WRAP: WINLESS STREAK AT 7, FLYERS LOSE 5-4 IN OT TO ISLES
Not even a four-goal outburst in the second period and 4-2 lead heading into the third period were good enough for the Philadelphia Flyers to halt their winless streak. Unable to close out the game, the Flyers once again settled for a single point from a 5-4 overtime loss to the Islanders in the annual Black Friday game at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Islanders won both ends of the Thanksgiving home-and-home set in OT.
The Flyers suffered from too many own-zone breakdowns to deserve to win against one of the NHL's highest-scoring teams: two defenders ending up on the same side, failure to pick up coverage switches in time or deny centering passes, a whiff on a bouncing loose puck, inability to box out in front or cancel sticks and, finally, yet another blown man-to-man coverage in overtime.
With the overtime defeat, the Flyers' winless skid grew to seven games (0-3-4). A 55-point team at home last season, Philadelphia is just 4-4-4 on home ice through 12 games at the Wells Fargo Center this season.
Mathew Barzal (6th goal,16th assist), Cal Clutterbuck (4th), Jordan Eberle (power play tally for his 8th goal of the season, 8th assist), Andrew Ladd (5th goal, 6th assist) and defenseman Nick Leddy (overtime winner, 6th goal) led the scoring brigade for the victorious Isles on this day.
Scott Mayfield earned his third and fourth assists of the campaign. Josh Bailey (22nd), Dennis Seidenberg (3rd), Adam Pelech (8th), Joshua Ho-Sang (OT assist, 6th) and John Tavares (OT assist, 11th) collected one apple apiece among the 11 different Islanders to post at least one point in this game.
For the Flyers, Claude Giroux (10th goal, 15th assist) reached the 600-point mark for his NHL career. When he records his next point, he will tie Rod Brind'Amour for 9th on the franchise's all-time scoring list. In the meantime, Wayne Simmonds (7th goal of the season) and Shayne Gostisbehere (2nd goal, 16th assist) respectively ended 14-game and 13-game goal droughts. Sean Couturier (13th goal, 12th assist) also scored during Philly's big second period. Jakub Voracek claimed his 21st and 22nd assists of the season, while Robert Hà¤gg (3rd assist) and Nolan Patrick (3rd) chipped in an assist apiece.
Patrick, who had a breakout game against Calgary last Saturday and has since continued to spread his wings offensively, was unsuccessful on a late first period (17:01 mark) penalty shot opportunity after being fouled by ex-Flyer Seidenberg on a partial break. The 19-year-old rookie pulled the puck to his backhand and flipped the puck wide of the left post.
While Patrick being awarded a penalty shot rather than Seidenberg being assessed a penalty was a questionable officiating decision so, too, was a non-call on a Travis Konecny breakaway.
Goaltending was pedestrian on both sides in this tilt. Brian Elliott came up with 32 of 37 shots on his net, while Thomas Greiss stopped 26 of 30. Philadelphia actually got outshot in second period by an 11-7 margin but found the net four times.
"It starts from the net out. I got to make a couple of saves there and we get up a couple of goals and you need to close games out. I think we’ve seen it during this stretch, that we have kind of shot ourselves in the foot a little bit," Elliott said.
"I think we have confidence going into three-on-three, we have the skill and the hockey sense to do it. But we are just losing guys and not playing man on man, that’s kind of how it breaks down.…
Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol changed around some of the penalty killing personnel after the team yielded seven opposing man advantage tallies in the previous three games. He shortened the defensive rotation in crunch time to lessen the exposure of rookies Travis Sanheim and Samuel Morin. In OT, he sent out a trio of Valtteri Filppula, Brandon Manning and Giroux.
The Flyers went 0-for-1 on the penalty kill in this game. They were 0-for-1 on the power play, failing to convert an early third period opportunity while still leading 4-2.
