Postgame 5: Flyers Ground Red Wings, 3-0

The Philadelphia Flyers shut out the Detroit Red Wings, 3-0, at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday afternoon. A 7-for-7 performance on the penalty kill and a well-structured two-way game highlighted the effort. Scott Laughton led the team offensively with a goal and an assist.

The first period, marked by the Flyers having to kill six minutes worth of penalties in the first 11 minutes, was scoreless. Philly actually out-chanced Detroit significantly in the opening stanza. A rebound goal by Kieffer Bellows (3rd of the season) gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead at 10:10 of the second period. At 19:24, Laughton (18th) made it 2-0 on an odd-man rush goal with the teams skating at 4-on-4. Tyson Foerster (3rd) added a late empty net goal in the third period.
Carter Hart stopped all 29 shots he faced. Alex Nedeljkovic denied 19 of 21 shots in a losing cause.
The Flyers were 0-for-2 on the power play. It's far from ideal to take seven penalties but the 7-for-7 performance created momentum.
Philadelphia swept the three-game season series with the Red Wings. The Flyers, who have won three games in a row. They are 4-1-1 on the current seven-game homestand.
FLYERS STARTING LINEUP
86 Joel Farabee - 49 Noah Cates - 74 Owen Tippett
22 Brendan Lemieux - 48 Morgan Frost - 52 Tyson Foerster
25 James van Riemsdyk . 13 Kevin Hayes - 57 Wade Allison
20 Kieffer Bellows - 21 Scott Laughton - xxxxx
9 Ivan Provorov - 45 Cam York
6 Travis Sanheim - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
24 Nick Seeler - 77 Tony DeAngelo
54 Egor Zamula
79 Carter Hart
[32 Felix Sandström]
TURNING POINT
Killing off a four-minute high-sticking penalty on DeAngelo in the first period was a springboard for the Flyers. The second period goals by Bellows and Laughton put Philly in the driver's seat, and Hart took care of the rest.
MELTZER'S TAKE
1) First period shots were 1-1 when the Flyers were called for too many men on the ice at 2:30. The Flyers staged a strong penalty kill.
At 5:47, DeAngelo accidentally high-sticked Adam Erne in the right corner of the attack zone. The infraction drew blood as the Red Wings received a four-minute power play on the double minor. Hart made an excellent save early in the kill on Dylan Larkin and also had a tough stop on Lucas Raymond. The Flyers then more or less shut down the WIngs on the remainder of the lengthy power play.
By the midpoint of the first period, shots on goal were 7-3 in Detroit's favor. More importantly, the game remained scoreless despite six minutes of Red Wings power play time.
At 11:30, Frost took the puck away from a Detroit player in the Philly defensive zone and had a semi-breakaway. From the left slot, Frost tried to beat Nedeljkovic to the glove side but the goalie knocked it wide.
The Flyers went to their first power play at 14:24.Copp applied forechecking pressure on Frost in the Flyers' zone and took the puck away but was called for hooking in the process. The ensuing power play generated very little. Foerster had a left circle blast that missed the net and rimmed out. Otherwise, Philly had trouble entering the Detroit zone and getting set uo.
Hayes had a point-blank chance at the doorstep at 18:20 but was unable to finish it. Farabee had a look in the final 40 seconds.
2) First period shots on goal were 8-6 Detroit. Shot attempts were 17-15 Red Wings. However, scoring chances were 8-3 in Philly's favor with a 7-1 high danger edge to the Flyers. Faceoffs were 10-7 Detroit. The Flyers blocked seven Detroit shot attempts; mostly with the Red Wings on the power play.
3) Cates was called for a neutral zone stick hold 42 seconds into the second period. The Flyers' PK stepped up again. Through the first 6:54, shots were 3-1 Red Wings. There were no Grade A chances for either side but Tippett had a nice individual effort on a rush late in the penalty kill.
Detroit won the ensuing faceoff and worked the puck to the net. Raymond had a scoring chance in prime range. A few shifts later, at 9:13, the Flyers iced the puck. Hayes lost the draw cleanly but nothing dangerous developed.
The Flyers took a 1-0 lead at 10:10. Tippett received a pass from Laughton. Blocked on an initial attempt, Tippett put a shot on net in a second-effort attempt. Bellows then potted the rebound from the doorstep. The assists went to Tippett and Laughton.
Erne was called for delay of game at 13:32 as he accidentally knocked the puck over the glass from the defensive zone. On the latter half of the power play, the Flyers had a good entry and, later, Farabee put a wrist shot through layered traffic in front, but Nedeljkovic made the save.
The Flyers went back to the power play at 17:27. Gustav Lindström was whistled off for high-sticking. York steered a re-direct from up high on net with 1:11 remaining on the power play. With 10 seconds left in the power play, Foerster grabbed the stick out of Seider's hand and was called for a stick holding minor at 19:17,
The Flyers grabbed a 2-0 lead at 19:24 -- with the brief 4-on-4 still ongoing -- on a 2-on-1 counterattack that started from the defensive zone. Ristolainen claimed a turnover off the boards. Laughton led the rush with Farabee joining. From the right side, Laughton elected to shoot and wristed a shot cleanly oved Nedeljkovic to the short side. The lone assist went to Ristolainen.
4) Second period shots were tied at 8-8. Shot attempts were 20-12 Red Wings. Scoring chances were 8-6 Flyers with a 4-3 high-danger edge. Faceoff were 11-9 Detroit. The cash register, of course, was what really mattered: 2-0 Flyers. Frost, apart from his first period breakaway, was regularly put into the penalty kill rotation in this game for the first time since the early season and made a couple of strong defensive plays including a pair of blocked shots.
5) Hart and company held the fort on Detroit's carry-over power play. At 2:04, Hart erased a Tippett giveaway in the defensive zone to Jonatan Berggren. Hart made the glove save.
Farabee was stopped by Nedeljkovic at 2:56. Shots for the game at this point were even at 17-17.At 7:14, Farabee one-timed a shot on net.
At 7:03, DAngelo broke up a Detroit 2-on-1 as he sticked away a pass across the net. At 9:16, Foerster appeared to have a clean takeaway at 9:16 -- with a clear lane to the net -- but was called for hooking. Another strong PK followed.
York deflected a puck out of play with a good defensive stick. Through 12:33, shots were 5-3 Flyers.
Laughton was called for a neutral zone slashing penalty at 14:25. During the delayed call, Hart made a pair of outstanding saves. The Flyers blocked several shots on the kill. Hart made back-to-back great saves at the end of the kill.
The Red Wings pulled the goalie for a 6-on-5. Tippet, Frost, and Farabee all had cracks at the empty net. Finally, Foerster bagged it with 1:19 left on the clock.Farabee and Cates earned assists.
Third period shots on goal were 13-7 Detroit.