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Wrap: Late 5-on-3 Disadvantages Prove Fatal in 6-5 Loss in Nashville |
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The Flyers ended their season opening road trip in frustrating fashion in a bizarre seesaw game in Nashville on Tuesday night. Ultimately a two-minute 5-on-3 penalty, an unsuccessful coach's challenge on the tying goal (resulting in a new 5-on-3 disadvantage) and then another Nashvile power play goal sent Philly down to a 6-5 defeat in regulation.
Filip Forsberg scored an even strength and the game-winning power play goal for the Predators in the third period and also collected earlier assist for a three-point game. Former Flyer Scott Hartnell scored a second period even strength goal and the disputed game-tier at 18:48 of the third period and redeemed himself for an undisciplined penalty that proved costly to his own team. Nashville also got goals by Craig Smith and Nick Bonino.
The Flyers trailed, 3-0, then stormed back to score five goals and take a 5-3 lead. Valtteri Filppula notched a pair of power play goals, while Nolan Patrick scored at even strength for his first NHL goal. Philly also got a nifty goal by Travis Konecny when he got home free on the rush. Andrew MacDonald scored the goal that started the Philadelphia rally in the second period.
Tuesday night's game was one in which Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol pushed two wrong buttons that proved costly. The coach's challenge in a tie game was a foolish gamble when the stakes were another 5-on-3 disadvantage with 1:47 left on the regulation clock. The play in question was very close at the line to being offside, but it was very tough to tell definitively based on TV replays.
In that situation, the much smarter decision (even if the 50-50-ish challenge had gone in the Flyers' favor) would have been to try to nurse the final 1:17 of the clock on a 5-on-4 kill and get the inter-conference game to OT with a point in the bank. If it had been a go-ahead goal instead of a tying goal then, yes, challenge it.
Hakstol also left himself open to be second-guessed for his goalie selection. Over the first three games, the best start by a Flyers goalie had been Michal Neuvirth's performance in the 2-0 loss in LA last Thursday. Brian Elliott hadn't been bad in his previous two starts but he wasn't great, either. Hakstol elected to start Elliott in this game, and was not rewarded for it.
The veteran fought the puck all night and let in a soft goal early in the second period that turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-0 gap. Although Elliott was not to blame for what happened late in the game, he had played a part in digging the initial hole the Flyers had to climb out of despite controlling the territorial play by a wide margin in the latter half of the first period and the start of the second. Before the Flyers knew what hit them, it was a 3-0 deficit.
At 3-0, I though the Flyers might change goalies. They didn't, but might have if the team hadn't rallied to knot the game in rapid fashion. If it had been a 3-0 deficit heading into the third period, perhaps there'd have been a change.
Would Neuvirth have fared better in this game? That's unknowable. Maybe he would have churned out another "A" game or perhaps he'd have struggled, too. However, if the question whether Neuvirth should have started the game in Nashville based on the respective bodies of work of the two goaltenders both in camp and the first three games of the regular season, the answer would be yes in this writer's opinion.
To reiterate, Elliott should not shoulder the blame for all that transpired in the third period. He also came up with a handful of timely saves. Over the course of the game overall, however, there were simply too many routine Nashville shots that turned into adventures. The game never felt under control for the Flyers as soon as their short-lived 5-3 lead became 5-4. Elliott finished with 25 saves on 31 shots. For Nashville, Pekka Rinne stopped 25 of 30 Flyers shots.
The Flyers went 2-for-5 on the power play, Nashville finished 3-for-4 on power plays.
Playing in their home opener and celebrating their 2016-17 Western Conference championship, the Predators were expected to come out storming early. They didn't disappoint the home crowd. Elliott had to make a tough one-on-one save against Arvidsson in the opening half-minute of the game. The then Preds got their first power play less than three minutes into the game and cashed it in to open the scoring.
At 4:17, the Predators worked the puck around the perimeter. Smith then moved into the high right slot and wristed a shot past Elliott for a power play goal and a 1-0 lead. The assists went to Kevin Fiala and Mattias Ekholm.
Through 10 minutes, shots were 8-2 in the Preds' favor. The Nolan Patrick line responded with the Flyers' best early shift of the game and first bonafide scoring chance as the center worked the puck in deep and the Flyers set up a forecheck. The puck went out to Sanheim, who wristed a shot on net. Rinne didn't get it cleanly but found the loose puck ahead of Dale Weise for a stoppage.
Philly began to gain momentum in subsequent shifts. Rinne made a bang-bang stop on Couturier in the final six minutes of the period. In the final minute, Valtteri Filppula cut in from the right circle and put the puck at the net. Jordan Weal had a whack at the puck in close but Rinne made the stop.
Smith took a slashing penalty with 39.6 seconds left in the first period, sending the Flyers on their first power play. The Flyers took 1:21 of carryover time into the second period. First period shots ended up at 9-9.
Philly got off to a good start early in the second period but found themselves trailing 2-0 at 3:08. This one was a bad goal. Elliott left out a fat rebound in the left circle off a harmless long distance shot by Pontus Åberg. Ex-Flyers left winger Hartnell pounced on it outside of the dots and fired a shot that found the short side for his 2nd goal of the season.
