WRAP: FLYERS GRAB 2-1 OT WIN VS. STARS, WIN STREAK AT SIX
The Philadelphia Flyers extended their winning streak to six games as they captured a 2-1 overtime win against the Dallas Stars at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday night. It was a hard, physical contest that could have gone either way. The Flyers are now 3-0-0 on their current five-game homestand.
Completing an East coast road trip that saw them play Metro Division teams four times in six nights and concluded with back-to-back games in New Jersey and Philadelphia, the Stars put forth a strong effort in the finale. They finished the trip at 2-1-1 after starting with back-to-back wins.
Shayne Gostisbehere notched a pair of power play goals (5th and 6th tallies of the season), including the overtime winner. Jakub Voracek earned his 32nd and 33rd assists of the season, while Claude Giroux collected his 22nd helper on Gostisbehere's second period power play tally.
"The last overtime game, I think we sat down as a team and we looked at it – get our skates up the ice, don’t take any chance, be honest and we will get our chances and that’s what happened. I know we had a power play there, but I think we played a pretty good overtime up to that point," Gostisbehere said.
Brian Elliott turned in another strong performance in net for Philadelphia. The veteran netminder turned back 27 of 28 shots to earn the win, including a pair of excellent saves on Tyler Seguin.
Sean Couturier did not get on the scoresheet on this night but played an excellent all-around game: five shots on goal, four credited hits, a credited takeaway, 7-for-11 on draws, strong on the walls, knocked Jamie Benn off the puck twice and even came to Wayne Simmonds' defense during a first period scrum after the whistle.
All in all, it was type of up-for-grabs victory that eluded the Flyers through their 10-game winless skid. Now, they are coming with regularity.
"You hope that you can do that over 60 minutes. In order to do that though you have to start at the drop of the puck," Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol said.
"We played a pretty good 1st period. Not a lot of scoring chances in that 1st period, not real clean looks anyway. I thought as the 2nd period got going we were able to add a little pace to our game. That period is the one for me that pushed that game in our direction. Everybody was going and that allowed us to raise the pace of the game a little bit."
Returning to the lineup after being scratched on Friday, Gemel Smith (3rd goal) notched the lone Dallas goal. Remi Elie (2nd assist) and Martin Hanzal (3rd assist) got the assists as Dallas opened the scoring seven-plus minutes into the first period and then held the lead until midway through regulation.
Ben Bishop turned aside 28 of 30 shots after Kari Lehtonen started each of the first three games of the trip. Bishop played a solid game until he made a critical mistake leading up to Gostisbehere's power play goal. Losing his stick, Bishop tried to wrestle away Simmonds' stick and got so engrossed in playing tug-of-war that Gostisbehere seized the chance to fire a shot home to end the game.
"I didn’t have my stick there so I was just kind of holding Simmonds'. I thought we cleared the puck and the next thing I knew (Gostisbehere) was coming right down the slot and obviously I didn’t have a stick so he made a pretty heads up play just throwing it on the ice and that was it," Bishop said.
Over in the Flyers' postgame locker room, Simmonds said he was more confused than angry while Bishop was tugging at his stick.
It’s fine with me. I don’t know what he was doing there, to be honest with you. He might have thought it was his stick because his stick was jammed up between us at first," Simmonds said. "The ref, he was like, ‘Let go of his stick! Let go of his stick!’ So I figured it wouldn’t be overturned. It was obviously to our delight and it was nice to see.…
After Ken Hitchcock recently separated Benn and Seguin but returned to having them play together against the Devils as Friday night's game progressed, the two remained together for the game in Philadelphia. While they generally couldn't do much with the Couturier line (Seguin had a brutal night on draws, going 3-for-14), Seguin got going later in the game especially when he found himself on the ice against Scott Laughton. Philly may have bent, but it didn't break. Seguin finished with a half-dozen shots on goal and hit a post in OT.
In one of his signature head games with his top players, Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock opined after the game that his team's role players outperformed their most important forwards.
