Postgame 5: Flyers Finish Road Trip Sweep, Down Blues 4-2

The Philadelphia Flyers skated to a high-energy 4-2 win over the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Monday evening. The Flyers, who have won four straight games, swept a difficult three-game road trip to move up into second place in the Metro Division with a 24-14-6 record.

As with Saturday's road win over the Winnipeg Jets, the Flyers had players step up all throughout the lineup to defeat the Blues. Four different players scored goals for Philly. Six different players chipped in assists.

The scoreless first period saw both teams generate considerable pressure, especially the Flyers. At 1:03 of the second period, the Flyers took a 1-0 lead. Sean Walker generated a clean entry into the attack zone. Garnet Hathaway put a low shot on net from the left side boards and Scott Laughton (4th goal of the season) potted the rebound.

The Blues and Flyers traded off closely spaced goals late in the second period.

First, on a power play at 18:19, former Flyer Brayden Schenn fired off a shot from the left circle off a pass from Scott Perunovich. Oskar Sundqvist (PPG, 5th goal of the season) deposited the rebound in the net to briefly knot the score at 1-1.

The Flyers went ahead again at 19:53. The rebound of an Egor Zamula shot popped into the air. Ryan Poehling (5th goal of the year) bunted the rebound off Torey Krug and into the net for a 2-1 lead. The assists went to Zamula and Cam Atkinson.

At 1:18 of the third period, Brandon Saad (11th) goal of the season got some help from a loose stick on the ice, which settled the puck for him before he scored from the deep slot to forge a 2-2 tie. The assists went to Schenn and Kyrou.

The Flyers retook the lead for good at 14:27 of the third period. In the neutral zone, Morgan Frost passed to Travis Konecny. TK attempted to chip the puck into the zone but the puck hit the linesman. A stroke of bad luck became good fortune a moment later. Owen Tippett (16th goal of the season) grabbed the loose pucik, charged into the offensive zone and soloed with a backhand goal. Because there was no change of possession, Konecny and Frost were credited with assists.

With an empty net in the St. Louis zone and the Blues on a 6-on-5, Schenn won a puck battle in the neutral zone. However, a moment later, he turned the puck over directly to Joel Farabee. Farabee (ENG, 15th goal of the season) scored into the yawning cage to cement the victory.

Carter Hart earned the win, making 28 saves on 30 shots. Joel Hofer took the loss despite 38 saves on 41 shots.

The Flyers went 0-for-2 on the power play. The Blues went 1-for-3.

Noah Cates returned to the Flyers' lineup for the first time since his late November foot injury. The Flyers went back to dressing 12 forwards and six defensemen. Sean Couturier (injury) and Jamie Drysdale (illness) remained unavailable to play.

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

74 Owen Tippett - 48 Morgan Frost - 11 Travis Konecny

86 Joel Farabee - 25 Ryan Poehling - 89 Cam Atkinson

71 Tyson Foerster - 21 Scott Laughton -  19 Garnet Hathaway

44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 27 Noah Cates - 10 Bobby Brink

8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim
24 Nick Seeler - 26 Sean Walker
5 Egor Zamula- 55 Rasmus Ristolainen

79 Carter Hart
[33 Samuel Ersson]

TURNING POINT

The line of Owen Tippett (10 shots on 11 attempts), Morgan Frost (two shots on goal on three attempts, six scoring chances directly created), and Travis Konecny (three shots on goal on six attempts, three scoring chances, two chances created) buzzed and pressured all night. Finally, on a broken play and a mostly solo effort by Tippet, the Flyers went ahead to stay.

POSTGAME 5

1)  The two teams traded off transition rushes early in the first period. Walker recovered from getting caught up ice to even things up in the defensive zone Going the other way, Hathaway had a chance on a 2-on-1. Leddy pinched in at 3:35 and Hart made the save.

At 4:53, Poehling battled through checking to take the puck to the net. Frost won the next faceoff directly to Tippett, who put a quick shot on goal. Later in the shift, Jordan Kyrou and Tippett traded off open point blank chances at either end. Kyrou's opportunity came from the low slot, while Tippett's was a breakaway off a lead pass from Frost.

There was a TV timeout at 7:59. Shots on goal were 8-5 Flyers.

The game's first penalty came at 8:33 of the first period. Seeler got the gate for high-sticking as he finished off a check on Kevin Hayes. Laughton narrowly missed deflecting home a feed from Konecny. At 9:27, with 1:06 left on the minor, Jake Neighbours hooked Laughton for a minor. Four-on-four play ensued. With 17 seconds left in the Flyers' abbreviated power play, TIppett put a shot on net from the left dot. Hofer fought it off.

Deslauriers had an open look at his potential first goal of the season. Hofer stopped the drive from the deep slot.  The rest of the shift, triggered by strong forechecking work from Cates, was spent in the Blues' zone. On the next shift, Frost sprang Tippett again on the rush. Tippett was turned away on initial and follow-up chances. The Blues pressured on the next shift with their top line on the attack against the Poehling line. On the next shift, Hart stopped a long shot from Alexey Toropchenko.