After the game, Hakstol tried to find silver linings in the team's 2-3-5 record over the last seven games and play on Friday. "You've got to evaluate it for what it is. It’s another hockey game that’s tied after 60 minutes. I think it’s 7 out of our last 10 we’ve gotten a point. So 5 of those are OT or shootout losses. Again today, close hockey game all the way through," Hakstol said.
"We have to find a way to close out the games in overtime and we haven’t done that yet. We have to do a better job there. Continue to work hard through the 60 minutes and do a better job finding a way to get the extra point when we get to the OT or the shootout."
When a team has a multi-goal lead heading into the third period, however, a game should not get to overtime in the first place. The Islanders outshot the Flyers, 16-12, in the third stanza and got the game knotted in 12:11.
"Today we gave up a tough power play goal against and then we got a little bit back on our heels. They made one play on the top of the crease. Once it went to a one goal game, we gave up a couple too many opportunities from that point in time. It’s a little inherent with our results over the past couple weeks here," Hakstol said.
For all of the points that he's been racking up this season, Voracek has been either a prime or secondary culprit for missed one-on-one defensive assignments in three of the team's four OT losses this season. Voracek accepted culpability for not covering pinching defenseman Leddy on the winning score in OT.
"Personal mistakes. It is simple. Leddy was open there. He is my guy. I got caught puck watching. It is as simple as that," Voracek said.
In regulation, Voracek had plenty of company in the breakdown department. There were culprits galore on both sides and neither goalie was coming up with needed saves.
On Ladd's game-tying goal in the third period, for example, the eventual goal scorer slipped behind Manning and Sanheim did not pick up a coverage switch fast enough as Manning (and Elliott) unsuccessfully tried to deny a centering feed from Eberle as Eberle swung around behind the net. Sanheim, who was also defending Clutterbuck one-on-one in front as Clutterbuck came up with a tough second-period deflection goal, tried a weak stick lift on Ladd that was too little and too late. The referees also missed an apparent pick (i.e., interference) by New York on the initial zone entry that started the sequence.
Eberle's preceding power play goal that made it a 4-3 Flyers lead started with a failed clear by Morin up the boards. Moments later, a bouncing puck in the slot was whiffed on by Hà¤gg and went to Eberle, who scored from the side of the net.
Back in the first period, the Flyers went off to the locker room trailing 1-0 due to a goal they yielded in the final 17 seconds. Philly had four skaters flushed to the left side (including defenseman Gostisbehere winding up on partner Morin's side, as Morin pursued a hit on the half boards and then rotated back toward the net). Barzal banked a puck home from the other side before Filppula could recover to prevent it going over the goal line.
The Islanders' defense and goaltending didn't fare much better during Philly's four-goal outburst in the second period.
Hà¤gg forced an Islanders' turnover off the right boards above the dots in the New York zone and Giroux hammered a one-timer past Greiss. Patrick was the playmaker on the second goal, drawing the attention of New York defenders and then feeding across the ice to an open Gostisbehere. The initial shot hit the post but Simmonds pounced on the rebound and potted a much-needed goal after several games of frequent near-misses.
On the third Flyers' goal, Couturier bulled his way into the offensive zone, drawing a delayed penalty on New York. Voracek got the puck and fed to Gostisbehere, who buried a shot to re-establish a lead at 3-2 after Clutterbuck's deflection goal tied the game at 2-2. After play resumed following the Gostisbehere goal, the Flyers dumped the puck in deep and Greiss failed to stop it behind the net. The puck went to Voracek, who fed in front to Couturier. The Flyers' top line center then deposited the puck into the vacant net from point blank range.
The Flyers will have a full off-day on Saturday. The team will practice on Sunday, ahead of back-to-back games against Pittsburgh (road) and San Jose (home) to close out the November schedule.
Although wins have been scarce for Philadelphia this month and the team has repeatedly flushed away points that were within their grasp, the Flyers are still just four points out of what would be wildcard position if the season ended today. However, Philly currently sits in last place in the Metropolitan Division. Constantly picking up points one at a time instead of by twos is basically the hockey equivalent of capsizing and drowning slowly.
