Elliott, Flyers Claim Win Against Blackhawks

(Kate Frese/SB Nation)

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

In last Wednesday's game in Chicago, Brian Elliott probably deserved a better fate than the Flyers 3-0 loss.

On Thursday night, Elliott was on his game, making 38 saves, and on the right end of the result as well in a 3-1 Flyers win over the Blackhawks at Wells Fargo Center.

The Flyers jumped out to an early lead. Jake Voracek entered the zone and drew both Chicago defensemen to him. That left Claude Giroux open in the slot and he fired a one-timer past Corey Crawford to open the scoring at 4:58. It was Giroux's ninth goal of the season.

The Flyers added another goal later in the first. This time, it was Voracek delivering a one-timer to the back of the net off a nice feed from Shayne Gostisbehere. The goal was Voracek's fourth of the season. With the primary assist, Gostisbehere reached 100 points for his career, the 25th Flyers defenseman and fastest among them to reach the feat.

Chicago got a late power play and started to generate chances, but the Flyers and Elliott stood tall in keeping the Blackhawks off the board through the first 20 minutes. Shots through the first period were 16-12 Flyers.

The Flyers wasted little time in padding their lead to start the second period. The top line was buzzing again, and some quick passing by the entire line resulted in a goal.

Voracek got a pass over to Giroux who centered for Sean Couturier for an easy tap-in goal. It was Couturier's 10th goal of the season.

Chicago finally got on the board with 3:47 left in the period. Connor Murphy tried a shot that deflected off a body in front and came right back to his stick. With a quick release, he beat an unsuspecting Elliott to get the Blackhawks on the board.

Moments later, Radko Gudas took a tripping penalty. Just 16 seconds into that kill, Ivan Provorov lifted a clearing attempt over the glass for a delay of game penalty to put the Flyers down two men for 1:44.

With strong penalty killing and a couple good saves by Elliott, the Flyers were able to kill off the 5-on-3 for Chicago and keep the margin at two goals.

Through 40 minutes, the Blackhawks had a 23-21 advantage in shots.

The Blackhawks controlled more of the play in the third period, getting 14 shots on goal in the final 20 minutes. The Flyers had to kill a Chicago power play with under six minutes to play and successfully did.

Elliott was the story in the final period, making several tough saves to keep the Flyers ahead and secure the win.

Elliott finished the game with 38 saves on 39 shots. Crawford stopped 28 of 31 Chicago shots.

Giroux and Voracek each finished with three-point games, one goal and two assists for each.

The Flyers are back on home ice on Saturday night as they face the Minnesota Wild. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• PHI Claude Giroux (9) (Jake Voracek) 4:58
• PHI Voracek (4) (Shayne Gostisbehere, Giroux) 12:08

2nd Period

• PHI Sean Couturier (10) (Giroux, Voracek) 3:51
• CHI Connor Murphy (1) (Lance Bouma, Jan Rutta) 16:13

3rd Period

• No Scoring

Game Statistics