WRAP: LIGHTNING STRIKES DOWN FLYERS, 5-1 In their final game before the NHL All-Star break, the Philadelphia Flyers fell to the the Tampa Bay Lightning by a 5-1 score at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday night. The Flyers played a very strong first period, especially defensively, but could not capitalize on a breakaway or a few other good chances. As the game progressed over the final 40 minutes, the Flyers started to have some miscues and virtually every one of them ended up in the Philadelphia net.
Goaltending was a big factor in the outcome. Tampa netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy played brilliantly while Philadelphia's Michal Neuvirth made virtually no saves on non-routine chances. However, there were also some coverage snafus that the Bolts fully capitalized on, some situations where Tampa had miscues but the Flyers didn't seize the opportunity and, in the third period, the Bolts quickly pulled away after Philly briefly got back within 3-1.
“Can’t play 20 minutes and win the game, can’t play 40 minutes and win the game,… Wayne Simmonds said. “That middle stanza, we left guys unchecked. We didn’t check hard enough and they get three goals there. Obviously, that’s the difference in the game. They get those three goals."
A few plays stood out as the big difference makers: a crushing shorthanded goal against off a turnover and poor man-to-man coverage with a lack of backchecking support and a put-away goal off a botched entry followed by scrambled assignments in the defensive zone. There was also a sequence were two Flyers defensemen ended up side-by-side on an overload.
"We played a pretty good period, we didn’t give up a whole lot, but we gave a little bit too much quality. I don’t like the two goals we gave up that we were beat out of one-on-one coverage. Those are things that are under our control, but it’s hard to come out of a period and after two periods down 3-0 and I felt like we had a chance to get back in this thing because we had played pretty well. We have to sure up one or two coverage issues and that’s it, one or two and we had to find a way to get one and get ourselves pushed in the right direction," Hakstol said.
"I thought we deserved a better fate after two periods, it was a close hockey game. First period was a pretty well played period, we didn’t give up very much, we generated a little bit. Second period we came out and went down 3-0 and that’s a pretty deep hole."
Add those costly miscues up and combine it with a lack of timely saves, and the ugly final score was the result despite the good start by the Flyers.
“It’s frustrating but we gave up a lot of prime opportunities. It’s tough. Obviously we outshot them quite handedly but their opportunities were prime opportunities and obviously they are the highest-scoring team in the league and they capitalize on their opportunities," Simmonds said.
Brayden Point (20th goal of the season), Yanni Gourde (17th), Ryan Callahan (shorthanded, 2nd), Vladislav Namestnikov (17th and 18th goals) scored for Tampa. Tyler Johnson (22nd assist of the season), Matthew Peca (1st assist), Dan Girardi (9th assist), Nikita Kucherov (35th and 36th assists), Steven Stamkos (38th and 39th assists) collected helpers.
Vasilevskiy (36 saves on 37 shots) was the biggest difference-maker, however. He tracked the puck very well, stopping everything he could see. Even when screened, he was in good position and pucks hit him. The young Russian goalie, the NHL's winningest goalie this season, was also very good in his rebound control.
"He’s a great goaltender. He reads the game well. He’s big. He’s athletic, got good reactions. I think we didn’t get enough traffic in front of him today. That’s how we only scored one," Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov said.
Travis Konecny (power play, 10th goal of the season) got the lone Flyers' goal, spoiling a shutout bid with 6:42 left in the game. Jakub Voracek (47th assist of the season), Claude Giroux (43rd assist) got the assists as the Flyers cut the gap to two goals only for Namestnikov to restore a three-goal margin less than a minute later and then score again at 17:11 to create the final four-goal margin.
"A loss is a loss, they all feel the same," Konecny said. "It’s definitely not what we’re looking for, it doesn’t matter when it is even if it’s coming off a ten game losing streak or a win, I think after we get this out of our system, we’ll bounce back. We’ll be better."
Neuvirth, who can steal games when he's dialed in, was not sharp on this night. He stopped just 17 of 22 shots, and not every one that got past him was of the unstoppable variety.
"It is what it is and I needed to be better tonight," said Neuvirth, who saw just three shots in first period. "Seemed like the bounces we’re getting the last few games, just we didn’t have them tonight, but you know we were pushing the whole game, but their goalie played unreal."
The Flyers went 1-for-4 on the power play but yielded their eighth opposing shorthanded goal of the season (second to Tampa). Philly went 1-for-1 on the penalty kill, but the game's first goal was scored shortly thereafter with the same personnel on the ice.
Tampa blocked 13 shots to 12 by the Flyer; Dan Girardi led with four. Philly was credited with 25 hits to 16 credited to the Lightning; four apiece by Robert Hà¤gg, Radko Gudas and Tampa defenseman Jake Dotchin (who finished the night as a plus four). Tampa won in faceoffs 34-28 (led by far by a 13-for-15 night by Matthew Peca, who dominated draws against Nolan Patrick in particular).
1ST PERIOD SYNOPSIS
The Flyers iced the puck just 23 seconds into the game. Giroux lost the ensuing faceoff in the right circle but nothing dangerous developed and Giroux later cleared the puck to safety.
Ivan Provorov pinched in and put the game's first shot on net at 3:42. Checking was tight over the next several minutes.
After Provorov fired a right point shot on goal for the Flyers' second shot, the Filppula line had some offensive zone possession time. At 7:06, Tampa got its first shot as Neuvirth stopped a mid-slot snap shot over the middle by Brayden Point. A TV timeout ensued.
Simmonds landed a good hit on Matthew Peca near the benches. On the same shift, Patrick took the body on Peca in the offensive right corner. Shots were 3-1 Flyers through 7:55.
