WRAPUP: FLYERS SETTLE FOR A POINT IN 5-4 SO LOSS TO AVS
The Philadelphia Flyers concluded a very busy stretch of games -- seven tilts in 12 nights, including four games in the last six -- with a 5-4 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday night.
The Flyers dropped to 7-6-2 on the season through 15 games; 3-2-2 at home. The improved Avalanche raised their record to 8-5-0 overall and 3-4-0 on the road.
"I thought it took us a little while to get going," Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol said.
"We didn’t give up a ton in the first but we didn’t generate a whole bunch other than what the PP generated we just couldn’t get one in the first. We played real well in the second, they had a couple of pushes in the third period, we did what we had to do. It would have been nice to have found a way to win it in regulation, but we couldn’t do that, so it doesn’t feel very good losing a point at home. So if you’re asking what the feeling is, that’s what it is.…
Matt Duchene (power play, 4th goal of the season, one assist), Blake Comeau (shorthanded, 3rd), Mikko Rantanen (power play, 5th) and Nail Yakupov (4th) scored in regulation for Colorado. Nathan MacKinnon chipped in his 8th and 9th assists of the season, while Tyson Barrie had his 9th and 10th helpers. Rantanen scored the winning goal in the shootout after MacKinnon beat Neuvirth to knot it at 1-1.
Semyon Varlamov earned the win in goal, stopping 33 of 37 shots in regulation and OT before going 2-for-3 in the shootout. Michal Neuvirth stopped 23 of 27 shots in regulation and overtime and then went 1-for-3 in the shootout. Both goalies also got help from the goal posts a couple of times apiece in regulation. Of the two, Varlamov was the better goalie on this night. As brilliant as Neuvirth was in St. Louis on Thursday, he had uneven game against Colorado.
Valtteri Filppula (6th goal of the season), Claude Giroux (power play, 8th), Jakub Voracek (3rd goal, 15th assist) and Dale Weise (2nd) scored for the Flyers to earn a point from the game. Jordan Weal (4th assist) set up the Weise game-tying goal and later scored in the shootout for the lone Flyers goal. Giroux and Voracek were unsuccessful on their attempts.
Special teams, aided by some Avs-friendly bounces, went Colorado's way in this game. The Avalanche went 2-for-3 on the power play and 5-for-6 on the penalty kill with a shorthanded goal that erased the Flyers' only lead (2-1) of the game.
"That’s how it is sometimes. Pucks don’t always bounce your way. You have to fight through it. I think we did that as a team in the third period and came back pretty strong. It sucks for the short term here, but I think we had some good stuff that we can build on," Flyers defenseman Robert Hà¤gg said.
Ivan Provorov continued to shoulder a very heavy load on the blueline, logging an even 28 minutes of ice time across 30 shifts. Provorov attempted 10 shots on goal but only put one on net (six were blocked, three missed the net). On the defensive end, he registered five credited hits and three blocks. Defensive partner Hà¤gg (22:39 TOI) led with six credited hits as well as three blocks.
After a three-game absence due to an upper-body injury, Shayne Gostisbehere made his return to the Flyers' lineup. Wearing a tinted visor that he expects to keep for awhile, "Ghost" chipped in his 13th assist of the season on Giroux's power play goal. Overall, Gostisbehere logged 26:28 of ice time. Apart from a costly third-period turnover that ended up in the Flyers' net, Gostisbehere seemed solid in his returned.
"I felt good," Gostisbehere said. "My legs felt good. Just clean up some things and get back to normal.…
Hakstol barely used rookie Travis Sanheim or Mark Alt. Sanheim actually strung together his third straight strong game despite getting just 10:04 of ice time across 13 shifts after playing 20-plus generally strong minutes in the 2-0 win in St. Louis. Sanheim received a secondary assist on Weise's game-tying goal. Alt got just 8:27 of ice time.
