FLYERS-SHARKS WRAPUP: SHORTHANDED FLYERS SCRATCH OUT A POINT
Playing with three callup defensemen in the lineup and outshot by a 44-18 margin in regulation and overtime, the Philadelphia Flyers hung in to earn a point against the visiting San Jose Sharks at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday afternoon. San Jose prevailed via shootout in a 3-2 final.
A Claude Giroux power play goal at 8:37 of the third period knotted the score at 2-2, forcing overtime. Michael Raffl scored in the first period to erase an early 1-0 deficit. Matt Irwin and Joe Pavelski scored in regulation for the Sharks.
Jakub Voracek collected a pair of assists in the game but fell two points behind Sidney Crosby in the Art Ross Trophy race. In the five-round shootout, Voracek scored the lone Philadelphia goal. Giroux, Matt Read, Sean Couturier and Vincent Lecavalier were unable to convert their attempts.
The Flyers had two opportunities to win the shootout, but were unable to close it out. Following unsuccessful attempts by Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski, third-round shooter Melker Karlsson scored to prolong the game. Fourth round shooter Patrick Marleau did not score, but Brent Burns converted his fifth-round attempt to win the shootout.
Winning goaltender Alex Stalock looked shaky at times and had a lot of puck luck on plays where he was trapped out of postion but made the saves he needed to make. Stalock stopped 16 of 18 shots in regulation and overtime and four of five in the shootout.
Despite yielding a fluky first-period goal on a play that had initially been blown dead but overruled based on a ruling that the puck was in continuous motion and the whistle did not affect the goal being scored, Flyers goaltender Steve Mason gave Philly a chance to win. Mason came up with 42 saves in regulation and overtime. He stopped three of five in the shootout.
Prior to the game, the Flyers made emergency recalls of defenseman Oliver Lauridsen (first NHL game since the final game of the 2012-13 season) and Mark Alt (NHL debut). Veterans Mark Streit and Carlo Colaiacovo both missed the game due to the flu.
The Flyers also recalled forward Jason Akeson, because Giroux was under the weather. However, Giroux was able to dress for the game and Akeson sat out as a healthy scratch. After the game, the Flyers returned Lauridsen, Alt and Akeson to the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
The Flyers went 1-for-3 on the power play in the game. San Jose went 1-for-4.
1st Period
The Flyers got hemmed in early after a turnover in the defensive zone and Nick Schultz took a tripping penalty on Logan Couturer behind the Flyers net at 1:56. The Sharks nearly scored late in the advantage on a puck that caromed off end side of the end boards and out the other with Mason caught. Nicklas Grossmann sprawled in the crease to make the block.
San Jose took a 1-0 lead off a turonver by Voracek. The puck went directly to Matt Irwin, who scored from the left point. Assists were credited to Chris Tierny and Tommy Wingels at 4:38.
The Flyers tied the game at 6:44 . A pinballing point shot by Nicklas Grossmann went off a stick, a skate and the goal post to Michael Raffl, who stashed home his 20th goal of the season by sweeping at Stalock's lost stick and sending the puck into the net. Jakub Voracek got the secondary assist.
Moments after the goal, Mason denied a 2-on-1 rush for San Jose with a skate save on Couture. The net came off its moorings for a stoppage and TV timeout at 7:11.
Mason caused some trouble for himself with a giveaway up the boards. The Flyers scrambled around and then a failed breakout pass by the defense intended for Jakub Voracek went for an icing at 8:59.
A messy shift that saw both Grossmann and Brandon Manning turn pucks over and Mason leave out a massive rebound ultimately resulted in a Grossmann icing at 11:26. No harm ensued.
The Flyers' top line generated a good chance around the 12-minute mark but could no find the handle in front.
Grossmann recored a solid hit in riding countryman Melker Karlsson into the end boards at 14:50 but then took a holding penalty later on the same shift at 15:06 on what looked like embellishment by Joe Pavelski.
With 21 seconds left in the Grossmann minor, Mason stopped a puck thrown on net from the corner that went off Manning's skate. The whistle blew and then, almost simultaneously, the puck trickled through his pads into the net. Under the new interpretation of the rules, the goal was allowed as a continuous play with the puck in motion. Per release from the NHL:
The Situation Room initiated video review after the puck entered the Philadelphia net. Video review determined that Joe Pavelski's shot crossed the goal line as the culmination of a continuous play where the result was unaffected by the whistle. According to Rule 38.4 (viii) "The video review process shall be permitted to assist the Referees in determining the legitimacy of all potential goals (e.g. to ensure they are "good hockey goals").For example (but not limited to), pucks that enter the net by going through the meshing, pucks that enter the net from underneath the net frame, pucks that hit the spectator net prior to being directed into the goal, pucks that enter the net undetected by the Referee, etc. This would also include situations whereby the Referee stops play or is in the process of stopping the play because he has lost sight of the puck and it is subsequently determined by video review that the puck crosses (or has crossed) the goal line and enters the net as the culmination of a continuous play where the result was unaffected by the whistle (i.e., the timing of the whistle was irrelevant to the puck entering the net at the end of a continuous play)."