Vasilevskiy came out of his net and stopped a Giroux shot from the right circle. Later that shift, Giroux worked a puck of the defensive zone to Konecny, who went off on a breakaway. He was stopped on an initial shot and a follow-up try by Vasilevskiy.
The Flyers continued to do a fine job of taking away time and space from the Bolts. Shots were 8-2 Flyers through 14:00.
A Tampa turnover in the defensive zone created a 2-on-1 chance for Giroux and Konecny but Vasileveskiy erased it with a good save on Giroux.
Raffl was called for holding ex-Flyer Braydon Coburn in the offensive zone at 18:14. Tampa went to the game's first power play. Valtteri Filppula and Jori Lehterठhad a 2-on-1 shorthanded chance but the play fizzled out. So did another shorthanded chance for Lehterà¤, who was caught from behind. The Flyers then blocked two shots. Tampa took 14 seconds of carryover power play time into the second period.
First period shots were 9-3 Flyers.
2ND PERIOD SYNOPSIS
The Flyers killed off the remaining penalty kill time but got scored on at the 25-second mark. Point got away from Giroux, took a pass in the right circle from Johnson (with Hà¤gg now caught out of position), moved laterally into the slot and swept a backhander in the net.
The Patrick line get hemmed in a bit and Gudas took an icing at 2:31. They remained in trouble and iced it again on what was becoming a long shift, while Tampa was able to change lines. Finally Simmonds connected on a pass to Lehterठ(on for Jordan Weal) and the Flyers got a full line change.
Michael Bournival snapped a heavy but routine left circle shot on Neuvirth, who stopped it cleanly. Robert Hà¤gg finished off Bournival with a hit behind the net. Shots were 1-1 through 5:30.
Filppula, skating in the forecheck, was interfered with by Johnson. The Flyers went on their first power play of the game at 6:02. Voracek had an early, harmless shot that Vasilevskiy stopped easily and Tampa cleared. The first unit later generated good puck movement and some looks at the net, including a Gostisbehere shot through a Simmonds screen.
Shots were 4-4 as a Brandon Manning shot from the left point was snapped up easily by Vasilevskiy at 9:26.
Tampa made it 2-0 at 9:56. With Manning drifting over to Gudas' side and an overload created, Peca won a battle down low and found Gourde near the net. He chipped it home. Girardi got the secondary assist.
On the next shift, Gostisbehere had an open look at the net from between the circles. Vasilevskiy swallowed the shot cleanly. A TV timeout ensued at 10:23.
Raffl and Voracek generated a good cycle in the Tampa zone. The Bolts took an icing with 8:30 left in the period.
Filppula re-directed a Gudas point shot on net. Vasilievsky got it cleanly. Shots were 9-7 Tampa through 16 minutes.
Hà¤gg joined the play and snapped a shot on net that created a scramble in front. Tampa's Girardi took a cross-checking penalty at 16:57. After Voracek lost a puck on the boards, Callahan weaved his way around Gostisbehere and Neuvirth and deposited it in the cage on the backhand for an unassisted shorthanded goal; the 8th shorthander the Flyers have given up this season and the second to Tampa. Time of the goal was 17:29 as Tampa took a 3-0 lead.
With the Flyers still on the power play, Giroux nearly found the net on a shot Vasilevskiy never saw but the puck stayed out.
Second period shots were 11-10 Flyers (20-14 Tampa).
3RD PERIOD SYNOPSIS
Neuvirth stopped a side-angle shot at 1:07 for the first save of the period; his 12th on 15 shots. He then turned away a routine point shot off the next draw.
Manning held a puck at the point. He fed over to Konecny, who fired a left circle shot on Vasilevskiy that was saved cleanly.
The Flyers went to their third power play at 5:04. Alex Killorn got the gate for slashing Giroux. Vasilevskiy stopped a left circle shot by Giroux through an attempted Simmonds screen and then a right circle shot by Voracek. Couturier was denied at the doorstep with 37 seconds left.
Patrick had a good look at the net but passed up the puck and the play fizzled out. With 11:40 left, a puck hopped over Raffl's stick near the right post off a deflected offering by Hà¤gg.
Patrick overskated a puck at center ice. Tampa countered but Manning broke up a cross-ice pass in front to end the threat.
A Gostisbehere shot from the left side caused a loose puck scramble in front but no Flyers could find it. At 10:52, Vasilevskiy covered a dump-in for a stoppage and TV timeout. Shots were 8-3 at this point.
A would-be 2-on-1 for Tampa ended with Namestnikov interfering with Andrew MacDonald at the Flyers' blueline at 11:27. It would have caused a breakaway, so play was whistled down and the Flyers went to their fourth power play. Philly, going nowhere fast on the advantage, called timeout with 47 seconds left and sent the top unit back out on the ice with Neuvirth pulled for an extra attacker.
Konecny made it a 3-1 game with a 6-on-4 power play goal. From the middle slot between the circles, he took a pass from Voracek and wired it home at 13:18. Giroux got the secondary assist.
Tampa got the goal right back. Weal was taken off the puck in offensive zone and then beaten in the defensive zone as Tampa's deadly top line worked the puck in closer. From the right circle, Namestnikov chipped a puck over Neuvirth into the net at 14:05. The assists went to Kucherov and Stamkos.
Tampa made it 5-1 at 17:11 as coverage broke down and Namestnikov ended up with a tap-in off a Stamkos feed across the slot. Kucherov got the secondary assist.
A frustrated Scott Laughton got a 10-minute misconduct at 19:50.
Third period shots were 17-8 Flyers (37-22 Flyers overall).