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PHANTOMS END ROAD TRIP WITH 6-3 WIN IN SPRINGFIELD
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms may not have gotten everything they wanted out of a season-high six-game November road trip but the trip was not disastrous, either. The Phantoms salvaged a 3-3-0 mark on the trip as they doubled up the cellar-dwelling Springfield Thunderbirds, 6-3, on Friday night as MassMutual Center.
The game was tied at 2-2 after the first period and 3-3 at the second intermission before the Phantoms pulled away in the third period.
Veteran Lehigh Valley forwards Greg Carey (7th and 8th goals of the season) and Phil Varone (6th goal, 14th and 15th assists) led the offensive attack, along with rookie defenseman James de Haas (third period game winning shorthanded goal for his 1st career AHL tally, 1st period assist for his 1st AHL point) and rookie left winger Oskar Lindblom (power play empty netter for his 4th goal of the season, power play assist for his 7th helper). Mark Alt (3rd goal) scored the goal that made it a 5-3 lead midway through the third period.
Also chipping in points in this game were rookie defenseman Mark Friedman (5th assist), center Corban Knight (shorthanded and even strength assists for his 3rd and 4th of the season), veteran defenseman T.J. Brennan (power play, 11th assist) and rookie defenseman Philippe Myers (power play, 5th assist).
Dustin Tokarski got the win in goal, stopping 21 of 24 shots.
Carey opened the scoring at 5:02 of the first period. Taking a centering pass from Varone, Carey backhanded the puck past Springfield goalie Samuel Montembeault. However, the Thunderbirds' Anthony Greco scored on the power play less than a minute later to knot the score at 1-1. The goal came directly off a Springfield faceoff win.
At 7:20 of the first period, the Phantoms notched a power play goal to retake the lead at 2-1. From center point, T. J. Brennan passed to Varone at the top of the right circle and Varone fired home the puck. Lindblom, who had worked the puck up high to Brennan, received the secondary assist.
A 5-on-3 power play goal by Springfield at 19:10 of the first period sent the game to intermission tied at 2-2. Alexandre Grenier potted the loose rebound of a Denis Malgin shot, flipping it over Tokarski as de Haas was not quite able to knock down the puck on a desperation attempt to prevent the follow-up from finding the net.
The Thunderbirds took a short-lived 3-2 lead on a Mikkel Aagaard goal at the 4:18 mark. At 12:12, the Phantoms got the game even again at 3-3 on a hard-working goal that ended with Carey claiming the carom of a Friedman shot and stashing it home on the backhand. Varone received the secondary assist.
Although the recently demoted Matt Read did not get a point on the play he, too, played part in why it was scored. Occupying a Springfield defender, Read enabled trailer Carey to find a seam to cruise in and claim the puck after the initial Friedman shot.
Shots were 17-14 in the Phantoms' favor through 40 minutes. Finally, in the third period, they pulled away with three goals and a few timely saves by Tokarski.
At 6:33, with Mike Vecchione in the penalty box for high sticking, Knight carried the mail on a counter up the right wall. Joining the play, de Haas got open in the slot to take a pass and direct upstairs over Montembeault.
A first-year pro originally drafted by the Detroit Red Wings but unsigned after playing four collegiate seasons at Clarkson, de Haas signed an AHL deal with the Phantoms this summer. He spent five games with the ECHL's Reading Royals (racking up seven asssist) but was recalled to the AHL with the spate of injuries and NHL callups that have affected both the Phantoms and Flyers blueline rosters. Although de Haas has been with the Phantoms throughout their road trip, this was first time in the lineup since the Nov. 5 home loss to the Toronto Marlies that preceded the road trip. Overall, it was his fourth game with Lehigh Valley.