The first period started out somewhat slowly for Philadelphia. Flyers nearly got through the first period unscathed but yielded a power play goal in the waning seconds to go off trailing 1-0. Philly surged for much of the second period and took a short-lived 2-1 lead only to give up shorthanded and power play goals to the Avalanche to trail 3-2 at the second intermission.
"I think our second period, we played well. We created a lot of offense. We played fast. We played a good game. We just need to tighten up a couple things," Giroux said.
The game see-sawed in the third period, with the Flyers showing resiliency to sandwich a pair of goals around a potentially deflating go-ahead Colorado goal shortly after the Flyers tied the game at 3-3.
“We mixed [the shot selection] up pretty well," Hakstol said. "Our D had 30-something shot attempts and probably got one-third of them through, which is about normal. But we scored four goals from the blue paint as well. So you gotta try and mix it up and take what’s there. Five guys jammed in the slot, that’s all you can do is get it low to high and look for the next good play. I thought we did some of that and we absolutely attacked down low as well, in that low triangle area. Bottom line we needed one more to get it done.…
Overtime was very fast-paced with quality chances for both sides but the Flyers overall getting the better of the play. The shootout saw the Flyers score first but Colorado converted in the bottom of the first and third rounds to collect the skills competition bonus point.
1ST PERIOD
The Flyers yielded a 2-on-1 on the game's first shift. With Provorov back defending, Neuvirth stopped a left circle shot by MacKinnon. After a clean faceoff win by Weal, Sanheim snapped a point shot on net. A scramble ensued.
At 4:36, the Avs got the game's first power play. Weise was sent off for slashing Carl Söderberg in the defensive zone. Provorov blocked a MacKinnon shot and Taylor Leier won a board battle for a clear. After Erik Johnson hit the post with a shot, the Flyers countered on a 2-on-1 shorthanded rush led by Simmonds. Couturier crash the net (literally) on the play with 36 seconds left in the kill.
Barrie pinched in from the right point to take a tape-to-tape feed in the right circle after the Avs won a board battle on the other side. Neuvirth had to move quickly to make the save at 8:54.
The Flyers got their first power play at 9:31. Yakupov took a careless high sticking penalty. Giroux won the initial faceoff and Gostisbehere hit the post. The rest of the power play passed by uneventfully for Philadelphia.
At 14:59, Giroux pulled a chip-in off the end boards, wheeled around and tried to stuff the puck inside the post. Varlamov sealed everything off, though, and held on for a TV timeout. Shots were 6-4 in Colorado's favor at this point.
Rantanaen went to the box for slashing at 16:17. The Flyers' two power play units generated better puck movement and pressure on this power play than the first, but could not find the net. The best chance was a Travis Konecny one-timer from the right slot that missed the net.
The parade of slashing penalties continued at 19:04 with Scott Laughton going to the sin bin. With 8.3 seconds left, a Barrie center-point clapper trickled slowly through Neuvirth's pads but the uncovered puck in the crease was not seen by the referee and play was blown dead. The Avalanche won the ensuing right circle faceoff and scored at 19:58 as Duchene potted a rebound goal. The assists went to MacKinnon and Barrie.
First period shots were 9-5 in the Avs' favor. Attempts were 16-16. The Flyers missed the net on seven attempts and got blocked four times. Colorado missed six and were blocked once (Provorov). Hits were 7-6 in the Flyers' favor, led by Provorov's credited three. Faceoffs were 10-9 in the Flyers' favor. Provorov logged 9:45 of ice time.
2ND PERIOD
After a near-miss for Konecny on a broken play in the opening minute, the Flyers tied the game at 1:21. Filppula went to the net and took a pass-out from Konency out of the corner. Simmonds got the secondary assist.
A rush up ice with speed by the Flyers led to a tip-in try by a pinching Mark Alt moments later and then a power play at 5:54 when Yakupov went off for cross-checking. The Flyers cashed in to take a 2-1 lead. Giroux pounced on the long rebound of a Gostisbehere shot and stashed it home at 6:31. The secondary assist went to Voracek.
