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Wrap: Vegas Nips Flyers, 1-0

October 13, 2018, 4:19 PM ET [114 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
WRAPUP: VEGAS NIPS FLYERS, 1-0

A late third-period turnover by Sean Couturier to Ryan Carpenter begat a Cody Eakin goal that sent the Flyers down to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of the Vegas Golden Knights at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday afternoon. The Flyers played their best 200-foot game of the young season to date and controlled the majority of the game but had nothing to show for it in the end.

Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury produced a 26-save shutout. Along the way, he made several spectacular saves including two sprawling and acrobatic 10-bell stops on Claude Giroux and a shorthanded breakaway denial of Scott Laughton in the second period.

Brian Elliott was not busy in the first 30 minutes of the game but came up big a few times in his own right. He finished with 20 saves on 21 shots.

After getting strafed for five power play goals on 12 shorthanded situations in the last two games, the Flyers had a strong all-around afternoon on the penalty kill in this tilt: good up-ice pressure and entry denials has been a positive in the first five games but, on this afternoon, the Flyers supplemented it with needed clears and better own-zone pressure in going 3-for-3.

Philly's power play had only a pair of first period opportunities. They had decent offensive zone time but were not quite crisp enough on potential scoring chances.

Both teams battled what seemed to be bad ice throughout the game. There were a lot of flubbed stickhandles and passes that hopped away from the intended targets.

The Flyers controlled the majority of the first period, generating a puck possession advantage, two power plays (decent offensive zone time but lacked pinpoint passing) and a 10-5 shot advantage. Vegas' Deryk Engelland, who subsequently left the game in the second period, blocked a half dozen Flyers shot attempts.

The middle frame was more evenly played but Fleury had to make outstanding saves on a Scott Laughton shorthanded breakaway (Laughton then wiped out heavily into the end boards, and had to leave the game before returning for the third period) and then a 10-bell stop on Claude Giroux. Elliott made a tough stop on Tomas Hyka and the Flyers withstood a shaky final shift. Shots were 10-10. The Flyers went 2-for-2 on penalty kills.

In the third period, Vegas started to attack with more speed but the Flyers generally kept play to the outside. No penalty was called on a Brayden McNabb high hit that stapled Oskar Lindblom's head to the left side boards, and Vegas also escaped without a penalty on a puck retrieval in which Ivan Provorov took an accidental high stick and Vegas came away with possession. Philly survived a late game kill with Wayne Simmonds in the box for hooking; an accurate call but a bit of a frustrating one after previous non-calls.

Finally, with 1:25 left in the game, Couturier's flub in the defensive zone was turned into Eakin's goal that snapped the scoreless deadlock. The Flyers made a good 6-on-5 push with Elliott pulled for an extra attacker but Fleury came up huge one final time to rob Giroux. Third period shots were 6-6.
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