The Flyers played tentatively in the early going. Chicago did not. Steve Mason was left high and dry and in a span of 2:06, the game was essentially over. Chicago out-shot Philadelphia, 19-9, in the first period and held a 3-0 lead.
When all was said and done, the Blackhawks came away with a shutout win as the Flyers fell in Chicago, 4-0, on Tuesday night at United Center.
Once again the Flyers got off to a slow start. They were out-shot, 8-1, through the first 10 minutes.
That's when the wheels fell off. Brandon Saad opened the scoring at 11:54. Mason appeared to have the puck under him when his pad was pushed from behind and Saad put the exposed puck in the net.
15 seconds later Michael Raffl went to the box for kneeing. On the ensuing power play, Chicago took a 2-0 lead when Patrick Kane scored his first of the game off a Patrick Sharp shot that went wide. Kane slammed the puck home as it came off the back wall.
1:36 later, Brian Bickell beat Mason high to the stick side for a 3-0 Blackhawks lead. Chicago scored three goals in a span of 2:06 and put to rest any doubt as to who would be victorious.
To Philadelphia's credit, they played a better second period. The Flyers out-shot Chicago, 10-8, in the second stanza. Antti Raanta made a few stellar saves including two in tight on Flyers captain Claude Giroux late in the period to preserve the three-goal lead.
Early in the third, Blair Jones was whistled for charging. Kane capitalized on the ensuing power play for his second goal of the night and a 4-0 lead. The Flyers would get a late powerplay but were unable to score as Raanta stood tall again.
Mason played a decent game, stopping 39 of 43 shots faced, but struggled with rebound control all night. Michael Raffl, despite his two penalties, was arguably the best Flyers skater on the ice. Chicago was just better, faster and provided better puck support all evening.
The Flyers went 0-for-2 on the powerplay while Chicago was 2-for-4 on the powerplay. Antti Raanta made 32 saves in picking up his first shuout of the year and second of his career.
The Flyers take on the Penguins in Pittsburgh tomorrow night. Game time is 8 p.m.
Bill Minchin is a contributing writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Wtfd103074.
