The Philadelphia Flyers (24-14-6) continued their winning ways as they swept the 3-game road trip with a gutsy 4-2 victory against the St. Louis Blues. It was also their 4th straight victory going back to the final game of their homestand.
The Flyers were present from the moment the puck dropped and that was evidenced by their 42-30 shot advantage. Scott Laughton opened the scoring in the second period before Ryan Poehling added a critical go-ahead goal with 6 seconds left.
Brandon Saad tied things up early in the third but Owen Tippett – who was visible all game – scored the eventual game-winning goal before Joel Farabee added the empty netter to ice things up. Carter Hart made 28 stops for his 12th win of the season.
The Flyers finished off the road trip tonight against the Blues, looking for a sweep after victories in Minnesota and Winnipeg. Coming off one of their more impressive victories on Saturday against the NHL-leading Jets, the Flyers came into tonight’s game with a few lineup changes. Marc Staal came out for Noah Cates – who was on the mend for nearly two months with a broken foot – and Carter Hart received the start with Sean Couturier and Jamie Drysdale still sidelined.
As for the Blues, they entered tonight’s tilt with a 6-3-1 record in their previous 10 games as they’ve somewhat righted the ship after a tough start to the season. Robert Thomas paced the club in goals and points with 16 and 44, respectively. Pavel Buchnevich sat in 2nd with 13 goals and 32 points, followed by Jordan Kyrou’s 31, however after that it’s a steep drop off to Kevin Hayes‘ 20 points in 4th. The other former Flyer and currently the captain of the Blues, Brayden Schenn, has struggled to the tune of 9 goals and 19 points in 41 games.
Joel Hofer earned the start tonight, bringing in a 7-7-0 record, 2.87 GAA, and a .908 SV% with his last start coming 3 games ago where he allowed 4 goals on 30 shots in a loss to Florida.
FIRST PERIOD
8:44 into the game, Nick Seeler was handed a high sticking minor to send the 30th-ranked Blues power play onto the ice against the newly number one ranked Flyers penalty kill. It only lasted 54 seconds as Jake Neighbours was sent to the sin bin for a hooking minor.
Sean Walker was whistled down for a boarding with 2:04 remaining in the first frame. The Flyers entered the intermission tied with the Blues but held a 13-9 shot advantage as both goaltenders were tested with high danger chances all throughout.
SECOND PERIOD
The Flyers opened the scoring early on in the second period after Scott Laughton finished off a juicy rebound left out by Joel Hofer.
Garnet Hathaway’s initial shot from the corner boards was stopped but Hofer directed the rebound right to a streaking Laughton for a 1-0 lead just 63 seconds in. The goal also snapped Laughton’s 10-game scoring drought.
With 9:10 remaining in the period, the Flyers jumped on their 2nd power play of the game after Jordan Kyrou was caught for a high sticking minor. Unfortunately they weren’t able to increase their streak of scoring a power play goal to 6 games.
With 2:05 left in the period – just like in the first period – the Flyers were called for a penalty as Hathaway was guilty of a high sticking minor. The Blues needed just 24 seconds to connect as Oskar Sundqvist finished off a rebound from Brayden Schenn’s initial shot for his 1st goal in 14 games.
With only 6 seconds remaining, the Flyers retook the lead after Ryan Poehling batted a rebound out of mid-air from the side of the net that banked off Kyrou and into the net. Egor Zamula’s initial shot was stopped but the rebound popped up into the air that allowed Poehling to sneak in for the deflection.
The Flyers scored the critical late goal to give them a 2-1 lead heading into the intermission, while also holding a 33-18 shot advantage after firing 20 shots in the middle frame.
THIRD PERIOD
The Blues tied the game up just 1:18 into the final frame of regulation after Brandon Saad ripped a shot from the slot past a bewildered Carter Hart. Schenn’s initial pass to Saad hit a loose stick which he was able to use a decoy to fool the goaltender before firing it low-glove.
Owen Tippett was buzzing all game so it was fitting that he scored a highlight-reel goal to give the Flyers a lead with 5:33 remaining. After dancing through a few defenders and being hooked along the way, he was able to roof the puck past Hofer for his 15th of the season.
Joel Farabee added the insurance marker with 53 seconds left after he potted the empty-netter. However a very critical play that led to the empty net opportunity came from Cam Atkinson who forced the puck out of the zone to set up Farabee.
UP NEXT
The Flyers return home to play the Dallas Stars (7:00pm ET, NBCSP) on Thursday.
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