Flyers-Panthers: Postgame Points

12-6-2016_FlyersvsPanthers_OT_credKateFrese-5

(Kate Frese/Sports Talk Philly)

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

Make it six in a row for the Philadelphia Flyers thanks to the late-game heroics of Jake Voracek, who scored with 8.6 seconds remaining in overtime.

While the thrill of victory was apparent, the Flyers stole another game with great goaltending and a timely goal. But a win is a win, and the Flyers got another two points on Tuesday night against the Florida Panthers.

Here are 10 Postgame Points from Tuesday's Flyers-Panthers game.

  1. That game-winning goal by Jake Voracek look familiar? It should. On March 28, the Flyers claimed a 3-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on an overtime goal by Claude Giroux. Giroux faced the exact situation, in alone within 10 feet of the goalie for the win because of a poke check by a teammate. On that night, Shayne Gostisbehere made the diving play to forward the puck to Giroux. Giroux was the one who forwarded the puck to Voracek and he went five-hole for the win. Ironically, the two goals both happened just seconds away from the game heading to a shootout. Giroux's goal came with 13.6 seconds left. Voracek's on Tuesday came with 8.6 seconds left.
  2. Earlier in the game, Voracek hit the post with a wide open net in front of him. If there is one player who consistently brings energy night in and night out, it's Voracek.
  3. Voracek's game-winning goal would not have been possible without a tremendous blocked shot by Ivan Provorov. With Florida on a 2-on-1, Provorov played it perfectly, defending the pass and stopping the shot with his leg like a goalie. The 19-year-old just keeps making the big plays. He also led the Flyers with 23:23 of ice time. In addition, the 19-year-old Provorov handled the almost 45-year-old Jaromir Jagr like a veteran. Quite an impressive performance for the rookie.
  4. Speaking of goalies, Steve Mason was spectacular again. This is the fifth straight win for Mason, and he earned every bit of it. Just like last Tuesday, Mason's save total was incredibly high, 42 saves on 44 shots for Florida. While the game got to overtime because of a third-period goal, Mason faced 17 shots in the third and stopped 16 of them.
  5. With that in mind, the Flyers were outplayed in the third period by a team that has played the night before. Florida was going to make a push, but the Flyers never put a stop to that as the shots and chances just kept coming. It took until under five minutes to play before the Panthers tied it, but the Flyers nearly let the game slip away altogether with a far too passive approach to the final 20 minutes. To recap, Mason stole the two points, just like last Tuesday, after a third period to forget for the rest of the team, just like last Tuesday.
  6. There may not be a hotter player in the NHL than Wayne Simmonds. Coming off a two-goal game on Sunday, Simmonds added two more goals, one on the power play, to bring his total to 15. As mentioned following Sunday's game, a 40-goal season is definitely in play for the Wayne Train.
  7. For as much as he's ridiculed, the last few games have been good for Andrew MacDonald. In the previous two games, it was the little things defensively that were particularly done well. On Tuesday, he helped on the offensive front with a great lead pass to set up Simmonds first goal.
  8. In his first game of the 2016-17 season, Taylor Leier played just 5:23. Dave Hakstol said he just couldn't get him in there given the game situation and let's hope so. Leier shouldn't be playing minimal minutes, especially if he's going to be Matt Read's replacement for the next month. 
  9. Don't look now, but the Flyers have 33 points in the standings, and while the rest of the league has a couple games in hand, they are two points back of the Metropolitan Division lead. 
  10. A big reason the Flyers have a solid 14-10-3 record is because of their play through the first two periods. In 28 games this season, the Flyers have been tied or leading after two periods in 25 of them. The Flyers also have an 8-5-3 record in one-goal games this season.

Bottom Line

While the finish was certainly memorable and exciting, the path to get there was not. The Flyers third-period effort was unacceptable.

That said, a six-game winning streak, the team's first since 2011, is a huge step for this team. Their road isn't over yet. They have three more games this week and more than half the season to go, but the potential for big things is there.

Additionally, it's great to see the Flyers experiencing this kind of success in front of the home crowd. The Flyers have two more home games this week and then hit the road for three games. With four straight wins at home, the Flyers are now 9-5-2 on home ice, a good foundation for success.

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