoring a goal. Randy Carlyle understandably struggled to find favorable matchups, and the Flyers top line of Couturier, Giroux and Voracek and the duo of Patrick and Konecny created a lot of good chances.
The Flyers D-corp was particularly active in the offensive zone in this game as well as in triggering breakouts. The Flyers continued to show a lot of speed through the neutral zone, especially in the first and third periods.
Looking much more comfortable than he did in the first two-thirds of his NHL debut, Sanheim showed hints of his high-end potential as an offensive defenseman. He made good pinches and fired three shots on goal in five attempts (one deflected wide off an Anaheim skate). On the defensive end, while he was part of a coverage breakdown on the first Anaheim goal, Sanheim was much more decisive and physical than he was in LA on Thursday. He was credited with a pair of hits.
Fellow rookie Robert Hà¤gg, who was rock solid in the LA game in particular, continued to play a reliably sound defensive game and used his strength as well as first-pass ability effectively. Veteran defensemen Radko Gudas (paired again with Sanheim) and Andrew MacDonald (with usual partner Provorov) also played well in this game.
The Flyers went 2-for-2 on the penalty kill and 0-for-5 on the power play. Their first man advantage was especially strong on both units. The latter three were poor, and the final one saw Fowler tie the game shorthanded.
The first half of the opening period was played at breakneck pass; actually, a little bit too fast as the teams traded off multiple odd-man opportunities. The Flyers had several more of them than Anaheim (a favorable proposition, anyway, given all the missing pieces in the Ducks lineup) and they backchecked hard, but it was still not a sustainable way for either team to play. Eventually, a more structured style took hold.
Provorov opened the scoring at 8:19 of the first period just as the Flyers first power play expired. Pinching into the high slot, he took a silky saucer pass from Patrick. The puck looped over the defender's stick blade and then glided smoothly out to Provorov atop the left circle. Provorov then blasted a slapper past Gibson for his first goal of the season, and old Brandon Wheat Kings compatriot Patrick's first point in the NHL. Jordan Weal earned the secondary assist on the play. The goal came on the Flyers' 10th shot of the game.
When the Flyers returned to the power play, a miscue on the attack and an Anaheim counter forced Shayne Gostisbehere to take a slashing penalty. That set up 4-on-4 play before a short Anaheim man advantage.
The 4-on-4 did not go well, to say the least. A seemingly innocuous sequence of a puck scrum along the boards turned dangerous as Anaheim won the battle. Sanheim went over to partner Hà¤gg's side of the ice and Giroux was above the puck, looking for it to squirt free his way as Voracek and Hà¤gg dug along to walls.
Now the Flyers had all four players flushed to one side of the ice; always an invitation for trouble. Anaheim won the puck battle and Ondrej Kase (the brother of Flyers prospect David Kase) feathered a pass that eluded Sanheim and went directly to a wide-open Vermette. From there, it was an easy back-door goal for the Ducks at 12:13.
First period shots were 15-13 in the Flyers' favor. Over the remaining 41 minutes of the game, Philly would go on to enjoy a 22-10 shot advantage. Most of it came over the final period into OT as the Ducks seemed to wear down.
The second period was played at a snail's pace compared to the first, with neither team able to string together back-to-back passes very often for much of the stanza. Both teams had six shots apiece, but the Flyers gradually started to work pucks in deep and set up their forecheck.
At 13:09 of the second period, the Flyers forged ahead again. From near his own blueline, Giroux banked a pass across the ice to Voracek near the attacking blueline. Anaheim never got organized to cover the rush. Couturier skated untouched up the middle and went to the net, with all eyes on Voracek. Trailer Sanheim was equally uncovered one stride behind Voracek, but turned out not to be needed. Couturier took a centering feed from Voracek and jammed it home from just in front of the blue paint.
With his secondary assist on the Couturier goal, Giroux recorded the 396th assist of his career. He surpassed Mark Recchi to move into sole possession of fourth place on the Flyers all-time assist list. With 577 career points, Giroux is now 24 points behind Rod Brind'Amour for ninth on the Flyers' all-time scoring list.
