With the number one seed on the line, Aube-Kubel made sure the Flyers came out on top.
The Philadelphia Flyers and Tampa Bay Lightning took to the ice with the number one seed up for grabs. The two were actually supposed to face off back in March before the season was paused. It was expected to be a big matchup then and it certainly still held that weight tonight.
The Flyers came to the ice with a slightly different lineup. They were forced to go without Jakub Voracek for an undisclosed reason. That moved Joel Farabee to the top line. It also allowed Connor Bunnaman to remain in the lineup despite James van Riemsdyk returning.
Shayne Gostisbehere also made his return to the lineup as well. He took the place of Robert Hagg.
Both teams started the game with the energy expected. Neither was able to take full control of the game, but they both had chances. Nikita Kucherov did have a few dangerous chances early on.
He hit the post after Anthony Cirelli found him in front. He also had a breakaway chance that was shut down by Carter Hart. It was after that chance that the Flyers begun to takeover the game. And it continued to be the Flyers bottom six that provided the offense.
Tampa was having a tough time keeping the Flyers out of the offensive zone. Even when they wouldn’t score, Philly was cycling the puck with ease and firing shots in on Andrei Vasilevskiy. They would cash in about eight minutes in.
Gostisbehere looked strong during the first, especially with his speed. He fired a few shots from the points, one of which would lead to the Flyers first goal. With Nicolas Aube-Kubel in front, Gostisbehere fired a shot in on net. Aube-Kubel got the stick up to deflect the puck in for his first career playoff goal.
He wasn’t done yet, though. The confidence for Aybe-Kubel has clearly been growing. Especially in the playoffs. He grabbed his second of the night with six minutes remaining in the first.
An errant pass through the middle was cut off by the Flyers. Aube-Kubel entered the zone after the puck was tipped by Farabee. A give and go with Sean Couturier ending in Aube-Kubel one-timing his second goal of the night.
After just one period of play, the Flyers had a commanding 20-6 lead in shots. They took it to the Lightning during the latter stages. Tampa also got bad news when Victor Hedman left the ice and would end up not returning to the game.
A push from the Lightning was expected to come in the second. And it did in the form of a power play goal. It was the first time the Flyers penalty kill was scored on since the team came to Tampa.
After a big save from Hart, the Lightning continued to cycle the puck. Brayden Point protected the puck at the line and found Killorn behind the net. He quickly saw Tyler Johnson in front for the snipe. That ended a streak of eight kill in a row for Philadelphia.
The Flyers had a scare of their own when Travis Sanheim appeared to be injured after a hit from Blake Coleman. He would end up returning after a quick trip to the locker room.
The Flyers gained their two-goal lead back with just over five minutes remaining in the second. It ended with Joel Farabee scoring his first career playoff goal as well. It all started with Sean Couturier expertly poking the puck away from Cirelli behind the net. Gostisbehere hopped on it and quickly fired it to Farabee who dropped to the knee for the one-timer.
It was Gostisbehere’s second assist of the night as he was taking full advantage of being in the lineup. He was planning on making it a very tough decision for Alain Vigneault to take him back out.
The power play continued to be a sore spot for the Flyers as they failed to convert on their second opportunity of the game. While it hasn’t come back to bite them, they’ll need to figure something out moving forward.
Nevertheless, a big third period was on the horizon for both teams. And Tampa through everything they had at the Flyers. Hart was strong when they needed him to be. Philly was a bit careless in the early stages of the third, needing their goaltender to come up large more than a few times.
The Flyers were on their heels more often than not as the Lightning desperately tried to climb back into the game. Philadelphia did do a good job of keeping Tampa Bay to the outside despite their continuous zone time. There weren’t many high quality opportunities or second chances as the game trickled down to the final few minutes.
Despite all of that, the Flyers held on for a huge victory. Tyler Pitlick capped the game off with the empty netter. They started the round robin as the fourth seed. They are now the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
That sets up a matchup with the 12th seeded Montreal Canadiens who upset the 5th seeded Pittsburgh Penguins. The Flyers came out on top in two out of the three games during the season series.
The win over Tampa Bay continued to prove that the Flyers mean business right now.