Hà¤gg joined the rush and forced Varlamov to cover the puck for a TV timeout stoppage at 7:13. Second period shots were 8-1 in the Flyers' favor at this point.
At 7:35, a blocked Flyers shot turned dangerous at the other end. Sven Andrighetto took a feed and, from the left hash marks, fired a shot that went off the top of Neuvirth's left shoulder and then off the post. The Avs hit the post again at 10:31 as Mark Barbiero trailed a 3-on-3 rush and drew iron from the center slot.
Konecny stripped Andrighetto of the puck on the left side boards, cut in and fired a tough shot on net. Later in the shift, Jori Lehterठhad a good crack at a scoring chance in front of the net.
An interference penalty on A.J. Greer in the offensive zone right corner negated an ensuing Colorado scoring chance and sent the Flyers back on the power play at 13:39. Simmonds nearly stashed a puck home at the left post off a feed from Voracek. With the second unit on the ice, turnover by Konecny led to a counterattack. On a shot that jumped up off the skate of Provorov, Comeau beat Neuvirth high to the glove side for a shorthanded goal at 15:30. The assists went to MacKinnon and Nemeth.
Sanheim went off for hooking at 15:59 and the Avalanche went to the power play with a chance to re-take the lead. A bit of good luck did just that as Hà¤gg went down to block a pass-out try and deflected it into his own net. Rantanen was credited with the power play goal at 16:13. Assists were credited to Alexander Kerfoot and Barrie.
Wit 32.4 seconds left, after a very long conference among the officials, a delay of game penalty was assessed to Barrie for chipping the puck over the glass in the defensive zone. The Flyers took 1:28 of carryover power play time into the third period.
Second period shots were 16-9 in the Flyers' favor (21-18 Flyers overall). Shot attempts were 30-15 in the Flyers' favor (46-30 Flyers overall). The Flyers had seven shot attempts blocked (14 overall) and missed the net seven times (11 overall) while blocking three Colorado shots (four overall). The Avs missed the net twice (eight times overall). Second period faceoffs were 13-7 in the Flyers' favor (23-16 overall in the Flyers' favor). Colorado outhit the Flyers by a 9-4 margin (15-11 overall).
3RD PERIOD
On the carryover power play, a Gostisbehere point shot created havoc around the net but Simmonds couldn't find the handle in time. The puck went back out up high and then was rotated over to Giroux. Putting the puck at the net, another pile-up of bodies scrummed for the puck around the slot. The Avs eventually won the battle.
At 4:33, the Flyers re-tied the game at 3-3. Voracek sent the puck around the boards from behind the net out to Hà¤gg at the right point. The defenseman had time to wind and fire on net. Couturier got a touch and Voracek claimed the puck in front to tap home the loose rebound.The apples went to Couturier and Hà¤gg.
Just as PA man Lou Nolan was announcing the scoring on the tying goal, however, Gostisbehere lost the puck to Duchene and Yakupov's right circle shot leaked through Neuvirth on a stoppable shot at 5:37. Colorado re-took the lead at 4-3.
Two shifts later, it was a 4-4 game at 6:37. Weise parked himself in the left slot, took a pass-out from Weal and ripped home a shot from point blank range. Sanheim got the secondary assist.
Konecny had a good scoring chance midway through the period, but wound up crashing into the end boards. He went off somewhat gingerly but was fine for his next shift.
Hà¤gg stapled Andrighetto to the end wall on a good hit on the defensive end. At the other end, he took a pass from Couturier and snapped a center point shot on net with 8:14 left.
On a Flyers attack on the rush, Andrei Mironov was called for tripping Couturier at 14:11. The Flyers had two near-miss chances. Shortly after the power play expired, Hà¤gg painfully blocked a shot in the mid-section but got the job done on a developing Avs' attack.