"We’re not going to be a consistent winning hockey club. We’re going to be competitive as hell, but we’re not going to be consistent winning until the message is drawn into the top players. When it’s drawn into the top players, then we’ll get a change or we’ll even go to another gear," Hitchcock said.
The Flyers went 2-for-6 on the power play and 1-for-1 on the penalty kill. Alexander Radulov took some undisciplined penalties, including a hook in overtime that eventually led to the Gostisbehere game winner.
"Some of the games lately, the power play hasn’t been what we want it to be. But, that’s one thing the five of us and the coach we really talk about, trying to find ways to be creative. We had a lot of chances and the movement of the puck was well and we try to keep building on it," Giroux said.
For the Flyers, it was the third consecutive game they limited an opponent to a single power play and the seventh in a row where they’ve allowed no more than two. Importantly, Philadelphia did not take any penalties after the first period against Dallas.
The first period was chippy, a bit sloppy at times but settled in for the Flyers as it rolled along. In the second period, the Flyers seemed to be taking over -- establishing a strong forecheck and completing several stretch passes -- and wearing down the Stars in the final game of their road trip. However, Dallas made a renewed push in the third period and the stanza turned into a grind-it-out contest in which the Stars' Tyler Pitlick missed the net on a go-ahead breakaway opportunity.
Both teams had chances in overtime. Ultimately, the stick infraction by Radulov and Bishop's preoccupation with trying to take Simmonds' stick led to Dallas settling for a single point.
Hitchcock was more aggravated by the Radulov penalties in the third period and OT than the strange sequence that ended the game.
"It was two really poor penalties by a good player. It’s not team discipline, it’s individual. It’s disappointing to fight like we fought and battle. Come off, playing hard like this off a back to back it’s really disappointing to take those two penalties at the end of the game," Hitchcock said.
Hitchcock will get his third crack at career coaching win number 800 when the Stars return home on Tuesday for yet another game against a Metro Division team; the Washington Capitals. The Flyers host the LA Kings on Monday and the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday.
1ST PERIOD
Benn and Giroux mixed it up behind the play on the game's opening shift. Benn cross-checked Giroux to prolong it. Both got roughing minors at 48 seconds to set up 4-on-4 play. Simmonds got open and had a great backhanded chance in front.
Shayne Gostisbehere landed a solid body check on Gemel Smith in the Flyers' zone at 4:04. The Stars' Jason Spezza had a good look at the net off the rush a few shifts later and then, on a line change counter, Jakub Voracek narrowly missed connections with Michal Raffl.
Elliott stopped a Radek Faksa turnaround shot from the mid-slot at held on for a stoppage and TV timeout at the 6:22 mark. Shots were 4-4 at this point.
The Stars took a 1-0 lead at 7:13, courtesy of a goal by the 4th line against the Scott Laughton trio and the pairing of Radko Gudas and Travis Sanheim. On a Dallas dump in by Hanzal that was chipped past Gudas, Sanheim moved over late to Gudas's side to pursue an unmarked Remi Elie toward the corner. With Taylor Leier coasting rather than back checking Elie's pass got across to an open Smith, who beat Elliott upstairs over the blocker before Laughton could arrive.
"I thought we weren’t aggressive enough, actually. I thought we were a little bit slow on the coverage down low corner. You know, that’s a ride across play that you know we want to be on that with a good stick and we were a little bit slow at the coverage in that front, too. So the combination of those two things together, that’s how opportunities happen against you. But, you know, it’s a game of mistakes and I think that’s a good one for us to be able to learn from so especially on a night like tonight where we come out with a win," Hakstol said.
Gaining the Dallas blueline on the rush, Valtteri Filppula was tripped by Antoine Roussel at 11:30. The Flyers went on the game's first power play. The Flyers won the first draw and Couturier re-directed a Gostisbehere shot that Bishop knocked down. A scrum ensued after a whistle 30-seconds into the power play after Hamhuis tackled Simmonds. Couturier threw a gloved punch over the top at Hamhuis and received a roughing minor.
