NHL 20 Flyers Simulation: Jakub Voracek’s hat trick leads the way
With the NHL season currently on pause, we’ll be taking you through each remaining Flyers game thanks to NHL 20.
To start off, we will be going with a full simulation of each Flyers game. Meaning each period will be about 10 minutes long. The lines used will be the last known combinations so injuries will be taken into account. Of course, we can’t simulate when players would return or how the goaltending rotation would look.
Anyway, this is how the Flyers looked against Tampa.
Claude Giroux–Sean Couturier–Jakub Voracek
Joel Farabee–Kevin Hayes–Travis Konecny
Scott Laughton–Derek Grant–Tyler Pitlick
Michael Raffl–Connor Bunnaman–Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Shayne Gostisbehere–Robert Hagg
Now, let’s get down to business. First of all, NHL 20 refs call a lot of penalties. Combined, the two teams were called for six penalties. The Flyers had five power plays, all in the first period. Tampa’s only power play was in the second period. So we may have to turn down the penalties later on.
It was a busy first period for the Flyers with all the time spent on the power play. Their first two opportunities didn’t produce much. They even gave up a short-handed chance. So pretty accurate thus far. The team broke through on their third opportunity.
Hayes grabbed his first of two goals off the feed from Aube-Kubel. Aube-Kubel won a board battle against Kevin Shattenkirk and found Hayes in front for the one-timer.
The lead didn’t last long, though. Nikita Kucherov found some space in the middle and fired a shot past Elliott. He was clearly screened on the play as he hardly moved for the save attempt.
The Flyers grabbed the lead right back thanks to Grant. Provorov had the puck against the boards and sent it to Laughton who spun and immediately gave it to Grant for the one-timer.
The Flyers would grab two more goals in the period, both by Voracek. One of those was a power-play goal. Ryan McDonagh would get a late goal to bring Tampa back to within two. Giving up a goal with less than five seconds left just sounds like something the Flyers would do.
The second period was just as crazy as the teams combined for three goals. Voracek grabbed the hat trick early in the period. After the original save was made, Giroux went to work behind the net. He forced his way past Shattenkirk and found Voracek in front. His shot just missed the leg of Mikhail Sergachev and went just over the skate of Andrei Vasilevskiy. It hit off the post and went in.
Pat Maroon tried to help Tampa climb back in with his first of two goals. He took it upon himself by skating in and firing a shot from just outside the faceoff circle. Elliott had the puck between his pads before a collision with Provorov knocked it in. Again, it sounds about right there.
Tampa, on their first and only power play, managed to climb closer off a shot from Kucherov. Alex Killorn skated in and deked around Niskanen. His original shot was stopped, but Kucherov followed up on the rebound with a backhander past Elliott.
So at 5-4 after two periods, it was a close one. And that didn’t stop in the third. The Flyers managed to outscore Tampa to hold on for the 7-5 victory. Hayes grabbed his second in the period while Maroon also scored for the second time.
The Lightning pulled the goaltender with less than a minute left. Both Grant and Raffl failed to hit the empty net before Laughton put the game away for good.
The Flyers’ next game was scheduled for March 14th where they would take on the Minnesota Wild. It would be their first of three straight home games. So until then, enjoy the Flyers’ big victory over Tampa.