Postgame RAV4: Flyers Get Two Vital Points in Toronto

The Philadelphia Flyers outlasted the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 3-2 (2-1) shootout victory at Scotiabank Arena on Monday evening. A two-point game from Noah Cates and strong goaltending from Dan Vladar led the way. 

The Flyers (28-21-11) have won three consecutive times. They are five points (four standings points plus a tiebreaker disadvantage) behind the Boston Bruins for a wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference .Boston holds one game in hand.

Philly and Toronto traded off one goal apiece in the first period. Dakota Joshua (7th goal of the season) opened the scoring. Christian Dvorak (PPG, 13th) got it back late in the frame.

There was no scoring in the second period. Toronto had the better of the playoff overall. Both clubs got away with some ragged play.

In the third period, Cates (12th) put the Flyers on top. However, they were unable to nail down the regulation win. William Nylander (PPG, 20th) forced OT with a 5-on-4 goal with 2:30 left to play.

After a scoreless overtime, the game came down to a shootout. Vladar stopped two of three attempts. Successful attempts from Matvei Michkov and Trevor Zegras secured a vital bonus point for Philadelphia.

Vladar stopped 29 of 31 shots in regulation and overtime. Former Flyers netminder Anthony Stolarz made 23 saves on 25 shots, before yielding two goals on three shootout attempts.

FIRST PERIOD SYNOPSIS

At 3:14 of the first period, Rasmus Ristolainen stepped out from behind the Toronto net for the game's first scoring chance. At 3:36, Easton Cowan tripped RIstolainen deep in Flyers' territory. Philly went to the game's first power play but could no convert. 

Through seven minutes, shots on goal were 6-3 Flyers.

Philly went back to the power play at 12:01. Nicolas Roy went off for interference with Bobby Brink high in the Toronto zone. Brink had a shot from the mid center slot. The power play ended at 13:00 via a too-many-men on the ice penalty against the Flyers. Toronto had a flurry of shot attempts near the end of the abbreviated power play.

At 15:22, Toronto opened a 1-0 lead.  Nick Seeler turned over a puck behind the net. Johnson fired a shot through an attempted block by Sean Couturier. The pack went past a screened Vladar. The one assist went to Matias Macceilli.

Philly had an odd-man rush. At Brandon Carlo grabbed hold of Zegras for a penalty. The Flyers went to their third power play of the period. This time, the Flyers cashed in at 18:38. Denver Barkey faked a shot and sent a pass to Noah Cates. Dvorak scored in a scramble to tie the game. Cates and Barkey earned the assists at 16:47.

Shots: Flyers 14 -  Maple Leafs 8
Faceoffs: Flyers 8 - Maple Leafs 13

SECOND PERIOD SYNOPSIS

The Flyer got away with back-to-back turnovers, including a giveaway by Cam York behind the net. Fortunately,  Maccelli fired a point blank shot wide of the net.

Vladar erased a pair of Toronto chances, including one from Lorentz. Zegras fired a right-circle shot at 3:54 for Philadelphia's first shot on net of the period. Toronto had five of the frame's first six shots on net.

Playing in the 700th game of his NHL career, Nicolas Deslauriers had a prime scoring chance off a Simon Benoit turnover at 12:46. 

Shots: Flyers 4  (18 overall) -  Maple Leafs 11 (18 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 7  (15  overall) - Maple Leafs 8 (21 overall)

THIRD PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Flyers defenseman Nick Seeler (lower body injury), who played sparingly in the second period, did not return to the bench for the third.

At the 40-second mark, Ristolainen took a holding penalty on William Nylander to break up a scoring chance. The Flyers had passed up a scoring chance and turned the puck over.

Philly had a shorthanded bid. Sean Couturier fed a pass to Noah Cates. Cates hit the post. The Flyers killed off the penalty.

With play back to 5-on-5,  Sanheim blasted a point shot through traffic. The puck drew iron and stayed out of the net.

Finally, at 14:42, Cates struck paydirt. Michkov kept alive a Rasmus Ristolainen rebound. Bobby Brink saucered a pass to Cates, who hammered home a go-ahead goal. Brink was credited with the lone assist officially, but Michkov was crucial to the play.

At 15:37, Barkey was called for a defensive zone tripping penalty against Joshua along the right side boards. Vladar gloved down a Nylander one-timer from the top of the left circle. Later, Vladar denied a slot shot from John Tavares. Vladar could not contain the rebound on a side angle shot from Auston Matthews. With seven seconds left in the power play, Nylander scored on another one-timer attempt. The assists went to Tavares and Matthew Knies at 17:30.

The Maple Leafs got a break on a Brandon Carlo high-stick that caught Dvorak in the face. There was no calle. The Flyers got caught on a bad line change. Sanheim broke up a backdoor scoring chance for Matthews. 

Shots: Flyers 7 (23 overall) -  Maple Leafs 9 (27 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 5 (20 overall) - Maple Leafs 10 (31 overall)

OVERTIME SUMMARY

Toronto won the first faceoff, getting puck possession and two shots on goal. Philly's first offensive zone foray ended when Michkov was taken off the puck.

With 2:04 left in OT, Matthew crashed into Vladar for a stoppage. Toronto lost the offensive zone faceoff.

Toronto had a 2-on-1 chance off a Michkov turnover. Phily recovered. The teams traded off chances at either end. Matthews in the Philly zone, Jamie Drydale at the other.

Shots: Flyers 2 (25 overall) -  Maple Leafs 4 (31 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 2 (22 overall) - Maple Leafs 1 (32 overall)

SHOOTOUT SYNOPSIS

1st Round: Nylander scored high to the glove side. Michkov went forehand to backhand and scored upstairs after waiting out the goalie.

2nd Round: Matthews was stoned on a backhander. Zegras moved in slowly, sped up and beat Stolarz over the glove.

3rd Round: Max Domi failed to beat Vladar to the glove side, ending the shootout with a Philadelphia win.

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

Trevor Zegras — Christian Dvorak —  Owen Tippett
Matvei Michkov — Noah Cates — Bobby Brink
Denver Barkey  — Sean Couturier — Nikita Grebenkin
Nikita Grebenkin — Carl Grundstrom — Garnet Hathaway

Travis Sanheim — Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York — Jamie Drydale
Nick Seeler —  Emil Andrae

Dan Vladar

[Samuel Ersson]

Postgame RAV4 (RAV4 Things Revisited)

1. Avoid self-inflicted wounds

The Flyers did not make things easy on themselves at times during the game. A turnover led to the game's first goal. A penalty and an uncontrolled rebound played into the tying goal.

2.  Konecny

The last time the Flyers played Toronto, Travis Konecny scored a goal but had to leave the game due to injury after the second period. Unfortunately, this time around, he was unavailable to play due to an upper-body injury. He is day-to-day.

3. Special teams

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

4. Faceoff circle

The Flyers were up against the NHL's top faceoff team on this night. Toronto won 59 percent of the faceoffs. However, Philly held their own, especially in some crucial defensive zone draws with the game on the line.