Lindblom shines in Philadelphia Flyers win over Los Angeles

The Philadelphia Flyers played their second of a four game west coast road trip against the Los Angeles Kings looking for their sixth win of the season.

Earning their first win in four games against Anaheim on Tuesday, the Philadelphia Flyers set their sights on winning back-to-back games for the first time this season against the Los Angeles Kings on the road.

Head coach Dave Hakstol went with the exact same lineup he iced against the Ducks, and one can’t blame him as they got the win with it. Brain Elliott started in-net opposing Jack Campbell. Elliott had a 3-5-0 record coming in, with a 3.23 Goals-Against Average and a .889 save percentage.

Wayne Simmonds started the game off taking a tripping penalty, which gave the Kings the game’s first power-play opportunity. The Flyers killed the penalty off, with Dale Weise almost scoring shorthanded towards the end of the opportunity. Christian Folin put a big hit on Ilya Kovalchuk, but Kovalchuk didn’t touch the puck, making it an interference penalty. Jori Lehtera took a hooking call just 30 seconds into the power-play, giving the Kings a two man advantage.

The Flyers would eventually kill both penalties thanks to two huge saves from Elliott. Philadelphia applied pressure throughout the period, and finally struck first on a goal from Ivan Provorov. It was his second goal in two games and also his second on the season. The Flyers led at the end of the period, outshooting the Kings 13 to 7.

The second period began with some dominate offensive play from the Orange and Black, but Campbell stood his ground. Los Angeles returned with some chances of their own as Elliott also stood tall. Kyle Clifford took a holding penalty a little later in the period, and gave the Flyers their first power-play opportunity of the game. They had their chances, but Campbell said no as the Kings killed the penalty.

Travis Konecny took a high sticking penalty later on, and put Los Angeles on their fourth power-play of the game. Former Flyer Jeff Carter took advantage, as he tied the game up at one with a power-play goal. Simmonds responded quickly, scoring his seventh goal of the year and put Philadelphia up 2-1. Oskar Lindblom had the primary assist on the goal with a nice set-up pass to Simmonds from behind the net. Lindblom would go on to net a goal of his own, and gave the Flyers a two goal lead. The Kings would get one back on a goal from Kovalchuk, but were still down 3-2 entering the third.

Weise had a golden chance to regain a two goal lead for the Flyers, but Campbell robbed him in front to start the third period. Scott Laughton took a tripping penalty about a minute later and put the Kings on their fifth power play. This wouldn’t cost the Flyers, as they killed the penalty off. Claude Giroux would put Philadelphia back up by two after Sean Couturier sprung him for a breakaway goal. Robert Hagg would tack on another after scoring on an empty net, and the Flyers won 5-2.

Lindblom had his first multi-point game of his NHL career with one goal and one assist on the evening. Elliott was rock solid yet again, making 23 saves on 25 shots.

This is the Flyers sixth win and first winning streak of the season. They will look for their third straight victory as they take on the Sharks in San Jose on Saturday night!