WRAP: FLYERS TAKE 4-1 WIN IN VEGAS
Playing for the third time in four nights, with all sorts of travel in between, the Philadelphia Flyers downed the Western Conference leading Vegas Golden Knights, 4-1, in a gut-check game at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday night.
The Golden Knights fired shots from every angle and forechecked aggressively. Philly defended well positionally for the most part and, when Vegas did break through for quality chances, goaltender Michal Neuvirth had the answers. Offensively, without the benefit of a single power play, the Flyers benefited from puck luck and were also opportunistic.
The Golden Knights outshot the Flyers 39-18 overall (27-11 after the first period) and out-attempted Philly by a 64-34 margin. The quality of chances was not as lopsided but the Flyers had to cope with a team that was clearly more aggressive.
Vegas entered the game with a 19-3-2 home record and an even gaudier 22-2-0 record when scoring first. The Flyers had to wait for their chances and bend but not break defensively but the bottom line is that they found a way to drop Vegas to 19-4-2 at home and 22-3-0 when scoring first.
Neuvirth stopped 38 of 39 shots to earn the win. He was on his angles, moved very well laterally and had strong rebound control on this night.
Sean Couturier led the way offensively, with his 28th goal, two assists (28th and 29th) and a 10-for-17 night on faceoffs. The Flyers also got a goal (18th) and assist (46th) from team captain Claude Giroux. Defensemen Andrew MacDonald (3rd) and Radko Gudas (empty net, 1st) also tallied for the Flyers, while Travis Konecny (16th assist) and Ivan Provorov (17th assist) added helpers.
Brayden McNabb's goal (4th of the season) on a snap shot midway through the first period proved to be Vegas' lone tally of the game. Reilly Smith (30th assist) and William Karlsson (19th assist) got the helpers.
Marc-Andre Fleury's stat line (14 saves on 17 shots) looked ugly but there wasn't much he could do about any of the Flyers' goals. The Couturier goal was point blank. The Giroux goal was a rebound put-in off a Couturier chance where all the goalie could do was make the initial stop and hope for some help in front. The MacDonald goal was a fluke deflection off his skate.
The Flyers killed off the game's only penalty; a first period unsportsmanlike conduct call on Brandon Manning. Philly won 59 percent of the game's faceoffs and were charged with just five giveaways on the night.
1ST PERIOD SYNOPSIS
Raffl big hit on Ryan Carpenter behind the Vegas net in opening seconds. Voracek and Patrick generated shots at the net -- Patrick batted the puck out of the air -- before the game was a minute old.
Karlsson stoned at the doorstep by Neuvirth on his first shift of the game. Neal had a look from the left slot on the next shift but Neuvirth blockered it away.
At 2:45, Weal seemed to have a good look at the net between the circles but the puck took off out of play.
Deep in his net with Brendan Leipsic in the crease, Neuvirth fought but held a single angle shot by Brad Hunt on the short side. At 5:35, Neuvirth dived forward to snag a point shot. After the whistle, Brandon Manning took an unsporstmanlike conduct penalty and the Golden Knights got the game's first power play. During the kill, Raffl outworked Karlsson for a dumped out puck, sending it back to the D for another clear down the ice. Vegas never really got well organized.
The Flyers had a 3-on-2 on a partial line change but Konecny forced a bad pass and the play went awry. At the other end of the ice, Neuvirth absorbed a Deryk Engelland shot with a Vegas player nearby.
Jonathan Marchessault was not quite able to finish an open point blank chance from the right slot as the period neared the halfway point.
McNabb pinched in, and took a pass from Smith. From above the top of the left circle, he fired a snap shot over Neuvirth's glove for a 1-0 lead at 11:22. Smith and Karlsson got the helpers.
After Gostisbehere fell down, Bellemare passed up the puck on a 2-on-0 break. The puck went to no one, ending the threat.
With 5:26 left in the period, the Flyers generated a great chance off the rush, but Fleury denied Raffl in the left slot after taking a cross-ice pass.
The Flyers had a good keep in the offensive zone and then connected on a tic-tac-toe play to tie the game. At 17:50, Couturier went to the net and finished it off. The assists went to Konecny and Giroux.
First period shots were 12-7 in Vegas' favor.
2ND PERIOD SYNOPSIS
A behind-the-back pass from Couturier to an open Giroux in the right slot missed connections. The Golden Knights iced the puck at 2:09.
