The Philadelphia Flyers took on the Tampa Bay Lightning for the last time this season Monday night in the last game of their four-game homestand. Dan Vladar got the start in net. Travis Konecny returned from injury and was inserted into the lineup. Nicolas Deslauriers became a healthy scratch. Bobby Brink and Jamie Drysdale remained out. The Flyers would get swept in the season series with a five-to-one loss. It was a feisty game all night long, which led to Konecny and Nikita Grebenkin getting ejected. The orange and black fell to 22-14-8 on the season.
Pontus Holmberg gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead just 1:10 into the first period. He battled in a scrum and managed to put a snapshot just under the right arm of Vladar. This happened due to a turnover by Cam York, and Carl Grundstrom wasn’t able to cover his man. Zemgus Girgensons and Yanni Gourde tallied assists.
The Lightning took a 2-0 lead just 33 seconds into the second period courtesy of Jake Guentzel. Erik Cernak’s shot from the blue line went off Guentzel’s pants and past Vladar. Vladar was screened by Nick Seeler in front. Cernak and Brandon Hagel picked up assists.
Rodrigo Abols was called for tripping at the 4:06 mark of the second, which gave the Lightning the game’s first power play. Vladar made the initial save on Brayden Point but allowed a rebound. Point collected his own rebound and put a backhander into a wide-open net as Vladar was down. This gave the Lightning a 3-0 lead. Oliver Bjorkstrand and Guentzel were given assists.
The game went to four-on-four just after the Point goal as Bjorkstrand and Travis Sanheim both were called for roughing. Both teams had great scoring chances on odd-man rushes, but the Flyers were the ones to cash in. Christian Dvorak went on a two-on-one with Nick Seeler. He finished with a wrist shot over the glove of Lightning goaltender Jonas Johansson. The goal was unassisted. 3-1 Lightning.
The Flyers got their first power play at the 7:39 mark of the second period as Cernak got called for holding. They didn’t record any shots on net, and Vladar had to make a save on Max Crozier while shorthanded.
Hagel was called for interference at the 13:01 mark of the second. This gave the Flyers their second power play. Konecny missed on a shot just wide from the slot, and the Lightning were able to clear the puck down the ice a few times.
The game went to four-on-four for a second time at the 16:18 mark of the second period as Konecny and Charle-Eduoard D’Astous were called for roughing. Vladar came up with huge saves on Nikita Kucherov and Declan Carlile to keep his team within two.
The Lightning got their second power play at the 18:50 mark of the second as Seeler was called for interference. They’d capitalize again thanks to Hagel. He took a pass from Darren Raddysh and put a snapshot over the glove of Vladar from the top of the left circle. This gave the Lightning a 4-1 lead. Assists went to Raddysh and Anthony Cirelli.
Grebenkin got called for cross-checking and Gourde for roughing at the 19:59 mark of the second period. This made the game go to four-on-four for the third time. Vladar made a save on D’Astous, and shots went wide from Owen Tippett and Hagel.
Two fights broke out at once at the 3:46 mark of the third period as Grebenkin dropped the gloves with Crozier, and Abols dropped the gloves with Nick Paul. All players got five-minutes for fighting, and Grebenkin and Crozier received game misconducts. Abols was also called for boarding. This gave the Lightning their third power play. Vladar made two big saves on Cirelli and Bjorkstrand, and the Flyers did their job of clearing the puck down the ice.
Garnet Hathaway was called for roughing at the 8:40 mark of the third, which gave the Lightning their fourth power play. With four seconds remaining, Konecny got called for roughing and abuse of officials, while Guentzel was called for slashing. The game stayed at five-on-four for the Lightning. Vladar stood his ground in net as he made huge saves on Raddysh and Hagel. The Flyers also did a nice job of blocking shots and clearing the puck.
Vladar was pulled with 4:33 remaining in the third period in favor of the extra attacker with the team down by three. It backfired, however, as Kucherov scored an empty-netter at the 16:39 mark. Raddysh made a nice pass to him, and Kucherov put a wrist shot into the empty net from just inside the blue line. 5-1 Lightning. Raddysh and Cirelli tallied assists.
Flyers went zero for two on the power play and killed off two of the four Lightning man-advantages.
Vladar saved 21 of 25 shots, giving him a .840 save percentage.
Goal Summary
1st Period:
Holmberg (7) Assists: Girgensons (4), Gourde (10)
2nd Period:
Guentzel (20) Assists: Cernak (5), Hagel (19)
Point (11) (Power Play) Assists: Bjorkstrand (15), Guentzel (27)
Dvorak (10) Assists: none
Hagel (22) (Power Play) Assists: Raddysh (26), Kucherov (44)
3rd Period:
Kucherov (23) (Empty Net) Assists: Raddysh (27), Cirelli (16)
Flyers Next Game
Flyers next game is Wednesday, Jan. 14, in Buffalo against the Sabres.
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