Flyers blanked in 1-0 loss to Preds

(Kate Frese/SB Nation)

After playing an exciting 6-5 barn burner in Nashville, the Philadelphia Flyers fell to the Nashville Predators in a 1-0 defensive duel.

By Dan Heaning, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 

After suffering an infuriating defeat to the Nashville Predators nine days ago, the Philadelphia Flyers missed an opportunity for payback at the friendly confines of the Wells Fargo Center as they dropped tonight's contest 1-0.

The lone goal came early in the third period, Andrew MacDonald pinched into the high slot but fumbled the puck away to Nashville. With only Ivan Provorov back to defend the resulting two-on-one, Kevin Fiala saucered a pass to Colton Sissons who roofed it over Michal Neuvirth's blocker.

It was a stark contrast to the previous meeting, the 6-5 run-and-gun tempo in Nashville was traded in for a 1-3-1 defensive duel with both Neuvirth and Pekka Rinne making a variety of quality saves.

Nevirth had yet another valiant effort go into the loss column as his 23-save effort tonight is his second defeat of the young season, both of which the team was shutout. The Flyers goalie has surrendered only four goals in his three starts.

The Flyers were not without their chances. They failed to convert on multiple man-advantages which proved to be costly for the team. Their first two power plays were almost devoid of quality chances, but they managed to put together a number shots during the third. However, Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne stood tall.

In the third period, a costly interference minor by Wayne Simmonds shortened a Flyers power play opportunity to only thirty seconds. And a late power play with slightly over a minute to go in the game was not enough to crack the Rinne riddle.

There were some last minute changes to the lineup that might explain the sudden lack of production for the Flyers in this contest.

Going into the game, there was concern about the status of Simmonds after an injury scare against the Florida Panthers Tuesday night. However, it was Jordan Weal that would miss the game with an upper body injury. This allowed Jori Lehtera to suit up for the first time this season and resulted in Matt Read's recall from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Without Weal, the Flyers second power play unit lost its chemistry and the second line, now consisting of Simmonds, Lehtera and Valtteri Filppula rarely sustained offensive zone pressure.

The Flyers will be back in action against the Edmonton Oilers for a Saturday afternoon matinee scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Wells Fargo Center.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• No Scoring

2nd Period

• No Scoring

3rd Period

• NSH Colton Sissons (2, 3:49)

Game Statistics