The Phantoms opened a 5-3 lead at 10:25 of the third period. Knight cleanly won an offensive zone faceoff back to Alt, who immediately blasted a right point shot that overpowered goalie Montembeault (26 saves on 31 shots).
Down by two goals, the Thunderbirds pulled Montembeault early for an extra attacker to make it a 5-on-5 with an empty net. Tony Turgeon's inteference major and game misconduct at 14:55 point his team shorthanded for virtually the remainder of the game (all but the final five seconds). On the play in question, Friedman moved over the middle with the puck and sent to defense partner Will O'Neill. Turgeon arrived late and with his elbow up, steamrolling Friedman.
With 2:59 left in the game, Lindblom dialed up a long-distance empty net goal to end a four-game goal drought and a spell of just one goal in his previous eight games. Officially recorded as a power play goal due to the ongoing Turgeon penalty, Myers received the lone assist. Lindblom, who had just one point (a goal in the morning game in Bridgeport) in the team's last eight games, now has 11 points in 19 games this season.
Carey, who hit the post on a third-period bid for a hat trick, took over the Phantoms' active-roster goal lead with eight. Danick Martel (14 goals in 17 games) has spent the last two games on recall to the Flyers. Varone's three-point game moved him past Martel for the overall scoring lead in the team with 21 points.
Friday's game marked the one-quarter mark of the Phantoms' 76-game regular season schedule. With a record of 11-6-2, the team is one point behind the Atlantic Division leading Wilkes Barre/ Scranton Penguins. However, the Pens hold three games in hand.
The Phantoms finally return home to the PPL Center on Saturday night. They will host the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (10-7-0) in a 7:05 p.m. ET game.
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PROSPECT HIGHLIGHTS: FRIDAY GAMES
* OHL: Flyers 2017 first-round pick Morgan Frost is just one among multiple Flyers prospects who have been scorching hot of late in their respective leagues. On Friday, Frost compiled his first four-point game, scoring once on the power play on a fortunate bounce off a skate (he had five shots on goal overall) and notching three even-strength assists. His Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds team earned an 8-2 home blowout win over the Kitchener Rangers. Overall, Frost now has 34 points (12 goals, 22 assists) in 24 games and is plus-25 including a pair of shorthanded goals (one on a penalty shot). Of his 34 points, Frost has either been the goal-scorer or earned the primary assist on 30. Of the other four assists, three were scored on direct rebounds of chances he created.
🚨 🚨GOAL! 🚨 🚨
— Soo Greyhounds (@OHLHoundPower) November 25, 2017
This ... pass ... we literally cannot EVEN. 😱 pic.twitter.com/OVQVW8WlXy
Kitchener captain Connor Bunnaman assisted on the Kole Sherwood goal late in the first period of Friday's game that very briefly knotted the score at 1-1 before the Greyhounds retook the lead on the next shift.
Bunnaman was minus-one for the game and had just one shot on goal after compiling between three to six shots on goal in eight of his previous 11 games. For the season, he has 14 goals and 23 points in 23 games. Of those totals, nine goals and 15 points have come over the last 12 games. He has posted at least one point in 11 of them.
On Saturday, the Greyhounds host the Peterborough Petes. The Rangers are idle on Saturday but visit the Sudbury Wolves on Sunday afternoon.
* Flyers 2017 second round pick Isaac Ratcliffe had a tough start to his D+1 season but the massive left winger has been on fire offensively of late. On Friday, he racked up a three-point first period (one goal, two assists) and took first-star honors for the game as his Guelph Storm squad went on to claim a 5-4 home overtime win against the Barrie Colts.
For the season, the 18-year-old Ratcliffe has 11 goals and 19 points in 22 games and is minus-12. His production has been heavily skewed toward the latter two-thirds of November. Dating back to Nov. 10, he has six goals and 10 points over the last six games. The 6-foot-6, 205-pound forward has scored at least one goal in three games in a row in five of the last.
On Saturday, Guelph is on the road to take on the Owen Sound Attack (Maxsim Sushko's team).
