Flyers 4-Goal 2nd Leads Victory Over Lightning

(Kate Frese/Sports Talk Philly)

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

One of the contributing factors to the Flyers five-game winning streak was an overall lack of scoring and not taking advantage of chances or creating them. The Flyers found the right combination on Saturday and that helped put an end to the streak.

Four second-period goals paced the Flyers to a 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday at Wells Fargo Center.

The Flyers came out controlling the play in the first period with one of their better starts in recent memory. That didn't help them avoid giving up the game's first goal.

On a 2-on-1, Vladislav Namestnikov fed a wide-open Nikita Kucherov for a one-timer to put Tampa Bay on the board first. Kucherov's 16th of the season came on Tampa Bay's second shot of the game at 5:34 of the first.

The Flyers outshot the Lightning, 14-7, in the first period and hit two posts, but could not solve Andrei Vasilevskiy in the opening 20 minutes.

The Flyers were able to solve Vasilevskiy in the second period, four times in fact.

The period started with the Flyers answer to Tampa's first-period goal. A 2-on-1 between Jake Voracek and Travis Konecny ended with a great pass from Voracek to Konecny, who roofed a shot bar down for the tying goal.

Midway through the period, the Flyers struck for two quick goals. With the Flyers pressing, a shot by Ivan Provorov got through. Vasilevskiy made the save, but left a big rebound for Sean Couturier and he finished to make it 2-1.

Just over one minute later, Nick Schultz had a breakaway chance to put the Flyers up by two. He was stopped by Vasilevskiy, but the puck went to the corner where Schultz was able to corral and get it to Claude Giroux. Giroux set up Michael Raffl for a one-timer from the high slot to give the Flyers a two-goal lead.

Late in the period, the Lightning got their first power play. While the Flyers did a great job killing the penalty, Tampa Bay struck for a goal moments after, as Alex Killorn jammed home a rebound on the doorstep to make it a one-goal game.

The Flyers wasted no time getting the margin back to two. Brayden Schenn was stopped on a partial breakaway, but Radko Gudas picked up the rebound, carried it behind the net and banked a shot in off a Lightning defenseman. It was Gudas' second goal of the season.

The Flyers held the advantage in shots again in the second, 16-9, and carried a two-goal lead into the final 20 minutes.

The Flyers and Lightning played a scoreless third period, with the Flyers holding the advantage in shots again, 14-10.

Michal Neuvirth made 24 saves in his return to the Flyers net, picking up his first win since Nov. 3. Vasilevskiy stopped 40 shots in the loss.

The Flyers are back in action on the road on Sunday evening when they face the Columbus Blue Jackets. Game time is 6 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• TB Nikita Kucherov (16) (Vladislav Namestnikov, Nikita Nesterov) 5:34

2nd Period

• PHI Travis Konecny (6) (Jake Voracek, Andrew MacDonald) 1:11
• PHI Sean Couturier (7) (Ivan Provorov, Voracek) 8:42
• PHI Michael Raffl (6) (Claude Giroux, Nick Schultz) 9:51
• TB Alex Killorn (13) (Nesterov, Jonathan Drouin) 16:44 
• PHI Radko Gudas (2) (Brayden Schenn) 17:41

3rd Period

• No Scoring

Game Statistics