The Stars controlled the puck as 4-on-4 play began. Elliott fought off an Alexander Radulov shot from the top of the right circle. Voracek was tripped up by Devin Shore at 13:13, setting up a very brief (17-second) 4-on-3 power play. Gostisbehere blasted a left point shot on net during the short advantage before play moved back to 4-on-4. The Flyers' second power play unit came out for the remaining 5-on-4 and didn't get much done with it.
With 3:25 left in the period, Dallas won a puck battle in the Flyers' zone. Filppula tripped Radulov (who appeared to embellished it with a swan dive) and went to penalty box. Elliott gloved a Seguin one-timer from the left circle with 48 seconds left on the penalty. Couturier won a defensive zone draw and the Flyers got a clear. Simmonds blocked a shot out of play with 17 seconds left.
First period shots were 11-9 in Dallas' favor. First period faceoffs were 9-8 Flyers (Couturier went 3-for-4). Hits were 13-8 Flyers (Couturier credited with three).
2ND PERIOD
The Flyers came out attacking quickly and pressed after Seguin lost his stick. The push ended on an offside as the puck barely went over the line before Andrew MacDonald brought it back on an attempted keep.
Gostisbehere caught Raffl on the tape with pass from behind the Flyers blueline to the Dallas side of the red line but the rush fizzled out as Raffl fell down. Off a faceoff win on the next draw, Gudas snapped a shot on net.
Shots were 2-0 Flyers through 5:00 as Simmonds hammered a slapper far wide of the right post. Dallas' first shot on net came from a perimeter slapper at 6:35. Elliott held for a stoppage and TV timeout.
Tyler Pitlick high-sticked Sanheim inside the Flyers' blueline and went to the box at 7:38. Simmonds was unable to finish a point-blank open chance set up by Voracek off the carom of an initial shot by Couturier. The Flyers continued to pressure and pressure some more before it finally paid off with a power play goal to tie the game at 1-1. At 9:10, a Voracek point shot missed the net but Gostisbehere hustled to the carom and potted it from below the right circle. Giroux got the secondary assist.
Voracek had a breakaway chance off a stretch pass but was unable to finish it. Dallas iced the puck with 7:46 left. On the next shift, Couturier forced a turnover and Giroux ripped a shot over the middle on goal with 6:29 left.
Yet again, the Flyers got forwards behind the Dallas defense. However, Konecny was unable to finish off a 2-on-0 rush with about five minutes left.
Gudas bailed the Flyers out of a lot of trouble as he broke up a play after Sanheim fell down (the second time in the game Sanheim did so). With 1:03 left in the period, Elliott covered a side-angle shot just in time before the net was crashed for a potential second-chance opportunity.
The Filppula line and Provorov-MacDonald pairing got hemmed in the defensive zone on the period's final shift. However, play was kept to the perimeter and no scoring chances ensued. Provorov landed a clean hit on Radulov in the final half-minute.
Second period shots were 10-6 Flyers (19-17 Flyers overall). Second period faceoffs were 12-6 in the Flyers' favor (21-14 Flyers overall; Couturier and Giroux each 5-for-8). Second period hits were 9-4 Flyers (21-12 Flyers overall; Couturier with four overall and one in 2nd period).
3RD PERIOD
Nolan Patrick and Jordan Weal had scoring chances on the period's first shift. The Flyers took an icing at the 49-second mark.
Hanzal fired a perimeter shot on net at 2:15. Elliott gloved it easily. He had a much tougher save on Pitlick from the right hash marks and then a very tough save on Seguin off the rush at 3:38. Shots were 5-3 Dallas to this point.
Sanheim joined a rush, took a pass from Laughton and snapped a shot on net from the left slot. Bishop made the save.
The Flyers went to the power play again at 4:59. On a forechecking attempt, Smith took a hooking penalty on Gudas in the offensive zone. Unlike the previous power play, the Flyers' first unit got little going offensively. Neither did the second unit despite a good keep at the left point by Provorov.
