Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

Wrap: Hart's Brilliance, Gutty 3rd Period Lift Flyers to 3-1 Win in Chicago

March 21, 2019, 11:49 PM ET [196 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Wrap: Hart's Brilliance, Gutty 3rd Period Lift Flyers to 3-1 win in Chicago

A 40-save gem from rookie goaltender Carter Hart and a lunchpail third period teamwide were enough to elevate the flu-riddled Philadelphia Flyers to a vital 3-1 road win over the Chicago Blackhawks. The Hawks, themselves fighting uphill to claim a wildcard spot in their conference, entered the game on a 5-0-1 run and having scored two or more goals in 53 straight games.

The first period, after a flat opening five minutes by the Flyers and an early shooting gallery on Hart, was firewagon hockey with very little defense played by either team. The second period, particularly the latter half of it, was dominated by Chicago but Hart was Philly's equalizer. Checking tightened up in the third period, and the Flyers had a bit of self-made puck luck to go ahead. Then they finished it out.

Hart stopped 15 of 16 shots in the first period, and 16 of 16 in the middle period. If he hadn't been razor-sharp and tracked the puck flawlessly, Chicago easily could have had five or six goals. He stopped all 11 shots he faced in the third period, but there were fewer high-grade testers with most coming unscreened from the perimeter.

Corban Knight, who suffered a nasty cut on his nose from his visor and went to the bench for repairs before jumping out to erase a 1-0 deficit in the first period. It was his first goal as a Flyers and first in the NHL (fourth career NHL goal) since he was with the Florida Panthers in 2015-16.

The red-hot James van Riemsdyk (26th goal) put the Flyers ahead midway through the third period on a seeing-eye backhander from the side boards. Sean Couturier, who narrowly missed deflecting the puck on the JVR goal, got an assist on the winning goal and later added an empty netter (31st) to ice the victory.

Defenseman Erik Gustafsson (15th goal) tallied the lone Chicago goal, giving them a short-lived 1-0 lead. Gustav Forsling and Jonathan Toews assisted. Corey Crawford stopped 25 of 27 shots.

The Flyers went 0-for-1 on a single exceptionally eventful -- first for bad reasons and then later for positive ones -- power play against the NHL's bottom-ranked penalty kill. Philly's penalty kill went 2-for-2.

A wide-open first period saw the Flyers (16 shots on goal) and Blackhawks (14) combine for 30 shots on goal. The Flyers had a slow start, often getting hemmed in their own zone, but started to get plenty of attack going the other way. Both teams had breakaways stopped in the first period. Carter Hart made three saves in quick succession -- including the breakaway -- and then a fourth on the Flyers first power play but then Philly generated a lot of pressure at the other end.

The Blackhawks finally solved Hart at 10:39 of the first period as the dangerous Gustafsson (15th goal of the season) skated in untouched from the point and, with Travis Sanheim attempting to check him, put a shift on the Flyers' D-man and fired a shot home from the lower right circle.

Philly tied the game at 15:43 of the opening stanza, courtesy of the fourth line. Justin Bailey sped in on a breakaway but was denied. Bailey stayed with the play even as was down on the ice, passing to van Riemsdyk for a second chance opportunity. That one didn't go in, either, but shortly thereafter, Knight bagged a goal. Knight earned his first goal as a Flyer, and Bailey's primary assist was his first point as a Flyer. Radko Gudas got the secondary.

The Flyers spent much of the second period hemmed in their own zone, as Chicago worked the puck on cycles and won the majority of the 50-50 battles. Philly sporadically had a few good chances of their own -- Chicago continued to struggle with turnovers -- but the Blackhawks controlled most of the latter half of the period in particular. Thankfully for the Flyers, Hart remained razor sharp in making 16 saves. Crawford made seven at the other end.

The opening nine minutes of the third period was much tighter-checking than either the first or second periods. When needed, Hart stepped up. Finally, 9:50, the Flyers took a 2-1 lead on what started out as a harmless-looking backhander by JVR from the side boards. The puck went through a partial screen and may have been slightly deflected by Couturier. The goal was credited to van Riemsdyk.

A strong penalty kill with a 2-1 lead highlighted the Flyers' closeout. Finally, sequential strong plays by Gudas, Oskar Lindblom and Claude Giroux to get the puck out of the defensive zone and up ice to Couturier created an empty-net goal for Couturier to seal a 3-1 victory.

The Flyers gained one point in the wildcard playoff chase. They are six points (five standings points and a ROW tiebreaker disadvantage) below the playoff cutoff with eight games remaining. Columbus, who suffered a regulation loss in Edmonton, dropped out of playoff position on this night.
Join the Discussion: » 196 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Bill Meltzer
» Flyers Gameday: 3/28/24 @ MTL
» Wrap: Flyers Lose 6-5 OT Game to Rangers
» Flyers Gameday: 3/26/24 @ NYR
» Quick Hits: Flyers-FLA Wrap, Flyers Daily, Phantoms, Bigger than Hockey
» Flyers Gameday: 3/24/2024 vs. FLA; Phantoms Update