Radko Gudas had a career night with two goals and two assists. Michael Raffl, Sam Gagner, Claude Giroux and Nick Cousins all scored. Steve Mason made 19 saves and the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets by a score of 6-0 on Saturday night in Philadelphia.
Michael Raffl got the Flyers on the board 3:40 into the first. Raffl deflected home a Radko Gudas pass in tight for his ninth of the season. Sean Couturier picked up the second assist.
Gudas made it 2-0 with his first goal of the season at 11:45 of the period. Gudas fired a shot from just over center ice that found it's way home. Chris VandeVelde and Brandon Manning picked up the assists.
Scott Hartnell took the games first penalty when he was called for throwing the stick at 13:20. Philadelphia had some very good chances but were unable to score with the man advantage.
The Flyers would close out the period with a late power play when Dalton Prout was called for cross checking at 19:00. The Flyers were unable to score before the end of the stanza and took a 2-0 lead into the locker room.
Philadelphia started the second with a minute of power play time left on the Prout minor. The Flyers were unable to score and the game remained 2-0.
For much of the rest of the period, neither team was able to generate much in the way of shots nor chances.
That was until Sam Gagner made it 3-0 at 17:13 of the period. Gagner scored his sixth of the season on a two on one. Gagner elected to shoot and beat Curtis McElhinney to the glove side. Andrew MacDonald and Gudas picked up the helpers.
Just ten seconds later Claude Giroux made it 4-0 with his 18th goal of the season. The Flyers captain slammed home the puck from the slot. Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn picked up the assists.
Steve Mason made seven saves in the period for a total of 13 through two periods and the Flyers took a 4-0 lead to the room with 20 minutes to play.
The Flyers would extend the lead even further when Nick Cousins made it 5-0 with his fourth of the season. The played was reviewed briefly after it was ruled no goal on the ice. Matt Read picked up the lone assist.
Just 26 seconds later, Gudas made it 6-0 with his second of the game and second on the year. Manning and Raffl picked up the helpers.
The Blue Jackets had a chance to break through late when Nick Schultz was assesed a double minor for high sticking at 11:57 of the third. The Flyers penalty killers along with Mason did an outstanding job as Columbus was unable to score.
Mason turned aside all 19 shots for the shutout. The Flyers will be in action again on Monday when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning. Game time is 7:00.
Bill Minchin is a contributing writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow Bill on Twitter @Wtfd103074