Ratcliffe from McFadden to tie the game! #GoStormGo pic.twitter.com/97Woufc42A
— Guelph Storm (@Storm_City) November 25, 2017
* OHL: Matthew Strome was held off the scoresheet with one shot on goal in the Hamilton Bulldogs' 6-5 road win over the Oshawa Generals on Friday. Strome's point streak ended at eight games (six goals, eight assists, 14 points). For the season, he has 11 goals and 21 points in 22 games to date. Hamilton hosts the Ottawa 67's on Saturday evening.
* QMJHL: Flyers 2016 first-round pick German Rubtsov missed his third straight game for the Acadie-Bathurst Titan with an undisclosed injury. He is officially considered day-to-day. Rubtsov has seven points in his first six games after being acquired by Acadie-Bathurst in a trade with Chicoutimi. The Titan are idle on Saturday and then host the Halifax Mooseheads on Sunday afternoon (3 p.m. ET).
* QMJHL: Flyers 2016 second-round pick Pascal Laberge scored a goal and recorded five shots on goal on six attempted shots as his Victoriaville Tigres dropped a 6-5 home decision to the Drummondville Voltigeurs on Friday. He was credited with three hits. For the season, Laberge has five goals and 14 points in 23 games.
* WHL: Flyers 2016 second-round pick Carter Hart turned back 35 of 36 shots as his Everett Silvertips team skated to a 4-1 home win against the Spokane Chiefs on Friday. Hart, who recently set a new Silvertips career record for shutouts and has two WHL Goaltender of the Year awards (2015-16, 2016-17) and a CHL Goalie of the Year trophy (2015-16) in his pre-pro trophy case, has not skipped a beat since returning from mono. In 11 games to date, he has a record of 7-3-1, 1.59 GAA, .953 save percentage and three shutouts (Nov. 11, Nov. 15, Nov. 22). Everett hosts the Vancouver Giants on Saturday night.
* WHL: Carsen Twarynski continues to enjoy a strong over-age Western Hockey League season with the Kelowna Rockets. On Friday, Twarynski celebrated his 20th birthday with a goal and three shots in Kelowna's 3-2 road win against Vancouver. For the season, the Flyers' 2016 third-round pick has 14 goals and 24 points in 21 games. The 6-foot-2 left winger's career highs are 20 goals and 45 points in 67 games with the Calgary Hitmen in 2015-16.
* NCAA: In a head-to-head matchup that involved three Flyers prospects, Ohio State earned a 3-2 road win over Michigan on Friday. Wolverines junior center Cooper Marody (who had multi-point games in eight straight matches) saw his point streak come to an end, while Ohio State sophomore forward Tanner Laczynski had six shots on goal and an assist. Michigan checking line winger Brendan Warren had two shots on goal.
The two teams rematch on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
For the season, the 20-year-old Marody has 20 points (four goals, 16 assists) in 13 games. The 20-year Laczynski, a member of gold medal winning Team USA at last year's World Junior Championships, has 14 points (four goals and 10 assists) in 13 games and his two-way game has been outstanding of late. Warren, a 20-year-old junior, has chipped in three goals and four points to the Wolverines' cause through 13 games.
* NCAA: Flyers 2016 second-round pick Wade Allison collected two more goals on Friday night as Western Michigan dispatched visiting Colgate, 5-3. The teams rematch on Saturday. For the season, the 20-year-old sophomore right wing has compiled 10 goals and 19 points in 14 games.
* SHL: Four Flyers prospects are in action on Saturday. Mora IK (David Kase, three goals, 11 points in 18 games) hosts the Và¤xjö Lakers (likely World Junior Championship bound Team Sweden defenseman Linus Högberg), Linköping (Olle Lycksell, who has scored a pair of goals in his first seven career SHL games at age 18) is in Gothenburg to play Frölunda, and Djurgà¥rden (defenseman David Bernhardt) hosts Rögle.