Immediately following the Hartnell goal, Konency weaved in the offensive zone and set up a chance for Nolan Patrick. Moments later, Weise took the puck hard to the net for a scoring chance of his own. A scrum ensued after the whistle.
Bonino made it 3-0 at 5:11. Ekholm took a D-to-D pass, weaved easily around poor coverage by Giroux and took the puck directly to the net. Bonino found the rebound ahead of Robert Hägg and stashed it home at 5:11 for his first goal as a Predator. The secondary assist went to P.K. Subban.
Philly got its second power play on a needless slashing penalty by Yannick Weber at 7:32. The top unit generated very heavy pressure and traffic but Simmonds was unable to stash home a rebound on the best chance.
The Flyers got a goal back at 10:19. MacDonald made a good play in the neutral zone and then joined a Laughton line rush. Pouncing on the puck in the high center slot off a feed from Laughton, MacDonald ripped the puck through some traffic in front for his first goal of the season. Laughton and Taylor Leier earned the assists.
Sixteen seconds later, Patrick got the Flyers back within a goal at 10:36. Weise did the heavy lifting on the forecheck and then with a pass-out to Patrick stationed in the right slot. With a quick shot release, Patrick found the net. Weise got the lone assist.
The Couturier lane pressured right after the Patrick goal and nearly tied the game. Elliott then had to stop Hartnell on the doorstep on a second chance opportunity on a 2-on-1 rush. At 12:23 with the Flyers right back on the forecheck, Raffl drew a hooking penalty on Subban behind the Nashville net.
The Flyers had a sloppy power play to fall into an 0-for-15 spell. They quickly had another chance, though, as the Preds were caught with too many men on the ice at 14:38. This time, on their fourth power play of the game, Philly capitalized and tied the game at 3-3.
Through a Simmonds screen, Voracek put a shot on net from the right point. Filppula jumped on the rebound in the left slot and quickly put it home for his first goal of the season. The power play assists at 15:05 went to Voracek (fifth assist of the season) and Gostisbehere (fourth assist).
Weal protected the puck and found operating space in the waning seconds of the period. With time about to expire, Simmonds took a pass from Filppula but his hurried shot from the slot missed the mark. Second period shots were 15-8 in Philly's favor (24-17 overall to the Flyers' advantage).
The Flyers' fourth line had the best shift of the early third period. Robert Hägg subsequently erased a dangerous-looking scoring chance for Hartnell with a clutch block.
At 5:03, Philly took their first lead. After Elliott fought off a side angle shot by Järnkrok, Philly's Gostisbehere gathered the rebound. With Subban caught pinching, Weal banked the puck ahead to Konecny. Attacking with speed, Konecny rocketed into the offensive zone and roofed the puck under the crossbar for his first goal of the season.
Hartnell took an awful neutral zone roughing penalty at , sending the Flyers on their fifth power play with a chance to extend the lead. Philly wasted little time. Giroux moved behind the net and centered the puck out to Filppula at the left hash marks. The Finn found the twine for his second power play marker of the game.
The Predators got the goal right back. A flip pass by Ryan Johansen found looped over Gudas and found Forsberg. The Swede went upstairs over Elliott from the right slot. Samuel Girard gor the secondary assist on Forsberg's second goal of the season at 7:38.
Nashville gained momentum from the Forsberg goal and increasingly spent much of their shifts in the Flyer's end for the next seven minutes. A strong forechecking shift by Jordan Weal and the rest of the Filppula line helped to finally calm things down, at least temporarily. Play over the next several shifts was much more even.
With 3:41 left, Elliott had some trouble tracking a puck off a clean left circle faceoff win but awkwardly smothered it. Off the next draw, the Flyers' top line won and went to the attack.
With 2:41 left and a delayed holding penalty on Weise for dragging down Ekholm with a loose arm on the forecheck, MacDonald was called for tripping. Nashville received a full two-minute, 5-on-3 power play. The Weise penalty was a legit one, although it also might have been inteference on the Preds. The second one was rather marginal.
The Preds soon pulled Rinne to make it a 6-on-3 attack. Couturier came up with a diving clear. Elliott stopped a side-angle shot by Fiala.
At 18:43, however, Hartnell bagged his own rebound after an initial save in tight by Elliott. The Flyers challenged the goal, claiming off-side on the entry. It was mighty close. The goal stood, however, and the Flyers were now on an ongoing 5-on-3 disadvantage due to the delay of game penalty for the unsuccessful challenge. Forsberg and Subban received the assists.
After the 5-on-3 expired, Forsberg scored again from a sharp angle, finding the top corner on the long side as the Preds took a 6-5 lead. Subban and Fiala got the helpers at 19:24 on the power play that was a direct result of the failed challenge of the Hartnell goal.
With scant time left to work, the Flyers pulled Elliott for an extra attacker. They were unable to score.
The Flyers (2-2-0) will begin a five-game homestand on Saturday night.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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