POSTGAME 5: Flyers Take Care of Business in Arizona, 5-3

The Philadelphia Flyers skated to a 5-3 victory over the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on Saturday. A three-goal second period by the Flyers, highlighted by two goals from James van Riemsdyk, spurred the win.

The Flyers, who have won back-to-back games for the first time since Oct. 27 and 28 (at Edmonton and Vancouver), swept the two-game season series with the Coyotes.
van Riemsdyk (4th goal of the season) gave the Flyers a quick lead but Arizona's Jay Beagle (1st) got it right back. The game went to the first intermission knotted at 1-1.
Scott Laughton (6th) restored a Philadelphia lead at 5:26 of the second period. Nick Schmaltz (1st) got the goal back only for the Flyers to go ahead again on a Patrick Brown (1st Flyers goal, also credited with six hits) unassisted tally. Philly then supplemented the lead with a van Riemsdyk (2nd of the game, 5th of the season) deflection power play goal.
Team captain Claude Giroux (10th) made it a 5-2 edge in the third period. Lawson Crouse (6th) scored a mid-period goal to reduce the deficit to two goals.
Martin Jones was not spectacular in net for the Flyers like Carter Hart was in Friday's win in Vegas. The bottom line, however, was that Jones came up with 29 saves on 32 shots to earn the win.
Karel Vejmelka, who had played an excellent game in Philadelphia earlier this season, had a rough night this time on home ice. He stopped 29 of 34 shots.
The Flyers went 1-for-3 on the power play. They were 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
TURNING POINT
James van Riemsdyk has always been a streaky goal scorer. He now has three goals in the last two games after entering the weekend with just two tallies for the season, and was pointless in 12 games. JVR's two goals in this game were crucial to putting his team in the driver's season.
MELTZER'S TAKE
1) The Flyers went with the same lineup as on Friday with the exception of Jones in goal. At 1:14, after van Riemsdyk intercepted the puck in the neutral zone, JVR skated down to the bottom of the right circle and fired a shot under Vejmelka's pad to give him goals in back-to-back games. The tally was unassisted. A mere 39 seconds after play resumed, Arizona tied the score as Beagle tallied in a scramble in front of the net. The assists went to Antoine Roussel and Loui Eriksson.

Morgan Frost was accidentally high sticked by Travis Boyd along the boards in the Arizona end at 3:50. On the ensuing power play, the Flyers had good puck movement but no Grade A chances resulted. Later in the period, Frost made a good defensive play in his own zone to deny an Arizona scoring chance.
After a very long delayed call that saw the Flyers hemmed in their own end, Keith Yandle was called for hooking after Philadelphia finally got possession with 1:47 remaining in the first period. Philly did a good job on the PK over the remaining time. The Coyotes took 13 seconds of carryover time into the second period.
2) First period shots were 14-10 in the Flyers favor. Total shot attempts were 19-16 Flyers. Scoring chances were 7-6 in the Flyers' favor (5-4 high danger chances in the Flyers' favor). Philly had a 6-4 edge in credited hits.
3) The Coyotes had the early looks at the net in the second period but the Flyers started to get transitional rushes. Both Frost and Sean Couturier weren't quite able to stuff in the puck from the doorstep. Frost's try was cleared from the crease before it could trickle in. Couturier's didn't quite go.
At 5:26, the Flyers took a 2-1 lead on a transitional play. Konecny aggressively took the puck toward the net and Laughton cleaned it up for a 2-1 Flyers lead. Couturier (10th assist of the season) got the secondary assist.

As the period progressed to the middle stages, the Flyers created Arizona turnovers in both the defensive and neutral zones. Shots were 7-4 Flyers as the game reached the midpoint. A Flyers neutral zone turnover started a sequence that ended with Schmaltz tying the game on a chaotic sequence at 10:40. At 11:21, the Flyers were gifted the lead right back again. Vejmelka came way out of his net to play the puck along the right side boards but turned it over directly on Brown's stick. The Flyers forward fired the puck to the empty net for his first goal as a Flyer and a 3-2 lead.

Philly went back on the power play on an Eriksson high-sticking penalty at 11:42. Once again, the Flyers showed good puck movement but this time they came away with something to show for it. Konecny's shot from the slot was tipped home by JVR (although the goal was initially credited to Konecny) at 12:34. The secondary assist went to Keith Yandle.

Late in the period, Frost made a pair of good defensive plays on the same shift. As the period ended, Dysin Mayo was called for cross-checking Ivan Provorov, setting up a two-minute power play for the Flyers to start the third period.
4) Second period shots were 13-12 Arizona. The Coyotes had a 54.2 percent team Corsi and a 6-3 high-danger scoring chance edge for the period but the Flyers had a two-goal edge in the cash register.
5) The Flyers were guilty of some turnovers in dangerous areas early in the third period. With 13:10 left, Jones made a clutch save on Schmaltz. The Flyers iced the puck moments later.
At 7:50, the Flyers built a three-goal lead.On the line rush, Atkinson passed to Giroux, who scored five-hole on Vejmelka. Frost got the secondary helper.
At 11:22, the Flyers lost a board battle and Arizona had a potential scoring chance but Justin Braun erased it with a block. But the Coyotes made it 5-3 at 11:35. From the top of the left circle, Crouse elevated a shot high over Jones and under the crossbar. Assists went to Schmaltz and Cam Dineen. Arizona threatened again immediately after the goal but Jones denied it.
With 3:03 remaining JVR was not quite able to finish off a bid for a hat trick. The Coyotes pulled Vejmelka for an extra attacker with 1:37 on the clock after a Philadelphia icing.