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A Split in PHI-NYI Split-Squad Games, Flyers-NYR Preseason Gameday |
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A SPLIT FOR THE SPLIT SQUADS IN ALLENTOWN, BROOKLYN
Opening the 2015 preseason with split-squad games at the PPL Center in Allentown, PA and the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, the home team prevailed in each match as the Philadelphia Flyers down the New York Islanders, 5-3, in Allentown while the Islanders downed the Flyers in Brooklyn 3-2.
Each team essentially used its "A" squad in the home game, although the Flyers' roster in Brooklyn had more NHL regulars than the one the Islanders sent to the Lehigh Valley.
ALLENTOWN: FLYERS 5 - ISLANDERS 3
The Flyers never trailed in the game and dominated the early and late play, but had a few costly breakdowns that resulted in New York erasing three separate one-goal deficits before Philadelphia finally took the lead for good at 3:23 of the third period. Over the latter portion of the third period, the Flyers did a commendable job of slamming the door.
Philadelphia got goals from Michael Raffl (power play), rookie Travis Konecny, Vincent Lecavalier (power play), Michael Del Zotto and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (empty net). New York got an unassisted goal by James Wright in the first period, a second period power play goal by Alan Quine and a third-period rebound tally by Justin Vaive.
Jakub Voracek , who earned first star honors, generated a pair of assists in the game. Konecny and Del Zotto (two-point game) received second- and third-star honors respectively.
Michal Neuvirth went the distance in goal for the Flyers in Allentown, stopping 15 of 18 shots. He was beaten on two of the first seven and then stopped 10 of the next 11. Thomas Greiss (15 saves on 18 shots) played the first two periods in net for the Islanders. Chris Gibson played the third period, stopping nine of 10 prior to Bellemare's empty netter in the final seconds.
Ivan Provorov made his NHL preseason debut in the Allentown game, making a couple of mistakes but also making several strong plays. Thirty-three-year-old "rookie" Evgeny Medvedev had a strong NHL preseason debut, including an assist on the third Flyers' goal.
Even apart from his goal, Konecny had numerous impressive shifts. He showed speed, hockey sense, stickhandling prowess and a willingness to initiate physical play. He said after the game that, just as he does with the OHL's Ottawa 67s, he hoped to get a hitting opportunity on his first shift to make him feel "in the game" and help calm any jitters. Afterwards, Lecavalier said Konecny reminded him of Tampa Bay Lightning forward Tyler Johnson, while Voracek also praised the rookie's skill and moxie.
"[Konecny] made something happen every time he was on the ice. "He has a lot of hockey sense and plays with a lot of jam," said Flyers new head coach Dave Hakstol, who made his pro-level coaching debut while Joe Mullen and Ian Laperriere handled coaching duties in Brooklyn.
The Flyers went 2-for-2 on the power play in the Allentown game, and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill.
1st Period
Neuvirth and Greiss started the game in goal for their respective teams.
The Flyers got the game's first power play at 5:05 as former Flyers/Phantoms forward Ben Holmstrom went off for an offensive zone hooking penalty. The Flyers cashed in as at 5:56 as Raffl deflected a right circle Voracek shot into the net. Del Zotto earned the secondary assist.
New York quickly tied the game at 8:32. Jay Rosehill got an errant Del Zotto pass at a standstill on the defensive left half boards. The puck was claimed by Wright, who snapped a shot that went off the long side post and into the net. Neuvirth made himself a bit "small" on the play, committing to the ice a little too early and then ending up a little off the angle.
The Islanders got their first power play at 10:40. Chris VandeVelde went off for tripping. Philly killed it off with relative ease.
Shots in the first period were 12-5 Flyers.
2nd Period
At 3:46, Konecny collected a bouncing puck that eluded two Islanders. The 24th overall pick of the 2015 NHL Draft, shifted the puck to his backhand and calmly slid it past Greiss for his first goal in his NHL preseason debut to make it 2-1 Flyers.
Voracek went off for elbowing in the offensive zone at 4:01. At 5:08, Quine deflected a Kevin Czuczman shot past Neuvirth for an equalizing power play goal to make it a 2-2 game. Michael Dal Colle earned the secondary assist. The goal came on the Islanders' seventh shot of the game to that point.
Philly went on its second power play at 6:14. A hard-working shift by the second power play unit -- featuring Medvedev and Provorov at the points -- resulted in a late-advantage goal at 8:04. Vincent Lecavalier cashed in a secondary Medvedev rebound in close to make Philly 2-for-2 on the power play and give the Flyers a 3-2 lead. R.J. Umberger earned the other assist.
Neuvirth made a good stop on offensive defenseman Ryan Pulock at about the 12:45 mark. The Isles' defenseman beat Provorov to the inside off the rush.
The Islanders went to their third period at 13:38. Del Zotto went off for interference. The Flyers killed it off to go 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.
With 27.4 seconds left in the period, Neuvirth made a nice pad stop on an attempted wraparound. He then covered the puck in the crease for a stoppage.
New York's Casey Cizikas limped painfully off the ice after blocking a shot in the waning seconds of the period.
Shots through two periods were 18-11 Flyers (6-6 for the period).
3rd Period
Gibson relieved Greiss in goal for the Islanders to start the third period.
