Philadelphia Flyers Win Again in Shootout: Stats and Notes

The Philadelphia Flyers are beginning to find more consistency and now have a 3 game win streak going after beating the Islanders in a shootout, 3-2

It would’ve made sense for this to be a wild, open game. The Philadelphia Flyers are dead last in goals against in the NHL, while the New York Islanders are 25th. Instead, we got a relatively subdued game.

There were no goals until Travis Konecny broke the deadlock halfway through the game. The Flyers were playing a solid game, limiting chances against while getting a few chances for themselves, but a few power plays finally caught up to them with a virtual 5-on-3 power play goal by John Tavares at the end of the second period.

With both team playing conservatively in the 3rd, things took a disastrous turn for the Flyers. Michal Neuvirth had been playing a solid game, but then he let in a very, very poor goal. This forced the Flyers to press for a game-tying goal, and for the second time in as many nights, found a last minute goal. Ultimately, the game was decided by a shootout, with Neuvirth recovering to stop all 3 shootout attempts while Claude Giroux scored with supreme style.

Forwards

• Schenn Demoted. Claude Giroux saw the return of Michael Raffl to his line, while Brayden Schenn was sent to the 4th line (or is it the 3rd?) with Nick Cousins and Chris VandeVelde. The line shuffle generally worked out, based on ice time and Corsi differential of each line.

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• Giroux Overcomes. Claude Giroux briefly left the game in the 3rd period after getting a whack in the mouth. He wasn’t able to participate in the Flyers push for an equalizer, but he did score the shootout winner. Let’s admire it again.
• “Only” 50% for Couts Line. This game had the unusual sight of the Couturier-Voracek-Konecny line as being the Flyers’ lowest Corsi performer. No worries, however, as they created some chances, played a lot of minutes, and scored the Flyers’ only even-strength goal.

Defense

• MacDonald Out. The only change to the Flyers defensive lineup tonight was Andrew MacDonald was removed due to injury, so in came Nick Schultz. This pair had a decent night, although their 5v5 ice time was limited partially because Ghost played over 7 minutes on the power play.
• Ghost Shoots, and Shoots, and Shoots. No points for Ghost tonight, but he had 15 (!) shot attempts in this one.
• Gudas Leads. The Gudas-Manning pairing carried a large burden in this one in terms of minutes and matchups. Gudas also made a great play and pass leading to Konecny’s goal. I don’t think many would question that he has been the Flyers’ best defenseman since returning from suspension.
• Provorov-Streit Quietly Strong. It seems like a quiet night on the surface for the pairing of Mark Streit and Ivan Provorov, but the players played key roles special teams. They also split duties of checking the John Tavares line with Gudas and Manning.

Goaltending and Special Teams

Starting in net, Michal Neuvirth got the start again on back to back nights. That’s a vote of confidence from Hakstol right there, and Neuvirth responded with a good game. We’ll just have to write-off the Seidenberg goal in this one as a fluke mistake.

As for special teams, it was a busier night for the Flyers special teams than other recent games. First, the Flyers penalty kill did well in 3 power plays, but did concede a goal to Tavares in what was basically a 5-on-3 situation (technically it was 5-on-4 as the 5-on-3 ended seconds before).

On the other side of the ice, the Flyers power play finished 1 for 5. The only goal came from Matt Read in a 6-4 situation at the end of the game. Notably, this was scored by a mish-mash of the first and second units.

Next: Voracek Ready for Big Things

Up Next

The Philadelphia Flyers get a single day off, before travelling to Montreal Saturday night. The Canadiens are the hottest team in the NHL, and are 9-0-1 overall. Led by Carey Price and Shea Weber, they’ve allowed by far the fewest goals in the NHL. The teams previously met October 24, with the Canadiens coming out on the winning end of a tight game.

On the Flyers side, Michael Del Zotto is eligible to come off the injured-reserved list on Saturday, and is expected to play for the Flyers.