Sanheim was caught napping in the neutral zone, not reacting until Pitlick collected a puck and blew by him on a breakaway. Fortunately for the Flyers, it did not result in a goal as Pitlick missed the net.
The Flyers got another power play at 8:35 as Provorov caught a high stick from Radulov when trying to jump over a hip check attempt. Gostisbehere had a tremendous keep at the blueline but Simmonds could not corral a bouncing puck behind the net and the Stars cleared. As the penalty expired, the Stars flipped the puck out of play from the defensive zone but it was ruled that the puck caught the glass first.
Shots were 6-4 Dallas through a TV timeout at 10:35 despite the two Philly power plays. The Flyers did not get a shot on goal on either advantage.
Gostibehere fired a one-timer on net from the right point. At the other end, Radulov went to work down low in the Flyers zone but Raffl collected an errant pass and knocked it out of the defensive zone.
Hà¤gg turned a puck over on an attempted breakout pass to Voracek but the Flyers recovered. The rest of the period was tight-checking.
Third period shots were 7-7 (26-24 Flyers through regulatipn).
OVERTIME
Seguin caught the right post on a one-timer from the left circle and then fired one on net front from up high as he finished his first shift.
Konecny turned over the puck on a pass intended for Provorov on a 2-on-1. At the end of the shift, he wristed a shot on net.
Weal bobbed and weaved to the net for a great scoring chance.
Radulov hooked Filppula then took a dive looking for a tripping penalty with 1:32. Radulov got the gate. Filppula did not.
During the power play, Bishop lost his stick and grabbed onto Simmonds' stick, playing tug of war. That proved very costly. Gostisbehere fired a left slot home to win the game at 3:50. Voracek got the lone assist. The goal was briefly reviewed to see if Simmonds interfered with the goalie but it was upheld and the Flyers won.
OT shots were 4-3 Flyers (30-27 Flyers for the game). Final faceoffs were 30-24 Flyers (Giroux was 9-for-13, Couturier was 7-for-11). Final hits were 27-24 Flyers (Radulov led overall with seven, Couturier led Flyers with four).
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PHANTOMS CONQUER CRUNCH, 4-2
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms earned a 4-2 home win at the PPL Center on Saturday night as the Syracuse Crunch saw a 10-game winning streak come to an end. The Phantoms trailed midway through the game but then exploded for three unanswered goals over the latter half of the second period to take control of the game.
Chris Conner (5th), Corban Knight (6th), Greg Carey (power play, 15th) and Danick Martel (AHL-leading 16th) tallied for the Phantoms. All but Carey also generated an assist apiece to finish with two-point nights. Nicolas Aube-Kubel collected a pair of apples for the Phantoms, while Oskar Lindblom (points in five of the last six games and each of the last four), Phil Varone and Will O'Neill had one assist apiece.
John Muse got the start in goal for Lehigh Valley. He stopped 22 of 24 shots to earn the win. With the victory, the Phantoms improved to 17-9-3 overall and 9-3-2 on home ice.
Syracuse suffered its first loss since Nov. 19 (a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Toronto Marlies). Matthew Peca (4th) and Kevin Lynch (7th) scored in a losing cause against Lehigh Valley. Connor Ingram turned aside 29 of 33 shots.
Versatile two-way forward Knight, who has variously been used up and down the lineup as needed by coach Scott Gordon, has been responding to scoring line duty of late: much needed with skilled rookies Mike Vecchione and Mikhail Vorobyev along with veteran captain Colin McDonald sidelined due to injury. In his last 12 games, Knight has 14 points (five goals, nine assists). Fellow veteran Carey has 10 goals and 12 points over the last 12.
The Phantoms remain injury depleted on the blueline. After apparently re-aggravating a lingering injury in his return to the lineup on Tuesday, Samuel Morin missed his second straight game. Highly touted rookie blueliner Philippe Myers continues to inch closer to a return from his own recurring nagging injury but remained out of the lineup on Saturday. On a happier note, Phantoms rookie defenseman Mark Friedman had the first plus-three game of his pro career.
