Blackhawks send Flyers to 4th straight loss
Kurashev, Reichel, Anderson each has goal, assist for Chicago; Philadelphia loses ground in Metropolitan
Tyson Foerster scored, and Samuel Ersson made 19 saves for Philadelphia (36-29-10), which fell into a tie with the Washington Capitals for third place in the Metropolitan Division and now holds the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of the Detroit Red Wings. Washington lost 3-2 to the Boston Bruins in the shootout Saturday.
The Flyers have played two more games than the Capitals and one more than the Red Wings.
"We didn't execute, we didn't make one play," Philadelphia coach John Tortorella said. "Maybe that's what needs to happen. I think we hit the bottom tonight here. Maybe that's what needs to happen for us to get back into it."
Tortorella said he felt some of his players looked tired from the grind of the season, especially defensemen Travis Sanheim (21:59 of ice time) and Cam York (24:46); it was the 17th straight game one or both have played at least 21:00. Sanheim, though, wasn't sure that was the problem Saturday.
"We should have a ton of energy, we're fighting for a playoff spot right now," Sanheim said. "Shouldn't be lacking energy there. ... I think we know it's a long year, lot of games played. Tonight was a big one we needed to have and unfortunately [we] didn't show up."
Philipp Kurashev, Lukas Reichel and Joey Anderson each had a goal and an assist, and Arvid Soderblom made 30 saves for Chicago (22-47-5), which has been eliminated from playoff contention.
"Probably our most complete game in some aspects," Foligno said. "I think we bent but didn't break, and I think that's a great sign for a club, where we didn't let the momentum swings go too far against us."
Reichel gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead at 2:01 of the first period when he scored at the right post after Ersson stopped his wraparound attempt. It was the forward's first goal in 27 games since Dec. 19.
"It feels good," Reichel said. "Feels always good to score, but after a long time feels definitely better."
Chicago coach Luke Richardson liked Reichel's entire effort, which included the pass that led to Anderson's breakaway goal in the third period and four shots on goal, second on the Blackhawks to Connor Bedard's game-high six.
"He was responsible," Richardson said. "I think he gained confidence scoring early. And it seemed like he had some mojo in that first period. I liked him having the puck on his stick skating. And he can skate a little more. Sometimes he took a little bit of speed off and tried to make a play.
"I think [the goal] gave him the confidence to do that. ... And it wasn't an easy goal. He had to take the puck to the net and he stayed with it on the second play."
Kurashev scored made it 2-0 at 17:00, scoring from the left circle off a Bedard crossing pass.
Foerster cut it 2-1 at 17 seconds of the second period with a shot from the high slot on the rush for his 20th goal of the season.
The Flyers had the chance to tie the game on the next shift, but Travis Konecny's shot from the left face-off circle hit the post at 28 seconds.
"The most important part of the game tonight was when we crawl back into it at 2-1, [Konecny] hits the post right after the next shift, we have a power play and it's awful," Tortorella said. "And they score their power-play goal to go up 3-1.”
Foligno pushed the Blackhawks lead to 3-1 at 17:28 with his power-play goal. He held the puck in at the Flyers blue line, then skated through the slot and scored off a pass from Kurashev from below the goal line.
"I think that was a big one for us, just to get that one on the power play," Foligno said. "We had done a great job on our kill and when you win special teams, it's amazing what that can do to a team."
Anderson made it 4-1 at 9:09 of the third.
Entwistle scored off a centering pass from Anderson on a 3-on-2 at 14:33 for the 5-1 final.
NOTES: Bedard (assist) has 57 points (21 goals, 36 assists) in 60 games. It's the most by a player through his first 60 NHL games since Vancouver Canucks center Elias Pettersson had 59 points (27 goals, 32 assists). ... Foerster is the first Flyers rookie with 20 goals in a season since Matt Read scored 24 in 2011-12. ... Forward Sean Couturier played his 790th NHL game, tying Brian Propp for fourth in Philadelphia history. ... Flyers defenseman Nick Seeler had two hits and one blocked shot in 19:15 after missing 11 games with a lower-body injury.
