Postgame 5: Flyers Nip Nashville, 2-1

The Philadelphia Flyers held off the Nashville Predators, 2-1, on Monday evening at Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers went 3-0-0 on their homestand.

Goaltender Ivan Fedotov earned the win in net with 28 saves. Several were unorthodox scrambling stops but he battled throughout the game. The skaters in front blocked 25 shots.

In the first period, Travis Konecy had a semi-breakaway chance but Justus Annunen made the save. The Flyers went to the game's first power play on a tripping penalty by Brady Skjei at 5:03. Philly pressured but did not score.

Through a television timeout at the eight-minute mark, shots were 4-0 in Philadelphia's favor. Fedotov made his first save at 8:09, blocking aside a Michael Bunting shot from the wing.

Matvei Michov had a breakaway chance at 9:46 off an ally-oop pass from Konecny. Annunen made a glove save but the puck nearly trickled into the net. The next several shots belonged to Nashville, trying to put pucks on Fedotov from distance and going to the net looking for rebounds.

At the conclusion of the scoreless first period, shots on goal were 8-7 Flyers. The Konecny and Michkov breakaways were the best scoring chances, along with a very slick individual rush by Owen Tippett.

Couturier fired a slapshot on net for the Flyers' first shot of the second period at 4:00. Through 6:30, shots were 6-2 Nashville. Several shifts later, Konecny ripped a one timer off the inside of the post after a feed from Michkov.

At 8:50, the Flyers broke through for a 1-0 lead. Receiving a saucer pass from Michkov, Konecny finessed a backdoor feed to Ryan Poehling (11th goal of the season, sixth in the last seven games) at the left post. The assists went to Konecny and Michkov.

Nashville went to their first power play at 10:49 on a holding minor against Travis Sanheim. The Flyers killed off the penalty but the Preds knotted the score at 13:14. Zachary L'Heureux (5th) powered past Emil Andrae, cut across in front of the net and followed up his own initial attempt. The assists went to Michael McCarrron and Skjei.

Less than a minute later, at 13:48, the Flyers quickly retook the lead. Jamie Drysdale (7th) found the net as he pinched into the bottom of the left circle. The initial shot was blocked by Spencer Stastney but the puck made its way back to Drysdale off the skate of Fedor Svechnikov. Michkov and Konecny collected the apples.

Fedotov protected the lead with a point blank save on ex-Flyer Kieffer Bellows. Second period shots on net were 15-5 Predators.

Jakob Pelletier had an open scoring chance in the low slot early in the third period. Fedotov survived a shift in which he had to play without a stick for nearly a minute before he covered the puck. Later, the goalie had an airborne puck go off his upper back but stayed out of the net.

Through seven minutes of the third stanza, shots on goal were just 2-1 in the Predators' favor. Nine minutes into the frame, Fedotov misplayed the puck but scrambled back in time for a save. At 11:13, Fedotov made an outstanding save from point blank range to protect the lead. At 11:35, a would-be goal for Stamkos was immediately waved off for shoving the goaltender (and puck) over the goal line.

At 13:48, Tippett fed Travis Konecny on a 2-on-1 rush off a Nashville turnover. Annunen kept the score to a one-goal deficit for the Predators.

The Predators pulled Annunen for an extra attacker in the final two minutes, The Flyers iced the puck twice. Poehling and Couturier both came up with key shot blocks as Philly killed off the rest of the clock.

Fedotov made a half dozen saves in the third period. Annunen stopped five (16 of 18 overall).

Garnet Hathaway made his return to the starting lineup from an upper body injury that had sidelined him since February 27. Nicolas Deslauriers exited the lineup.

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

71 Tyson Foerster -27 Noah Cates - 10 Bobby Brink
39 Matvei Michkov - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
22 Jakob Pelletier - 25 Ryan Poehling - 74 Owen Tippett
15 Olle Lycksell - 18 Rodrigo Abols - 19 Garnet Hathaway

24 Nick Seeler - 6 Travis Sanheim
8 Cam York - 9 Jamie Drysdale
5 Egor Zamula - 36 Emil Andrae

82 Ivan Fedotov

[33 Samuel Ersson]

Scratches: 55 Rasmus Ristolainen (upper body), 44 Nicolas Deslauriers (healthy), 35 Aleksei Kolosov (healthy).

PP1: Konecny, Couturier, Brink, Foerster, Michkov
PP2: Sanheim, Tippett, Cates, Lycksell, Drysdale

TURNING POINT

The immediate response to L'Heureux's goal, culminating in Drysdale's goal that restored a lead, proved to be the game winner.

POSTGAME 5 ("RAV4 THINGS" REVISITED)

1. Michkov-Couturier-Konecny line: Michkov now has a six-game point streak (4g, 7a, 11 points). Konecny has eight points (2g, 6a) over his last six games played.

2. Flyers special teams: Philadelphia went 0-for-1 on the power play. They were 1-for-1 on the penalty kill.

3. Quick start, late closeout: The Flyers had the early edge in the first period before play settled down in the 0-0 frame. Entering the third period, the Flyers had a two-minute 5-on-4 penalty to kill and a one-goal lead to protect. The Flyers laid their bodies on the line to close out the win in the third period.

4. Second period woes: Both the Flyers and Predators have struggled in second periods this season. On Monday night, Fedotov had to step up several times as the puck was in the Philly end more than in the opening period. By the buzzer, the Flyers had a lead to take into the third period.

5. X-factor -- Foerster: The second-season winger entered Monday's match with goals in back-to-back games and 18 overall for the season. Against Nashville, Forster logged 19:59 of time. He did not get on the scoresheet on this night.