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| Image courtesy Philly.com |
Phanatic Hockey writer
Brayden Schenn scored on a
breakaway in overtime to lead the Flyers to a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles
Kings.
Michael
Raffl and Chris Vandevelde both scored for the Flyers. Jakub Voracek had a pair
of assists while Claude Giroux and Nick Schultz each had one. Ray Emery was
strong in net for Philadelphia, stopping 38 of 40 Los Angeles shots.
Tyler
Toffoli and Mike Richards were the goal scorers for LA, while Drew Doughty and
Kyle Clifford would both notch an assist. Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick would
begin the game shaky, but ultimately stand out while stopping 40 of 43 shots.
Philadelphia
came out ready to play Tuesday night against the Kings. The Flyers attacked the
Kings zone early and often, and were quickly rewarded as Raffl potted his fifth
goal of the season.
As
Philadelphia kept the pressure on, Voracek skated with the puck around the net
and found Giroux in the slot for a one-timer that would be blocked by Kings
defenseman Jake Muzzin. Raffl would be “Johnny-on-the-spot” as he spun around
and beat Quick glove side to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead.
“He
plays hard. He competes,” Coach Craig Berube remarked on Raffl. “He plays a
straight forward game and again, he stopped at the net and got a goal. You want
to score goals in this league, you go to the net.”
Los
Angeles would strike back at the 13:08 mark, as Philadelphia’s inept second
power play unit would allow Toffoli a breakaway opportunity on Emery. Matt Read
sent a pass back to Michael Del Zotto, who had the puck hop over his stick,
which allowed Toffoli to beat Emery high glove side to tie the game.
The
Flyers, badly outplaying Los Angeles for most of the period, would not allow
the Kings to head to intermission with the score tied. With just 44 seconds remaining,
Voracek again found himself behind the net and saw Vandevelde in the slot for a
one-timer that beat Quick.
For
the first time all year, the Flyers dominated the first period. Philadelphia
pumped 20 shots on net, but despite the dominance, Philadelphia only clung to a
2-1 lead heading into the first intermission.
The
second period would be quite different than the first. After outshooting LA
20-11, the Flyers were outshot 10-7, but with even fewer scoring chances.
Despite being outshot and outplayed, the Flyers maintained their 2-1 lead with
a solid defensive period, which saw both teams skate nonstop for more than seven
minutes.
The
Kings would not go quietly into the night, as the team from LA from comes out
strong in the third period. Los Angeles would fight off two Philadelphia
scoring chances before Richards, the former Flyers captain, would pump in a
Doughty rebound passed Emery to knot the game at two with 14:59 remaining in
the third period.
Emery
would come up big time and time again for the Flyers, including a save on
Toffoli late in the third period.
“You
take things game-by-game,” Emery said. “It’s nice to contribute and get some
points as well.”
The
teams would battle hard until the final whistle, but a winner would not be come
about without an extra period.
Los
Angeles dominated the first half of overtime until a turnover in the offensive
zone led to a Schenn breakaway. The fourth-year forward took the puck at the
blue line and skated in all alone against Quick. The Kings goaltender made the
initial save, but slipped back into the net for the apparent game winner.
The referees would initially declare no goal, but would ultimately go to the control center in Toronto for confirmation.
"Yeah I saw it go over the line," said Wayne Simmonds. "I think they said no goal because I pushed him over. But the puck was over the line far before I even got to the crease."
The referees would initially declare no goal, but would ultimately go to the control center in Toronto for confirmation.
"Yeah I saw it go over the line," said Wayne Simmonds. "I think they said no goal because I pushed him over. But the puck was over the line far before I even got to the crease."
Simmonds would be correct and the Flyers found themselves on the winning side of a 3-2 game as well as a three-game
winning streak to improve their record to 4-3-2.
“You
got to stay with it, keep working, and competing,” said Berube.
Notes:
Former Kings Schenn and Simmonds were both on the ice for the game-winning
goal...Emery has recorded a point for the Flyers in every start this
season…Voracek has recorded a point in 8 of 9 games…Shayne Ghostibehere played
12:40 and did not record a shift in overtime…
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