Early in the third period, the Flyers had a chance to put a stranglehold on the game as they went to their fifth power play of the game. Instead, they left the door wide open for the Ducks.
The play started with Voracek and Giroux losing the puck on the Anaheim right side boards. Fowler flew past them for an unimpeded rush up the left wing. As Gostisbehere and Simmonds attempted to race back over the middle on the back check, Fowler reached the top of the circle, and blasted a slap shot over Elliott's glove into the long side of the net.
It was a heavy and very well-placed shot but from that distance and angle, a glove save the Flyers needed Elliott to make in that situation. The unassisted shorthanded goal came at 3:40 and tied the game at 2-2.
To their credit, the Flyers responded well to the adversity. Philly repeatedly hemmed the Ducks in their own zone, and generated nine of the game's next 10 shots. For the period, the Flyers held a 15-4 shot edge but Gibson almost single-handedly nursed the game to OT and got his team a point.
At the start of 3-on-3 OT, Couturier took the ice with Simmonds and Provorov. The Flyers controlled the draw and Anaheim never got the puck. Couturier muscled aside would-be checkers, and finding open room high in the zone, bobbed and weaved. Finding no lanes and not wanted to force a low-percentage play, Couturier retreated to the neutral zone and the Flyers regrouped for their next attack attempt.
The Flyers regained the offensive zone. By now, Provorov had left the ice and Gostisbehere jumped on for his first shift of OT. Couturier then attempted a pass back to Simmonds. A Duck defender tipped but never claimed the puck. Couturier then regained the puck at center point with two Ducks nearby and passed it to Simmonds. The reigning Bobby Clarke Trophy winner took care of the rest.
Reaching the hash marks, Simmonds wristed a shot that beat Gibson for his fourth goal of the young season and second game-winning goal. Couturier got the primary assist and Provorov got the secondary helper. However, because Provorov had already been replaced on the ice by Gostisbehere, it was the latter who got credited with a plus for the play while Provorov earned a point without a plus.
With the victory, the Flyers ended an eight-game winless streak against Anaheim (0-5-3) and also finished off the California portion of their western road. The trip ends in Nashville on Tuesday as the Predators hold their home opener and celebrate their first-ever Western Conference Championship season. On Saturday, the Predators fell on the road to the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-0.
*************
PHANTOMS CRUSH HERSEY IN OPENER, 7-2
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms had a forgettable preseason in a pair of ugly home losses to the Charlotte Checkers but got the 2017-18 regular season off to good start. On Saturday night, the Phantoms shredded the arch-rival Hershey Bears, 7-2, at the PPL Center. The final three goals by the Phantoms came in the waning three minutes of the game.
Speedy little third-year winger Danick Martel compiled a hat trick for the Phantoms and also fought the much larger Tyler Lewington in his own defense. Lehigh Valley received additional multi-point games from defensemen Reece Willcox (empty net goal, two assists) and T.J. Brennan (three assists) as well as tallies from Nicolas Aube-Kubel (initially credited to Brennan), Phil Varone and Greg Carey. Alex Lyon earned the win in goal, stopping 29 of 31 shots.
Russian center Mikhail Vorobyov and defenseman Philippe Myers both made their AHL regular season debuts. Vorobyov assisted on the Carey goal that opened a 5-2 lead with 2:24 left in the game. Myers received the lone assist as Martel hustled up his third goal of the game to complete his hat trick in the final 1:29.
Highly touted rookie left winger Oskar Lindblom had a quiet night for the Phantoms, recording neither a point nor a shot on goal in the game. Rookie defenseman Mark Friedman had one shot on goal and an even plus-minus.
**************
FLYERS JUNIOR PROSPECT ROUNDUP: OCT. 7
1) OHL: Kitchener Rangers captain Connor Bunnaman was held off the scoresheet, had one shot on goal, went 5-for-10 on faceoffs and was minus-two in his team's 5-2 road loss to the Guelph Storm on Saturday night. Flyers 2017 second-round pick Isaac Ratcliffe recorded an assist and one shot on goal for the Storm. For the season to date, Bunnaman has no goals and two assists in five games after scoring in bunches during the preseason. Ratcliffe has five points (two goals, three assists) in six games.