Paveleski was credited with a power play goal, assisted by Couture and Brent Burns, at 16:25, as San Jose took a 2-1 lead.
Moments later, the Flyers had Stalock caught way out of the net as Michael Del Zotto attempted to center the puck in front. There was no one home.
Shots on goal in the first period were 15-7 Sharks. Faceoffs were 15-14 Sharks.
2nd Period
The Flyers' top line had a long early shift deep in an San Jose territory but could not get a shot out of it. The shift ended as Del Zotto brought an attempted blueline keep back in offside.
Moments after Brandon Manning landed a big hit in the neutral zone, a broken play ended up as a scoring chance for Raffl.
The Bellemare line generated a lot of pressure near the nine-minute mark and the extended offensive zone time eventually led to the Flyers' first power player after a delayed inteference penalty on Matt Nieto at 9:45.
On the ensuing power play, Ryan White got a piece of a couple shots in front of the net but tipped them wide. At 11;20, Couture was denied by Mason on a breakaway after blocking a Manning shot attempt.
At the 12:54 mark of the period, Lauridsen generated just the third Flyers shot of the period. The puck rebounded in the slot but the Flyers could not claim it with Stalock in no position to make a second save.
White took an offensive zone boarding minor as Irwin played the puck up the wall at 15:07. The Flyers killed it off in good shape.
Joe Thornton momentarily appeared to have a breakakway chance in the final two minutes but Nick Schultz closed fast and caught up to him. Thornton pulled up and the play fizzled out.
Shots on goal were 7-5 Sharks (22-12 Sharks through two periods). Faceoffs were 11-5 Sharks (26-20 Sharks through two periods).
3rd Period
Karlsson had a wide open chance in front of Mason in the opening half minute but was not able to get much on the puck. No shot resulted as he directed it wide of the net.
Within the span of a minute, Mason made a good save on a Couture wrister at 5:02 and then the Flyers goalie kept the team's deficit at one goal with a tough close-range stop on Nieto at 5:40.
At 6:37, Mason fought off a point shot after Thornton cleanly won a faceoff from Couturier.
The Flyers got their second power play of the game at 7:00 as Scott Hannan was sent off for hooking. Moments into the advantage, White had two wide-open chances on the doorstep with a lot of net staring at him but could not score. With 23 seconds left in the penalty, Flyers captain Giroux took care of it.
Receiving a pass from Voracek, Giroux ripped a shot from the left faceoff dot through a White screen into the net for his 23rd goal of the season at 8:38. Voracek and Del Zotto got the assists.
With 7:23 left in the period, Hannan was felled behind the net on a hit by Cousins and his face was cut from impact with the board. In the ensuing scrum after the whistle, both Lauridsen and San Jose enforcer John Scott received 10-minute misconducts.
At the 14:00 mark, Mason calmly made a left circle stop on Couture on a give-and-go feed off an initial Flyers turnover.
The Flyers got their third power play of the game and second of the period at 15:47 as Thornton tripped Voracek at the Flyers' defensive blueline. The Flyers could not capitalize
Shots in the third period were 17-6 Sharks (39-18 Sharks for regulation). Faceoffs were 13-11 Flyers (37-33 Sharks through regulation).
OVERTIME
The Sharks controlled the early part of overtime and Mason had to make three more saves in the first two minutes. At the 2:30 mark, Brayden Schenn received a boarding penalty for a hit on Irwn behind the San Jose net.
On the ensuing 4-on-3, a failed clearing opportunity for Pierre-Edouard Bellemare caused a heap of trouble but a puck shot over the glass gave the Flyers a reprieve.
Mason made his 42nd save of the game in the waning seconds of overtime with stop on Brenden Dillon. Couture chipped a puck over the net before the game moved to the skills competition.
Shots in overtime were 5-0 Sharks (44-18 for the game). Faceoffs were 2-1 Flyers (37-33 Sharks for the game).
Shootout
Top of 1st: Voracek went wide to the left of Stalock, found a tight angle and scored. (1-0 Flyers) Bottom of 1st: Couture hit the post on a wrist shot moving left. (1-0 Flyers)
Top of 2nd: Giroux tried a slap shot from a straight angle and was denied as the puck got caught up in Stalock's left pad (1-0 Flyers). Bottom of 2nd: Pavelski moved in and tried a quick shot release but Mason was not fooled (1-0 Flyers).