Neuvirth cleanly gloved a long-range Söderberg shot for a stoppage with 2:01 left. A cross-checking battle ensued after a whistle in the Flyers' zone with 5.3 seconds left. No penalties were called and the faceoff came out to the neutral zone.
Shots were 10-4 Flyers for the period at this point (31-22 Flyers overall). Shot attempts were 30-14 in the Flyers' favor (60-44 Flyers overall). The Flyers had seven shot attempts blocked (21 overall) and blocked seven Colorado attempts (11 overall). Faceoffs were 14-7 in the Flyers' favor (37-23 Flyers overall). The Flyers were outhit 28-24 through regulation but each team was credited with 13 in the third period.
OVERTIME
The Avs won the center ice faceoff. Neuvirth slid to his left to stop a Rantanen shot from the ciircle. After a line change, Giroux gained the offensive zone and snapped a shot over the middle that Varlamov snapped out of the air. With 3:27 left, Giroux took a Voracek pass and got a center slot shot on goal that Varlamov also absorbed.
On a great individual effort, Konecny cut in front of the net and nearly tucked the puck home. At the other end, Neuvirth was called on for a pair of saves.
Lehterठstole a puck at the defensive blueline and sent Konecny off on a breakaway. The Avs countered the other way 2-on-1 and then the Flyers had one the other way.
OT shots were 6-5 Flyers (37-27 Flyers overall). Final shot attempts were 79-53 in the Flyers' favor. Final hits were 28-24 in Colorado's favor. Final faceoff totals were 39-26 in the Flyers' favor (60 percent), led by Filppula's 8-for-10, Couturier's 10-for-16 and Giroux's 10-for-17.
SHOOTOUT
Top of 1st round: Jordan Weal moved in and, from the right hash marks, snapped a shot over Varlamov to make it 1-0 Flyers.
Bottom of 1st round: MacKinnon attacked with speed and wristed a forehand shot over Neuvirth to tie the skills competition at 1-1.
Top of 2nd round: Giroux went in slowly, picked up speed and tried his stutter-step move but found no room inside the right post. The score remained 1-1.
Bottom of 2nd round: Neuvirth stoned Duchene's five-hole attempt. The score stayed 1-1.
Top of 3rd round: Voracek tried a quick wrist shot cutting in from the right circle. Varlamov was not fooled and it turned into a fairly easy save. It was still 1-1.
Bottom of 3rd round: Rantanen got Neuvirth to commit early, cut around him to the left and slid home the winning goal. With the second goal, Avs claimed the bonus point.
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PHANTOMS UPDATE: LV OUTGUNS BINGHAMTON, 6-5
Playing the middle match of a home-road-home set of three games in three nights, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms came back from deficits of 2-0, 3-1 and 4-3 to eventually skate off with a 6-5 regulation away win over the Binghamton Devils on Saturday night. With the win, the Phantoms improved to 8-2-2 on the season, while the Devils dropped to 5-3-1.
With two starters out due to injury (Samuel Morin and Philippe Myers) and two others (Mark Alt and Will O'Neill) on NHL recall to the Flyers, the Phantoms had to use a patchwork blueline for the second straight game. The team brought up minor league veteran Adam Comrie from the ECHL's Reading Royals on a tryout deal.
Chris Conner netted two goals for the Phantoms (3rd and 4th of the season) and also added a pair of assists (8th and 9th) to lead the offensive attack. Danick Martel added to his league-leading goal total with a power play marker for his 12th tally of the season and also notched his 4th assist. Cole Bardreau bagged his 2nd goal of the season as well as his 3rd assist. T.J. Brennan (2nd) scored for the second straight game and also assisted on the second Conner goal for his fifth apple of the year. Finally, Nicolas Aube-Kubel (4th) netted what proved to be the game-winner at 5:26 of the third period.