The Islanders tied the game at 3-3 at 2:18. With Davis Drewiske sliding and taking himself out of the play, Vaive followed up his own rebound of a shot off Neuvirth's glove side shoulder.
Philly quickly regained a 4-3 lead at 3:23. Giroux shot the puck through heavy traffic from the point and it trickled over the goal line after being touched by Del Zotto, who was credited with the goal. Voracek got the secondary assist.
Provorov made a good defensive stop and outlet pass to stop an Isles rush and start a counter the other way at about the 8:00 mark. Nothing further resulted but it was a good play.
Ryan White, centering the fourth line in this game, took a needless slashing the stick penalty in the neutral zone at 8:13. The Flyers killed it off without any New York shots or chances to go 3-for-4 on the PK to that point.
Giroux feathered a nice pass to Raffl on the rush but Raffl had little room to do much as he got to the puck and crashed into the net, knocking it off its moorings at 12:53.
A scrum broke out behind the Flyers net after a whistle at 13:27. Brandon Manning and Mike Halmo went off for roughing to set up two minutes of 4-on-4 play.
Provorov turned a puck over to Anthony Beauvillier but Neuvirth preserved the lead with a stop at about the 14:45 mark.
As Manning exited the penalty box, he made a good pass that nearly turned into a breakaway for Bellemare.
Gibson nearly misplayed a bouncing puck into his own net with Flyers bearing down on him but it stayed out of the net with 1:30 remaining in regulation.
After a good pokecheck by Manning at the defensive blueline, Bellemare sealed a 4-2 Flyers win by threading an empty net goal home through an Isles defender at 19:52.
Final shot totals were Flyers 29- Islanders 17 (11-7 Flyers for the third period). The official attendance at the PPL Center was 7,464.
BROOKLYN: ISLANDERS 3 - FLYERS 2
The Islanders' "A" lineup built a 3-0 lead over the Flyers and then hung for a 3-2 win. New York heavily outshot the Flyers for much of the first two periods (10-3 in the opening stanza, 24-14 through two periods) before Philly outshot the Isles, 11-4, in pushing for a comeback in the third period.
New York got a power play goal by John Tavares with 54 seconds remaining in the first period to take a 1-0 lead to the first intermission. Th lead grew to 3-0 in the middle frame on a power play goal by Anders Lee, assisted by Tavares, and then an even strength goal by Kirill Petrov.
Taylor Leier got the Flyers on the board in the final minute of the second period, receiving a pass from Nicolas-Aube Kubel and shooting the puck home. Nick Cousins got the secondary assist. In the third period, Brayden Schenn narrowed the gap to 3-2, with Scott Laughton and Chris Porter receiving the helpers. The goal was initially credited on the scoresheet to Laughton but quickly changed to Schenn.
Projected Lehigh Valley Phantoms starter and Flyers third-string goaltender Jason LaBarbera went the first 30:24 in goal, stopping 18 of 20 shots. Second-year Phantoms goalie Anthony Stolarz went the rest of the way, stopping seven of eight shots in 28:30 of playing time. Stolarz was charged with the loss because he gave up the third Islanders' goal, which proved to be the game-winner after the Flyers got the next two.
For New York, winning goalie Jaroslav Halak played the first two periods, stopping 12 of 13 shots. Stephon Williams entered the net for the third period, turning back 10 of 11 shots.
The Flyers went 0-for-3 on the power play in the Brooklyn game and 3-for-5 on the penalty kill.
Tavares received first-star honors, followed by Lee and Petrov.
In his first game in a Flyers uniform after being acquired from Tampa Bay in the Braydon Coburn trade, defenseman Radko Gudas logged 20:38 of ice time. Along with Porter, Gudas co-led the Flyers with six credited hits. Second-year pro Shayne Gostisbehere played 25:14 (three shots on goal, plus-one) while Robert Hägg skated 23:33 (three shots, two hits).
Wayne Simmonds had a team-high five shots on goal for the Flyers. He was also credited with five hits.
PRESEASON GAMEDAY PREVIEW: FLYERS VS. RANGERS
The Flyers will have a quick turnaround from their preseason opening split-squad games, hosting the New York Rangers at the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday. Game time is 7 p.m. EDT.
Based on Tuesday's morning skate, the Flyers lineup appears to be as follows:
Sam Gagner - Sean Couturier - Wayne Simmonds
R.J. Umberger - Scott Laughton - Brayden Schenn
Aaron Palushaj - Nick Cousins - Travis Konecny
Jay Rosehill - Tim Brent - Colin McDonald
Mark Streit - Nick Schultz
Ivan Provorov - Evgeny Medvedev
Travis Sanheim - Shayne Gostisbehere
Steve Mason
[Jason LaBarbera]
Extra forward: Martel (mixed in, possible he's in and Rosehill out)
Playing with a relatively sparse group of NHL regulars in the lineup, the Rangers defeated the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden on Monday, 6-3. Brian Gibbons led the way with a goal and two assists, while Jayson Megna scored twice and Chris Kreider earned a single tally. NHL regulars in the Rangers' Monday lineup included defenseman Kevin Klein (three assists), forward Derek Stepan, and fourth line center Dominic Moore. Antti Raanta (11 saves on 12 shots) and Magnus Hellberg (12 saves on 14 shots) split the goaltending chores.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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