McNabb drove Couturier into the boards with a heavy hit.
Voracek had a lengthy puckhandling sequence weaving around the offensive zone. Finally, he bumped into Nolan Patrick, halting his progress.
After a near scoring chance for the Flyers, Neuvirth stopped Lindberg in close the other way.
Engelland had a good keep to prevent a Flyers 2-on-1. Moments later, Neuvirth erased a Voracek turnover with a tough save on Neal.
With 8:52 left, Neuvirth knocked aside Bellemare's perimeter shot; his 21st of the game.
Couturier made a nice stickhandling play to create a potentially promising foray into the Vegas zone. A pass rolled off Konecny's stick.
Nate Schmidt pinched down to the right circle and ripped a shot on net. With 3:38 left in the period, shots were 14-4 in Vegas' favor.
Despite the heavy shot disadvantage, the Flyers took a 2-1 lead on a lucky play with 2:52 left. From in front of the net, Couturier tipped a feed from Konecy above the right circle. The puck was headed wide of the left post but went off the skate of MacDonald and into the net. Assists went to Couturier and Konecny.
The Flyers made it 3-1 with just 5.8 seconds left. Couturier took the puck to the up the right side, cut in around McNabb to the net. Fleury thwarted him but Giroux one-handed the loose puck into the cage. Couturier got the lone assist.
Second period shots were 15-7 Vegas (27-14 overall).
3RD PERIOD SYNOPSIS
The first four minutes passed by uneventfully. The Golden Knights then had a 2-on-1 down low with a good chance for Neal. Vegas won the next draw and Leipsic was stopped by Neuvirth from the bottom of the right circle. With 15:24 left, Neuvirth stopped a shot by Marchessault with several players lurking nearby.
A bad turnover nearly ended up in the Flyers' net but a deflected Engelland shot went just wide in heavy traffic.
With 11:00 left and the Golden Knights heavily pressing again, Neuvirth stopped Reilly Smith from the slot. The long rebound went to the Flyers.
Shots were 8-1 Vegas midway through the period.
Gostisbehere made a nice backhanded chip off the lower glass to turn forechecking pressure from Vegas into an easy exit. With 6:09 left, a weak shot by Neal dribbled on the net and Neuvirth covered it for a stoppage.
On a dump-in, Konecny blasted McNabb with a heavy hit behind the Vegas net but the Golden Knights broke out of the zone.
With 4:55 left , Shea Theodore hit the post. Moments later, Philly had a defensive breakdown and Neuvirth had to deny a quick shot by Karlsson from below the hash marks. The Flyers then iced the puck.
The Golden Knights pulled Fleury for an extra attacker with 2:40 left. Fourteen seconds later, from the defensive right circle, Gudas fired the puck down the ice and into the empty net for his first goal of the 2017-18 season. The goal was unassisted.
Philly took an offside with 1:05 left on a slow-developing rush. Patrick won the game's final faceoff and skated off with a victory.
Third period shots were 12-4 Vegas (39-18 Vegas overall).
STANDINGS IMPACT
The Flyers now have 65 points and 27 regulation/OT wins (ROW). They remain in third place in the Metropolitan Division but their current four-game winning streak has created just a bit of a buffer as they prepare to play the New Jersey Devils at the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday.
Upper wildcard team New Jersey lost 5-3 to Boston on Sunday, and currently sit three points in back of the Flyers. That makes Tuesday's game in Philly a crucial swing game; a regulation verdict is the difference between the Flyers being five points or one point ahead or an overtime/shootout decision is the difference between a four-point or two-point separation.
The Flyers currently hold a 27-24 ROW advantage over the Devils in the event of a tie in points. New Jersey holds one game in hand on the Flyers.
The Penguins won on Sunday, defeating the St. Louis Blues by a 4-1 score. In the race for second place in the Metro and a first-round home ice advantage, Pittsburgh maintains a one-point lead and a ROW edge (29-27) on the Flyers. Philly holds one game in hand. The Pens host the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.
Carolina sits in the lower wildcard spot with 61 points (23 ROW) in 56 games. Idle on Sunday, the Hurricanes host the LA Kings on Tuesday.
Below the playoff cutoff line, the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Islanders both have 60 points. The New York Rangers have 59 points.