2) OHL: Matthew Strome was not in the lineup for the Hamilton Bulldogs on Saturday night as his team sustained a 3-2 home shootout loss to the Niagara IceDogs. In four games played to date, Strome has three points (two goals, one assist).
3) OHL: Maksim Sushko was not in the lineup for the Owen Sound Attack on Saturday night as his team destroyed the visiting Windsor Spitfires, 9-2. In four games played to date, Sushko has four points (two goals, two assists).
4) QMJHL: On Friday night, Flyers 2016 first-round pick German Rubtsov played his first regular season game of 2017-18. He took third-star honors and recorded an assist in the Chicoutimi Sagueneens' 4-0 home shutout win over the Victoriaville Tigres. Flyers 2016 second-round pick Pascal Laberge (lower-body injury) was not in the lineup for Victoriaville. Laberge's status is considered day-to-day and he could return for Sunday's road game against the Sherbrooke Phoenix. For the season to date, Laberge has three points (two goals, one assist) in four games.
5) WHL: Flyers goaltending prospect Carter Hart (mononucleosis) remains out of the Everett Silvertips lineup. The team was idle on Saturday.
6) WHL: Carsen Twarynski, returning for an over-age season in the Western Hockey League, notched a goal and an assist in the Kelowna Rockets' 4-3 overtime road win against the Prince George Cougars on Saturday night. Twarynski scored in the second period as Kelowna took a 2-0 lead and later assisted on the OT winning goal. He has five points (one goal, four assists) thus far in three games.
7) NCAA: Wade Allison started off his sophomore season in strong fashion as he collected two goals and an assist on Friday night in Western Michigan's 6-1 rout of Ferris State. In Saturday's rematch between the teams, however, Allison was held off the scoresheet and had two shots on goal. Ferris State won, 3-2.
8) NCAA: Sophomore winger Tanner Laczynski was held off the scoresheet on both ends of Ohio State's weekend set against Wisconsin On Friday, he had three shots on goal and was minus-one in his team's 3-2 win. On Saturday, Laczynski did not record a point and had one shot on goal as Ohio State fell short in a third period comeback bid and lost to Wisconsin, 3-2. Freshman Wisconsin defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk was minus-one with one shot and no points in the Friday game. and even in plus-minus with one shot and no points on Saturday.
9) NCAA: The University of Michigan played on Friday against St. Lawrence and Saturday against Clarkson. On Friday, junior center Cooper Marody had one assist on the top line while junior third line left winger Brendan Warren (three shots on goal) did not record a point in their team's 3-1 win. On Saturday, Clarkson blanked Michigan, 3-0. Marody had two shots on goal while Warren had one and was minus-one. For Clarkson, senior defenseman Terrance Amorosa scored on the power play for his side's second goal and then assisted on a second period goal that built a three-goal cushion. Amorosa also had an assist on Friday night in Clarkson's 2-1 win over Penn State.
10) NCAA: UConn senior defenseman David Drake was even in plus-minus with two shots on goal and no points in his team's 4-3 loss to Maine on Friday. On Saturday, UConn won the return match, 5-1. Drake was plus-one. He did not record a point or shot.
11) USHL: Noah Cates recorded an assist in the Omaha Lancers' 2-1 regulation loss to the Tri-City Storm in Friday's regular season opener for his team.
12) USHL: On Saturday night, goaltender Matej Tomek took first-star honors as his Waterloo Black Hawks won their regular season opener against the Sioux Falls Stampede, 4-2.
13) J20 SuperElit South: Olle Lycksell tallied a goal on five shots, posted a plus-two, and won nine of 12 faceoffs as his Linköping J20 routed Rögle BK J20 team, 8-1.
14) SHL: After starting the three previous games, Felix Sandström was the backup goalie for Brynà¤s IF Gà¤vle in a 4-1 road loss to Fà¤rjestads BK Karlstad on Saturday. Starter David Rautio stopped 16 of 20 shots.
15) SHL: David Kase recorded a first-period assist in Mora IK's 5-3 home win over Rögle BK on Saturday. He skated 14:59 of ice time overall with two shots on goal. In seven regular season games played to date, the 20-year-old Kase has six points (two goals, four assists).