The Blues returned to the power play at 17:56 as Walker was called for a boarding minor on the defensive half boards against Kyrou. Laughton broke up a potential one-timer opportunity. Cates intercepted a pass and cleared it down the ice. The penalty expired right before the buzzer.

2) First period shots on goal were 13- 9 in the Flyers' favor (Tippett led all players with five shots on net), Shot attempts were 27-13 Flyers. Scoring chances were 14-5 Flyers (Tippett had three chances to lead the Flyers). High-danger chances were 4-2 Flyers. Faceoffs were 12-2 Flyers (Frost led in going 4-for-5, including wins on each of his first four draws). Also of note: NIck Seeler blocked four St. Louis shots.

3) Laughton made it 1-0 at 1:03 of the second period. On their second shift, the Frost line generated very heavy pressure.  Konecny whiffed on a one-timer from the left slot. Through 5:03, shots on goal were 4-1 Flyers.

At 6:42, Laughton fed Hathaway at the doorstep. Hofer made the save. At the other end, Brandon Saad came very close to a goal.The Blues also controlled the next two shifts. Hart made another save on Kyrou. 

At 9:38, the Flyers had another chance off the rush. Frost made a drop pass for Konecny, who was stopped from the right circle near the dot in a mismatch against the fourth line. As the shift continued (the Blues changed lines), Konecny had another scoring chance. This time, Tippett provided the setup. Hofer closed the five-hole just enough to stop the puck from squeaking into the net.

The Flyers went to the power play at 10:50 as Kyrou carelessly high-sticked Zamula to the neck on a chip in. Tippett and Farabee had back-to-back chances. Kasperi Kapanen nearly soloed off a bad pass from Tippett to Farabee. With PP2 on the ice, Frost set up Foerster but the re-direct went wide. After the penalty expired, Frost set up Cates in the center slot. Hofer made the save.

At 17:35, Colton Parayko fired a rising wrister from the point through layers of traffic. Hart made the save. 

Hathaway was penalized for a high-stick on Kapanen at the St. Louis blueline at 17:56. The Blues cashed it in at 18:19 to the game at 1-1. Poehling got the lead back with 6.2 seconds remaining in the period.

4)  Second period shots on goal were 20-9 in Philadelphia's favor (33-18 Flyers overall). Tippett had three more shots on net, bringing his game total to eight through two periods. Konecny had three shots. Shot attempts were 28-22 Flyers (55-35 Flyers overall). Scoring chances were 16-13 Flyers (30-18 Flyers through 40 minutes). High-danger chances were 11-3 Flyers (15-5 Flyers overall). Faceoffs were 11-7 Flyers (23-9 Flyers overall, led by Laughton at 8-for-10). Additionally, Seeler blocked two more Blues shot attempts, bringing his total through 40 minutes to six for the game.

5) Just 1:18 into the third period, Saad re-tied the game at 2-2. Tippett generated his night shot of the game, as Konecny set him up. At the other end, Seeler painfully blocked his seventh shot of the game. Through 5:04, shots on goal were 5-2 Blues.

Poehling saved a potential goal around eight minutes into the third period, breaking up a rebound chance for Robert Thomas. At 10:52, Konecny worked his way into the deep center slot but his shot attempt was blocked out of play. Shots on goal were 6-5 St. Louis.

With 8:08 left in regulation, Farabee snapped a shot on net. Poehling was blocked on his rebound attempt.  At the other end, Parayko hammered another shot on net.  The Flyers fourth line had a shaky shift but escaped damage.

With 5:33 left in regulation, Tippett restored the lead as he scored on a delayed penalty on Schenn. Off the center ice faceoff, Sundqist was accidentally elbowed in the mouth by Poehling. Officials conferred but no penalty was called.

Atkinson had a scoring chance on his next shift but received a high-stick (unpenalized) and the cloe-range opportunity went for naught. At 15:10, Hathaway generated a rush off a lead pass from York. Hathaway tried to feed Laughton but flubbed. With 2:04 left, Laughton was stopped from the hash marks.

The Blues pulled Hoefer for a 6-on-5.  With 53.1 seconds left in regulation, Farabee converted a Schenn turnover into an empty net goal for a 4-2 lead. The Blues nearly scored a meaningless goal in the final few ticks but Flyers players laid out to keep the puck out of the net. 

Third period shots on goal were 12-9 in the Blues' favor (42-30 Flyers overall). Shot attempts were 23-23 (78-58 Flyers overall). Scoring chances were 10-7 Flyers (40-25 Flyers for the game). High-danger chances were 6-2 Flyers (21-7 Flyers overall). Faceoffs were 11-9 Blues (32-20 Flyers overall, led by Laughton's 11-for-16). Seeler finished with eight blocked shots.