Top of 3rd: With a chance to win the game, Read was denied on a five-hole attempt (1-0 Flyers). Bottom of 3rd: Karlsson scored five-hole to prolong the shootout (1-1 tie).
Top of 4th: Couturier missed a backhander (1-1 tie). Bottom of 4th: Patrick Marleau shot wide right as he moved left (1-1 tie).
Top of 5th: Vincent Lecavalier tried the "Peter Forsberg move" but the puck died in the crease as he was unable to get to it with his right hand (1-1 tie). Bottom of 5th: Burns scored on the backhand to win the game (2-1 Sharks win).
POSTGAME NOTES AND QUOTES:
* Michael Del Zotto played 30:18, a career high by more than two minutes over his previous high of 28:38 played with the Rangers vs. New Jersey on October 24, 2010. Brandon Manning played 25:07, more than seven minutes above what he’d played in any of his previous 14 NHL games (high was 17:47 at OTT on Apr. 27, 2013). Nicklas Grossmann played 24:05.
* The Sharks ended up shorthanded on defense in their own right, as both Marc-Edouard Vlasic (first period) and Scott Hannan (third period) had to leave due to injury.
* The three-star selection for each game has to be made with about five minutes left in the third period. At the time I made the picks, the score was tied at 2-2. Jakub Voracek had temporarily moved having moved into a tie with Sidney Crosby in the NHL scoring race (Crosby would then add two more points to go up by two points). After regulation ended, I tried to ensure that Steve Mason would be among the three stars with an instruction to temporarily make him second star but to still appoint the game-winning goal scorer as first star and then slide everyone else down a notch so Mason was at least third. It was too late to rearrange the order at that point, however. As a result, the official order was Brent Burns first, Giroux second, Logan Couture third. * The Flyers will take an off-day on Monday. They will practice on Tuesday in preparation for Wednesday's game in Pittsburgh.
* Claude Giroux on his shootout attempt: " I was actually trying to go high glove. I was just trying to surprise him, and it didn’t work out."
* Steve Mason on working out communications with just-recalled defensemen with whom he is unfamiliar: "To be honest, yout just kind of wing it until they get a grasp of everything. We say we have commands but when you get out there, things happen fast and you just say whatever. It takes a little time to get that down. But I thought that part went OK today."
* Mark Alt on his NHL debut: "It took a few shifts (for the nerves to calm). As soon as you get a few shifts in you settle down. The game slows down. I had some fun....I think to our advantage me and Oliver have played together before. We know what the other is going to do. I’m used to playing with him. It kind of made it easier in a sense. I knew what to expect from him as a D partner.…
* Craig Berube's assessment of the game: "I thought we battled, and guys did a good job that were just called up. It’s not easy for them. (We) gave ourselves a chance to win.... They’re a real puck attempt team. They put a lot of pucks on net. They always have, but our first focus was with, especially with (Joe) Thornton’s line and (Sean) Couture’s that they make a lot of plays around the net. We need our forwards collapsed down there. We left the points open, and (Steve) Mason handled all of the wrist shots and stuff like that from the point. So I wanted to not give up the opportunities around the net and we did a pretty good job with that. We left the outside open, and you got two young (defensemen) that you have to help out, so it was important… actually three with Manning, too. It’s important that we drop down and protect them and help our (defensemen) tonight.…
* Berube on White on the top power play unit: "Ryan’s a right hand shot. That’s it. Nothing else. Need a right-hander there for G. ...He did a good job, a real good job. Should have had a goal, but his play… he got to all of the loose pucks and made plays and getting the puck back which is real important. That’s what Wayne Simmonds is real good at. Both he and Brayden Schenn are really good at that, and White did an excellent job at that. Screened a goalie, they scored. Could have had a goal, should have had a goal. He’s kicking himself for sure, not putting that one in, but he’s been a good player.…
* Giroux on White on the top power play unit: “He was great. We had a couple of short meetings, and like I said, when you get in a new situation sometimes you try to overthink it. But, he did a good job."
* Berube on what Raffl has done better this season to enable him to reach the 20-goal mark: "The biggest thing Michael has done is he’s learned to get to the net better and stick around the net better. He knows the pucks eventually going to get to him playing with those two guys, and he’s done a better job of it. He’s got decent hands around the net. He does have a good shot. I think he… earlier on and even last year he missed the net with his shots, probably trying to be too fine. He’s hitting the net more which helps. He’s got a good shot. He’s got to hit the net and he’s done a better job of it, but the one thing is he’s learned to either put the puck in deep or make a play and go to the net. If he does that he’ll score goals.…