Giroux, JVR Net 1st Goals of Season in Flyers Win Over Hawks

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

Following the Flyers 6-2 win over Vegas on Monday, a game that featured goals from every line but the veteran-heavy top trio, Alain Vigneault said the team needed to get more out of Claude Giroux, James van Riemsdyk and Jake Voracek. Through the first seven games, Giroux had been held without a goal and van Riemsdyk without a point.

That changed on Thursday in Chicago.

The Flyers got the first goal of the game again and Giroux and van Riemsdyk finally got on the board as the Flyers picked up a 4-1 win over the Blackhawks.

The Flyers thought they had the first goal of the game at 6:09 of the first period. Off a rush, Joel Farabee entered the zone, stopped and centered for Kevin Hayes who tipped the pass in for the goal, but after a review was ruled to be offside.

The Flyers did get the game's first goal at 13:05. Travis Konecny and Oskar Lindblom teamed up once again with Konecny feeding a pass to Lindblom on a two-on-one and Lindblom finishing high over Robin Lehner for his fifth goal of the season.

Chicago had the edge in shots through 20 minutes, 7-5.

Early in the second, the Flyers got on the board again. Travis Sanheim threw the puck to the slot and Giroux was there to tip it into the net for his first of the season just 59 seconds into the period.

The Flyers dominated the second period, outshooting Chicago 13-1, but could not solve Lehner.

Early in the third, the Blackhawks started to push and were finally able to get on the board. Off a defensive breakdown, Brandon Saad got a breakaway and put a move on Brian Elliott for the goal one minute into the period.

Chicago kept the pressure on before the Flyers got a golden opportunity and cashed in. Hayes won a race for the puck against Brent Seabrook and went the other way on a breakaway, beating Lehner with a wrist shot to make it 3-1 at 5:03. Farabee picked up an assist on the goal for his first NHL point.

Just two minutes later, Farabee appeared to have his first goal as he created a turnover and went in on a breakaway, getting his own rebound for the goal. But again, Chicago challenged for offside and it was determined that Hayes was offside again trying to touch up at the line.

The Flyers did finally get their fourth goal of the game late with Chicago again pushing. With just 3:16 remaining, van Riemsdyk forced a turnover and made a nice move to score for his first goal of the season.

The Flyers were outshot, 16-5, in the third period, but Elliott stood tall, finishing the game with 23 saves on 24 shots. Lehner finished with 19 saves on 23 shots.

van Riemsdyk finished with two points. Late in the game, Michael Raffl blocked a shot and needed help getting off the ice. 

The Flyers get back on the ice on Saturday night as they host the Columbus Blue Jackets at 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• PHI Oskar Lindblom (5) (Travis Konecny) 13:05

2nd Period

• PHI Claude Giroux (1) (Travis Sanheim, James van Riemsdyk) 0:59

3rd Period

• CHI Brandon Saad (3) (Andrew Shaw, Kirby Dach) 1:00
• PHI Kevin Hayes (3) (Scott Laughton, Joel Farabee) 5:03
• PHI van Riemsdyk (1) (Unassisted) 16:44

Game Statistics