Carpenter’s Late Goal Sinks Flyers Against Vegas

(Kate Frese/SB Nation)

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

For the better part of 55 minutes, the Flyers held the better of the play against another of the West's best teams. But late in the game, they lost one battle too many, and it allowed the Vegas Golden Knights to capitalize.

The Golden Knights got a goal from Ryan Carpenter with 2:40 left in the third period while Marc-Andre Fleury made 38 saves to give Vegas the 3-2 win over the Flyers on Monday night at Wells Fargo Center.

Vegas got an early power play as the Flyers were whistled for too many men on the ice. The Flyers had nearly killed off the penalty when a bounce went against them.

Erik Haula attempted a pass across the crease to Colin Miller, but had the attempt hit off of Petr Mrazek's stick and into the net to open the scoring at 6:17. It was Haula's 25th goal of the season.

The teams played several minutes after that without a stoppage with both teams getting chances in close and on some strange bounces. The Flyers also had a power play in the opening period, but their struggles on the man-advantage continued.

Shots were even, 9-9, through 20 minutes.

The Flyers had an early answer in the second period. Sean Couturier set up Claude Giroux for a quick shot high over the glove of Fleury for his 25th goal of the season at 1:27 of the period.

The Flyers peppered the Vegas net with 16 shots in the period, but were unable to solve Fleury for the rest of the second as the veteran netminder made several saves to keep the game tied. The Flyers also had a second power play and failed to score.

Shots were 25-17 Flyers through two periods.

Vegas got a power play early in the third and once again found a way to cash in. The Flyers got another bad break as the Golden Knights cycled the puck and got a long shot through a screen that Mrazek was able to stop with the pad. The rebound came right out to William Karlsson and he scored for his 36th goal of the season to give Vegas the lead.

But as quickly as Vegas grabbed the lead, the Flyers tied the game back up. On a power play of their own, some quick passing put the puck on the stick of Wayne Simmonds and he went upstairs on Fleury for his first goal since returning from injury to even the score at two.

The Flyers got another power play shortly after, but failed to score despite some decent zone time. It made them 1-for-4 on the power play for the night, and the three missed opportunity would come back to haunt them in the end.

Late in the game, Vegas kept applying pressure and outworked the Flyers to get the puck in front to an open Ryan Carpenter. Carpenter went high with his shot to score with 2:40 left in regulation for his eighth goal of the season.

The Flyers pulled Mrazek in the final 1:30 to try to find an equalizer, but Fleury finished off a gem, making 38 saves in picking up his 400th career win. Mrazek finished the game with 26 saves.

The loss was the Flyers sixth in the last seven games and also their fifth in regulation in that time.

The Flyers are back on the ice on Thursday when they play host to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Game time is 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• VGK Erik Haula (25) PP (David Perron, Nate Schmidt) 6:17

2nd Period

• PHI Claude Giroux (25) (Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny) 1:27

3rd Period

• VGK William Karlsson (36) PP (Tomas Hyka, Shea Theodore) 6:00
• PHI Wayne Simmonds (21) PP (Jake Voracek, Shayne Gostisbehere) 7:06
• VGK Ryan Carpenter (8) (Cody Eakin, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare) 17:40

Game Statistics