October 21, 2015
Michael Dwyer/AP
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (78) celebrates his goal with teammates Radko Gudas (3) and Chris VandeVelde (76) during the first period.
Wednesday night was not shaping up to be the Flyers' night.
Already without leading point scorer Brayden Schenn, they lost backup goalie goalie Michal Neuvirth -- who has looked better than starter Steve Mason -- and one of their best penalty-killing forwards in Sean Couturier to injury late in the first period.
But thanks to some late-game heroics from captain Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds, the Flyers (3-2-1) were able to force overtime and eventually come away with a 5-4 win. Here's what I saw:
• The streak is over. Neuvirth got the start in place of Steve Mason with the Flyers playing the second leg of back-to-back games. The Flyers backup was perfect in his two starts, blanking both the Blackhawks and Panthers. However, he was only able to keep the Bruins off the board for the first 13:28 of the game, ending his shutout streak at 145:33.
Oddly enough, Steve Mason, who got his first win of the season, replaced Neuvirth to start the second period. Coach Dave Hakstol was interviewed on the NBCSports broadcast midway through the second period, and said something cryptic that made it sound like Neuvirth was injured, but didn't elaborate. It looked like Patrice Bergeron's stick hit the Flyers goalie in the mask on the Bruins second goal, and he laid on the ice for longer than usual following the score, but finished the period (2:36) before being removed. GM Ron Hextall didn't have a real update on Neuvirth or Couturier (more on him later), only saying that both suffered upper-body injuries and wouldn't return. It's a shame, especially since Neuvirth had been playing so well. And even though he allowed a pair of goals on just 12 first-period shots, neither was his fault. Which brings me to my next point...
• To say Claude Giroux didn't get off to a great start Wednesday night would be an understatement. [Don't worry, he made up for it later.] The Flyers captain was directly responsible for both of the Bruins' first-period goals. On the first, Giroux tried a no-look pass behind his own net. It went right to new dad Patrice Bergeron, who hit Brett Connolly in the slot to get the Bruins on the board. Later in the period, Giroux took a high-sticking double-minor, which led to a Bergeron goal.
If a Gordie Howe hat trick is a goal, assist and a fight in the same game, then there needs to be something new created for Bergeron, who posted the even rarer goal-assist-baby hat trick on Wednesday.
• As previously mentioned, Bergeron, whose wife gave birth earlier in the day, was in the lineup for the Bruins. Meanwhile, for the Flyers, Brayden Schenn was out of the lineup in Boston with an "upper body injury," likely due to this hit from Stars forward Antoine Roussel Tuesday night:
Roussel hit on B.Schenn. He got air. pic.twitter.com/P6nzsqZZPV
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) October 21, 2015
Sam Gagner, a healthy scratch in three of the Flyers first six games, was in the line up in place of Schenn. Gagner would've been a healthy scratch because R.J. Umberger (upper-body) returned to the lineup Wednesday, but with Schenn being a late scratch, Gagner was back in.
And Gagner made the most of his opportunity, scoring his second goal of the season late in the first period, beating Bruins goalie Tuuka Rask high with a laser of a wrist from the left circle.
• In related lineup news, Brandon Manning, who had a rough outing Tuesday night, was benched against the Bruins. He was on the ice for both of the Stars goals a night earlier. Luke Schenn -- he hasn't played since the team's 7-1 loss to the Panthers last week -- took Manning's spot in the lineup.
• Pierre Bellemare scored his first goal of the season, and the Flyers' first of the night, which came midway through the first period. It was a great second-chance effort. As he skated left to right across the goalmouth, Bellemare was denied by Rask's glove, but was able to fend off a Bruins defender and put in his own rebound on the backhand.
Vive le @bellsy78 #PHIvsBOS pic.twitter.com/9hpLaky6ZM
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 22, 2015
• Zac Rinaldo is still Zac Rinaldo. He got a five-minute major and a game misconduct for this hit on Sean Couturier, who did not return to the game after taking a brutal shot to the head.
The return of Zac Rinaldo pic.twitter.com/xv3kvp0ttB
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) October 22, 2015
🚮 🎥: https://t.co/8hJ1L50Mf1 pic.twitter.com/qT987ncpnY
— Comcast SportsNet (@CSNPhilly) October 22, 2015
No update yet on the severity of Coots' injury.
• On the resulting power play, which began at the start of the second period, the Flyers special teams looked about as bad as they could have. Not only did they not generate a single shot during their five-minute man advantage, but they allowed a shorthanded goal, one that gave the Bruins a 3-2 lead. The Flyers would bounce back and finish the game 1/2 on the power play (but still with a SHG allowed). As for their penalty kill, they allowed the Bruins to score on one of their three chances. It was looking like that ill-fated penalty kill would be the turning point of the game, as the Flyers headed into the second intermission down 4-2 and lacking anything that resembled momentum. Not so fast...
• Mason and Giroux got their redemption. Mason, who allowed a somewhat soft shorthanded goal, came up with an early contender for save of the year in the third period to keep the Flyers in the game:
That moment when your save fools even the graphics guy. No goal, says Mase. Still 4-2. #PHIvsBOS pic.twitter.com/JfnWlIqYpQ
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 22, 2015
One minute and 12 seconds later, Giroux scored his second goal of the year to cut the Bruins' lead to 4-3.
That’ll do, Roux #PHIvsBOS pic.twitter.com/471NRpWQjD
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 22, 2015
A few minutes later, Wayne Simmonds got his first goal of the season, and it came at when his team needed it the most. Less than three minutes after Giroux scored, Simmonds tied the game at 4-4 midway through the third period.
Just over a minute and a half into 3-on-3 overtime, Michael Del Zotto drew a penalty, meaning the Flyers got to add a man and make it a 4-on-3 power play. Just over 30 seconds later, Giroux completed the comeback, scoring his second goal of the night to give the Flyers the 5-4 win.
Call it a comeback. #PHIvsBOS pic.twitter.com/aVre4NdIPW
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 22, 2015
The Flyers now return home to face the Rangers (4-2-1) on Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center. The 7 p.m. matchup against New York, which lost to the Lightning in last season's Eastern Conference Finals, will be the first of three games in South Philly for the Flyers before a five-game road trip, which begins in Buffalo and then heads to Canada for four games.
Follow Matt on Twitter: @matt_mullin
