Postgame RAV4: Flyers Blank Penguins in Game 2

The Philadelphia Flyers shut out the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-0, on Monday at PPG Paints Arena in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series. The Flyers grabbed a two games to zero lead in the best-of-seven series.

Dan Vladar, who did not record a regular season shutout, blanked the Penguins on 27 shots. Porter Martone scored his second game winning goal in his second career Stanley Cup playoff game. Garnet Hathaway had a two-point game after posting just three points during the regular season.

Once again, the Flyers did a masterful checking job against the Penguins. Meanwhile, Philly blocked 23 shots and doled out 48 credited hits.

In the first period, the Flyers continued the stingy team defense they used to bottle up Pittsburgh in Game 1. Philly had to kill off three Pittsburgh power plays but limited the Penguins to two shots on net for the period. 

The Flyers also out-hit Pittsburgh by a 28-15 margin led by four apiece from Travis Konecny and Owen Tippett. Philly blocked seven shots.

In the second period, the Penguins generated more attack but were mostly kept to the perimeter and had few second-chance opportunities. Subsequently, the Flyers broke through for goals by Porter Martone (2nd of the playoffs) and Garnet Hathaway (SHG, 1st).

In the third period, Luke Glendening (1st) closen out the scoring with an empty net goal.

In a losing cause, Pittsburgh's Stuart Skinner stopped 20 of 22 shots. Along the way, he stopped a two-man shorthanded breakaway and  a third period penalty shot opportunity.

The Flyers had one line change from Game One. Noah Juulsen replaced Emil Andrae (day-to-day, upper body injury) in the lineup.

FIRST PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Egor Chinakhov fired an early shot attempt over the net. At the other end, Travis Sanheim put the game's first official shot on net. Porter Martone had the second shot with traffic in front.

The Flyers received the game's first power play at 8:22. Tyson Foerster accidentally high-sticked Connor Dewar. Saheim was tripped at 9:01 by Erik Karlsson. During the 4-on-4, Rasmus Ristolainen pulled the puck off the wall and cut across for a scoring chance. Tangling with Sidney Crosby, Ristolainen received the lone penalty (roughing) at 10:14. Philly killed the penalty.

The Flyers took another penalty -- Nick Seeler for roughing Noel Acciari -- at 13:18. They killed this one off, too.

Shots: Flyers 5 - Penguins 2
Faceoffs: Flyers 8 - Penguins 9

SECOND PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Denver Barkey made a good backchecking play early in the period. Matvei Michkov had the first shot on goal.Skinner made the save.

Cam York, coming off a solid first period, created an offensive zone faceoff.

The Penguins were guilty of a too many men on the ice penalty called at 5:34. Skinner gloved a Martone shot from the circle to his right. Otherwise, the Flyers generated nothing of note.

At 8:03, Vladar stopped a perimeter shot from Evgeni Malkin  off a Crosby drop pass. Vladar absorbed a Chinakhov shot from distance for a stoppage. The goalie then stopped a shot through traffic at 12:13.

The Flyers tweaked the lines a bit. They moved Denver Barkey to the Zegras line. Tyson Foerster moved to Noah Cates' line.

The Flyers' fourth line had a solid forechecking shift and it led to a goal on the next shift.

On a broken play, Martone got the Flyers on the board. Konecny attempted a shot. The puck bounced off the stick of Ryan Shea to the rookie, who stashed home a backhander. The assists went to Travis Konecny and Christian Dvorak at 13:39.

Pittsburgh went to its fourth power play at 15:48. Luke Glendening went off for cross-checking Crosby won a draw cleany against Couturier and Malkin snapped off an immediate shot. Couturier later tracked down a puck and passed to Noah Cates for a shot. 

With five seconds seconds left in the kill, the Flyers made it 2-0. Tippett made an excellent initial play to roast Kris Letang and passed to Hathaway. The veteran checker finished it off for a shorthanded goal at 17:43. Tippett also pressured Skinner down low to force a weak play up the boards on the front end of the sequence.

Konecny took a  double high stick to the face on the defensive boards. One stick belonged to Ristolainen and the other belonged to Malkin. The initial double minor call on Malkin was reduced to a two-minute penalty at 19:45. The Flyers took 1:45 of carryover power play time into the third period.

Shots: Flyers 12 (17 overall)  - Penguins 12 (14 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 14 (22 overall) - Penguins 10 (19 overall)

THIRD PERIOD SYNOPSIS

The Flyers did not score on the carryover power play. Dvorak had a chance in close as play went back to 5-on-5.

Three minutes into the period, Vladar made a good save on Samuel Girard from the middle after Matvei Michkov wiped out past the defensive blueline. At 3:57, Vladar stopped a blast from Chinakhov.

Crosby ripped a one-timer shot on net from the right circle. The Flyers took an icing.

At 6:31, Konecny took an unnecessary interference penalty against Crosby as play started to move the other way. The Penguins went to their fifth power play. Skinner made a spectacular save on Glendening on a shorthanded 2-on-0 breakaway with Couturier. At the other end, Ben Kindel nearly scored.

Tippett broke through the defense and received a penalty shot at 9:45 as he was hooked by Karlsson. Tippett was unable to find the mark against Skinner.

At 12 :38, Vladar gloved a Karlsson point shot cleanly for a stoppage. With 4:17 remaining, Tippett entered the offensive zone and fired a  shot attempt that went out of play.

The Penguins pulled Skinner for a 6-on-5 attack in the final 2:28.  The Flyers took an icing.

Glending blocked his sixth shot of the game. On a delayed Pittsburgh penalty, Couturier fed Glendening for an empty net goal at 17:55. The secondary assist went to Hathaway.

With 1:47 left, there was commotion in the Pittsburgh zone. Tippett's nose was cut in the scrum by Anthony Mantha. Philly ended up with a four-minute power play.

The nastiness continued. Parker Wotherspoon cross-checked Tippett in the upper back near the boards with 19 seconds remaining. Philly finished the game on a 5-on-3.

Shots: Flyers 6 (23 overall)  - Penguins 13 (27 overall)

Faceoffs: Flyers 16 (38 overall) - Penguins 12 (31 overall)

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

Tyson Foerster – Trevor Zegras – Owen Tippett
Travis Konecny – Christian Dvorak – Porter Martone
Denver Barkey– Noah Cates – Matvei Michkov 

Sean Couturier -- Luke Glendening – Garnet Hathaway

Travis Sanheim – Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York – Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler – Noah Juulsen

Dan Vladar
[Samuel Ersson]

POSTGAME RAV4 (RAV4 Things Revisited)

1. Transition Game

The Flyers got  several chances in transition as the game moved along. Skinner stepped up to keep his team in the game. Defensively, the Flyers severely limited time and space for Pittsburgh.

2. Discipline and Special Teams

The Flyers went 0-for-5 on the power play. They were 5-for-5 on the penalty kill with a shorthanded goal scored. There has yet to be a power play goal for either team through two games, which works to Philly's benefit.

3. Opposing captains

Sean Couturier and company once again got the better of Sidney Crosby and his team: up and down the lineup.

4. Breakthrough game for Tippett?

Owen Tippett entered Game 2 with one goal in his last nine games dating back to late in the regular season. He appeared on the verge of heating up again in Game 1 of this series. In Game 2,  he had a phenomenal shift on the eventual Hathaway shorthanded goal. Later, he used his speed to create a penalty shot. Unfortunately, Tippett was unable to capitalize.