Also getting on the scoresheet for the Phantoms were Phil Varone (7th and 8th assists), Mike Vecchione (9th assist) and, after sitting out as a healthy scratch on Friday, Radel Fazleev (3rd assist).
Alex Lyon played the first two periods in goal for the Phantoms, stopping just 11 of 15 shots. Dustin Tokarski went the rest of the way and was credited with the win, seeing only five shots in the third period and stopping four.
Oskar Lindblom saw his five-game point streak come to an end on Saturday night, and was out for his first opposing 5-on-5 goal of the season. He did not have a shot on goal. His center, Mikhail Vorobyev, was minus-two. Rookie defenseman Mark Friedman was minus-four.
MacKenzie Blackwood (17 saves on 23 shots) absorbed the loss in goal for the Devils. Nathan Bastian (4th goal), Nick Lappin (6th and 7th), Blake Pietala (4th) and Jacob MacDonald (power play, 3rd) lit the lamp for Binghamton.
In the first period, a close-range goal by Bastian and a rebound put-in by Lappin staked Binghamton to a 2-0 lead. A persistent Bardreau whacked away at a loose puck in the crease and jammed it home to narrow the gap to 2-1. The Devils took a 3-1 lead to intermission as Pietala beat Lyon from the top of the right circle that eluded Lyon's glove.
Lehigh Valley had a 5-on-3 power play opportunity late in the first period with carryover 5-on-4 time in the second but remained down by two goals. At 4:22, a stretch pass from Brennan to Conner produced a breakaway chance and Conner opened Blackwood up and slid a backhander home to make it a 3-2 game.
Shortly thereafter, the Phantoms went back on the power play and cashed it in to tie the game at 3-3. From behind the net, Conner feathered a pass-out to Martel in the right circle and the AHL's top goal-scorer buried a bar-down wrister over Blackwood.
The tie lasted only until 12:00 of the middle frame. MacDonald weaved a point shot through traffic and past Lyon to restored a Binghamton lead at 4-3. Tokarski entered the game at the start of the third period.
Lehigh Valley came alive in the final stanza. At 2:15, Varone fed to Bardreau, who made a touch-pass over to Connor at the left faceoff dot. From there, Conner ripped the puck home for his second goal and fourth point of the game. The score was knotted at 4-4.
The Phantoms took their first lead a little more than three minutes later with a power play goal. From center point, Brennan found the net for 136th career AHL goal. The lead grew to 6-4 as Martel retrieved a puck in the corner and centered out to an oncoming Aube-Kubel, who snapped a shot from the deep left slot that provided what improved to be a needed insurance goal for Lehigh Valley.
Lappin potted a rebound that made it a 6-5 game at 17:40. Binghamton pulled their goalie for a 6-on-5 attack but Phantoms defenders -- Lindblom, Bardreau and Varone in particular -- sacrificed their bodies to block shots and to get sticks on pucks before time expired.
For the game, Lehigh Valley outshot Binghamton 23-19. The Phantoms went 2-for-6 on the power play and 4-for-5 on the penalty kill.
The Phantoms return to Allentown on Sunday, where they will host the Toronto Marlies in a 5 o'clock ET game at the PPL Center. Lehigh Valley dressed the following starting lineup on Saturday:
18 Danick Martel - 21 Mike Vecchione - 16 Nicolas Aube-Kubel 28 Oskar Lindblom 15 Mikhail Vorobyev - 13 Colin McDonald 22 Chris Conner - 26 Phil Varone - 9 Cole Bardreau 12 Tyrell Goulbourne - 14 Corban Knight - 19 Radel Fazleev
43 T.J. Brennan - 20 Maxim Lamarche 44 Reece Willcox - 39 Adam Comrie 40 James de Haas - 37 Mark Friedman
34 Alex Lyon / 35 Dustin Tokarski
Scratches: Samuel Morin (undisclosed injury), Philippe Myers (undisclosed injury), Greg Carey (undisclosed).