Gudas(?!) leads Flyers offense to emphatic win
Game Events
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Forwards
Coming off a disappointing loss to the Edmonton Oilers, the Philadelphia Flyers needed to bounce back immediately. The Flyers corrected their slow start Saturday night against Columbus Blue Jackets, pouring on 17 first-period shots en route to two goals. The second of those goals was particularly noteworthy, coming on a blast from the red line by Radko Gudas. After that, the Flyers maintained firm control of the game, resulting in a lopsided 6-0 final.
Starting at the top, it's a nice night for the Claude Giroux line when they only need to contribute one goal in an offensive explosion. The members of this line had some looks on the power play, but did not have a good game against the Nick Foligno line. Their only goal came just 10 seconds after the Flyers third goal. That quick follow-up goal essentially put the game away late in the second period.
The heroes among the forwards on this night was the Sean Couturier line. Michael Raffl opened the scoring on a nice feed from Gudas. In the second period, Sam Gagner scored perhaps the most pivotal goal of the game on a 2-on-1, as he continues to be a valuable offensive piece during the Flyers playoff push. The line would finish the game plus-3.
The Nick Cousins line had the least ice time of the Flyers lines, but played a strong game. The line had preposterous possession numbers. Most of this came against the Jackets fourth line, where they went 15-0 in shot attempts. Cousins also got on the board eventually with a third-period goal.
The Pierre-Edouard Bellemare line had a quiet night by comparison. They stayed positive on possession despite pretty tough deployment and matchups, and you could say they completed the sweep for Flyers lines each scoring a goal — they were on the ice for Gudas' goal from center ice.
Defense
This game belongs to Radko Gudas. Gudas had a four-point night, including a crazy goal on a red-line slapshot beating Curtis McElhinney clean. Before that, he had a pretty assist on Raffl's goal. Gudas has simply been playing like a man possessed. Over the last two games, Gudas has four points, 26 shot attempts and 11 hits. Is this what happens when he channels his energy away from reckless hits?
Other than Gudas, Mark Streit and Nick Schultz did the heavy lifting on defense tonight. They had most of the duties versus the Jackets top two lines, but stayed on the positive side of possession and finished plus-1.
Lastly, Shayne Gostisbehere and Andrew MacDonald had a steady night. They also finished plus-1, and most of the action for Ghost came on the power play. The bounces have turned against him after his long point streak, but he was dangerous putting up seven shot attempts. He and Gudas combined for 20 shot attempts, making it the second straight game Gudas and Ghost were the Flyers most frequent shooters.
Marc Naples is a contributor to Flyerdelphia and Sports Talk Philly. Follow him on Twitter @SuperScrub47.