Syracuse drew first blood at 17:53 of the first period. A Martel scoring chance in their end turned rapidly into a counterattack the other way. Peca took a pass from Matthew Joseph and roofed a slapper over Muse. Erik Carnak got the secondary assist.
The Crunch's 1-0 lead lasted until the Phantoms knotted the score at 11:44 of the middle frame. Going to the net, Conner took a perfect pass-out from Varone out of the corner and made no mistake. Martel got the secondary assist.
At 14:48 of the second period, the Phantoms forged ahead, 2-1. Knight deflected home an O'Neill left point shot. Aube-Kubel received the secondary assist. At 16:32, a Carey backhander on the power play found the twine. Lindblom and Conner received the assists as the Phantoms opened a 3-1 lead.
The Phantoms carried the two-goal advantage until 12:55 of the third period on Lynch's goal. However, Lehigh Valley reclaimed their insurance policy when Knight and Martel broke in a 2-on-1 and Martel finished off the setup pass. Aube-Kubel (seven points in his last five games) received the secondary assist.
The Phantoms have a 3 p.m. Sunday road game against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on the heels of Saturday night's home tilt with Syracuse. After that, the Phantoms return home to the PPL Center on Wednesday to host the Hartford Wolf pack in Lehigh Valley's final home tilt until after the Christmas break.
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PROSPECT UPDATES
* The Flyers will have four draftees playing at the upcoming World Junior Championships in Buffalo: goaltender Carter Hart (Canada), center German Rubtsov (Russia), defenseman Linus Högberg (Sweden) and left winger Maksim Sushko (Belarus).
* Ontario Hockey League: The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds exploded for five second period goals on the way to a 7-1 blowout road win (after a scoreless first period) against the Guelph Storm. With the win, the Greyhounds take a 20-game winning streak into the Christmas break.
Even in the absence of the WJC-bound Boris Katchouk and Conor Timmins from the Greyhounds' lineup, Flyers 2017 first-round pick Morgan Frost has continued his dominant run that now spans his last 20 games. On Saturday, he notched two goals and two assists and his line was plus-five at even strength.
On the first Greyhounds goal, Frost did not get a pick as defenseman Noah Carroll had a touch in between Frost sending the puck up high (and covering a point) and Barrett Hayton making a centering pass finished off by Ryan Roth at the 42-second mark of the second period.
Frost got a secondary assist as the Greyhounds opened a 2-0 lead at 7:26 of the middle frame. He won a defensive zone draw cleanly back to Marc Hallowell, who caught Hayton in stride with a stretch pass. Attacking with speed, Hayton rifled a shot home.
Flyers 2017 second-round pick Isaac Ratcliffe narrowed the gap to 2-1 at 9:20 of the second period. Off a clean faceoff win in the offensive zone by Cam Tillis, Ratcliff fired a rising shot from the top of the circle that beat Matthew Villalta for what would prove to be the lone goal by the Storm. Over Ratcliffe's last 14 games, he has seven goals and 17 points.
Frost restored the two-goal lead for the Greyhounds at 14:55. Attacking on the right side, he cut left across the circle and slot and then fired across his body to beat Anthony Popovich. The assist went to Noah Carroll.
Frost scored again at 16:38 of the second period to forge a 4-1 lead. On this goal, he moved into the middle slot and re-directed a Jacob LeGuerrier point shot. Rasmus Sandin got the secondary assist.
Before the second period was over, the Greyhounds would open a 5-1 lead. The certainty of a 20-game winning streak was no longer in doubt. All that remained was to see what the final score would be.
Joe Carroll made it a 6-1 game midway through the third period. Finally, at 17:44, Frost made a gorgeous cross-ice pass from the left circle over to Hayton, who sniped his second goal of the game.
Frost's updated season totals and OHL rankings:33 games played, 19 goals (tied for 7th), 36 assists (2nd), 55 PTS (tied for 2nd), +42 (1st). Over his last 20 games: 15 G, 26 A, 41 PTS. During his current 11 game point streak, Frost has eight goals, 19 assists and 27 points.