After a quiet first period last night, it looked like the Philadelphia Flyers and St. Louis Blues may settle in to another game devoid of any offense. That all changed rather quickly, with the Blues opening the scoring and the Flyers storming back with three second period goals.
Overall the Flyers put in a professional effort last night. Their best lines provided a few even strength goals, and team played patiently and avoid any swoons while protecting the lead. It goes down as a 4-2 win for the Flyers.
Game Flow
Goals:
0 – 1. Fabbri (Jaskin). PHI on-ice: 76, 78, 93, 23, 53
1 – 1. Raffl (Schenn, Giroux). PHI on-ice: 10, 12, 28, 3, 15
2 – 1. Read (Del Zotto, Simmonds). PHI on-ice: 14, 17, 24, 3, 15
3 – 1. Giroux (Schenn, Schultz). PHI on-ice: 10, 28, 93, 3, 55
3 – 2. PPG, Backes (Steen, Shattenkirk). PHI on-ice: 76, 78, 3, 15
4 – 2. Empty net, White (Giroux). PHI on-ice: 24, 25, 28, 3, 55
Forwards
All seems right in the world when your best lines get the job done. The Giroux line came up with a very quick response after the Blues took a 1-0 lead, and Giroux scored a highlight reel goal in what was the eventual game-winner.
The Couturier line provided the third even-strength goal. Matt Read finally bagged one after getting so many chances recently.
On an individual level, it is noteworthy to see Ryan White getting so many minutes beyond his linemates. He has goals in two consecutive games, and threw seven hits last night. Dave Hakstol obviously likes what he sees, evidenced by his ice time and the trust to be on the ice in the final minute of the game when protecting a lead.
Equally noteworthy is Jake Voracek's struggles. It is downright depressing to see Voracek with the worst Corsi on the team last night, and playing fewer minutes than his linemates. How long will Voracek remain outside of the top-6?
Defense
If there was any doubts about Radko Gudas returning to his spot in the lineup, they were answered last night. Gudas led the team in 5v5 ice time, threw seven hits, blocked three shots, and was a +4. There is a looming log jam of Flyers defensemen when everyone gets healthy, but the top pair should be set.
It wasn't pretty numbers for the other half of the Flyers' top four defensemen. They particularly struggled against the Tarasenko line, with an approximate 20 percent Corsi against them. Nick Schultz and Evgeni Medvedev did hold down the fort, not allowing any goals with Schultz blocking 7 shots.
Marc Naples is a contributor to Flyerdelphia and Sports Talk Philly. Follow him on Twitter@SuperScrub47.
