Postgame RAV4: Flyers Drop 3-2 Verdict in Game 5

The Philadelphia Flyers overcame a two-goal deficit in the second period but lost 3-2 to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday at PPG Paints Arena in Game Five of their Eastern Conference playoff series. The Flyes hold a three games to two lead.

The Flyers had a territorial advantage in the first period and navigated the neutral zone well. However, they couldn't get some of their better looks on net. Nine got blocked and 13 missed the net. 

For Pittsburgh, an Elmer Soderblom goal (1st) on their first shot of the game stood up for a 1-0 lead at intermission.

Early in the second period, Alex Bump (1st NHL playoff goal) answered back to a Connor Dewar goal (2nd) in a mere 12 seconds. Travis Saheim (2nd) later tied the game, but a bad-bounce goal credited to Kris Letang (2nd) restored a lead for the Penguins.

Dan Vladar turned away 18 of 21 shots. For Pittsburgh, Arturs Silovs made 18 saves on 20 shots.

FIRST PERIOD SYNOPSIS

As they have done all series, the Flyers started the game with the Sean Couturier line. Travis Sanheim sent a pass to Luke Glendenining. Parker Wotherspoon blocked the shot attempt.

Off a Pittsburgh turnover, Bump fired the game's first shot on goal. On the next shift, Denver Barkey gained entry with speed. Owen Tippett fired the rebound wide.

After the Flyers had the first three shots on goal, Pittsburgh scored. Anthony Mantha won a puck battle down low, Soderblom scored from the slot at 2:45. The Flyers got caught in a line change on the sequence. The assists went to Mantha and Wotherspoon.

Silovs made a save on a Bump deflection off an Emil Andrae point shot.

Samuel Girard tripped Barkey at 4:17 in the right circle. The Flyers went to the game's first power play. The Flyers got one late shot on goal after struggling to get the puck on net.

At 8:32, Mantha tested Vladar with Connor Dewar crashing the net.

Vladar made a save on a delayed penalty on Garnet Hathaway (tripping, roughing) at 14:27. Evgeni Malkin (roughing) took a minor penalty along with Konecny (roughing) and Mantha (roughing). The Penguins went to their first power play. 

Philly killed off the penalty after Vladar made three saves. Late in the kill, Nick Seeler beat Crosby in a battle down low. Christian Dvorak fired a shorthanded shot on net from the left circle.

Jamie Drysdale outskated Malkin to start a rush up the ice. Philly made a strong push in the final minutes but were unable to put one in the net.

Shots: Flyers 9 - Penguins 11
Faceoffs: Flyers 9 - Penguins 9 

SECOND PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Penguins came out with a heavy push and the Flyers failed to clear their zone. At 3:17, the fourth line scored. On a rising shot, Dewar put the puck off Vladar's blocker and under the crossbar. The assists went to Crosby and Blake Lizotte.

The Flyers controlled the center ice faceoff .A mere 12 seconds later, Bump threaded an off-wind shot under Silovs' arm and into the net at 3:29. The goal was assisted by Ristolainen and Cates.

The Pittsburgh line went back to the forecheck. Vladar lost his mask in a scramble around the net.

At 9:06, Hathaway took a touch pass from Dvorak and had a shot off the rush. Silovs made the save.

Konecny blocked a shot and started to race off on a potential breakaway. Karlsson tripped him at 9:23. Foerster missed the net from point blank range off a Zegras feed after Cates won the initial puck battle.

The Pittsburgh fourth line got hemmed in deep, enabling the Flyers to get a line change. At 15:06, a side angle Sanheim shot went off Karlsson and into the net. Ristolainen and Konecny got the assists.

Pittsburgh scored a fluke goal at 17:12  The puck bounced off the end boards, hit Vladar as it came back out front and trickled into the net. Credited to Letang, Crosby and Ryan Shea got the assists.

Shots: Flyers 5 (14 overall)  - Penguins 6 (17 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 13 (22 overall) - Penguins 9 (18 overall)

THIRD PERIOD SYNOPSIS

After a Flyers turnover, Vladar made a 10-bell skate save.

Philly killed off an Emil Andrae tripping penalty on Malkin at 1:37. At the other end, Bump missed the net on his eighth shot attempt of the game.

The Crosby line hemmed the Couturier line in deep. Through 9:34, shots were 3-2 Pittsburgh. At 10:13, Tippett put on his first significant speed burst of the game and snapped off a fairly routine shot from just above the circle. Silovs made the stop.

The Cates line had a strong forechecking shift. With traffic in front, however, they were unable to get a shot through to the net.

Two shifts later, Konecny got blocked from the slot. A Drysdale shot through traffic was deflected wide. At the other end, Bump made a good defensive play and started a counterattack opportunity.

A very, very long whistle-free stretch ensued. The Flyers finally got Vladar off for an extra attacker. Silovs made a save on Martone. The Flyers called timeout with 39.6 seconds on the clock.

Crosby won back-to-back defensive zone draws against Dvorak. Crosby narrowly missed the empty net twice. The Flyers ran out of time.

Shots: Flyers 6 (20 overall)  - Penguins 4 (21 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 10 (32 overall) - Penguins 10 (28 overall)

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

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

Sean Couturier -- Luke Glendening – Garnet Hathaway

Travis Sanheim – Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York – Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler – Emil Andrae

Dan Vladar
[Samuel Ersson]

POSTGAME RAV4 (RAV4 Things Revisited)

1. Lineup changes for the Flyers

Coming off a loss in Game Four, the Flyers made several changes to their starting line. Most notably, Alex Bump made his NHL playoff debut in place of Matvei Michkov. Defenseman Emil Andrae re-entered the lineup for the first time since Game Two, replacing Noah Juulsen.

Additionally, Denver Barkey and Tyson Foerster swapped lines. Forster was reunited with longtime linemate Noah Cates. Barkey moved up to play on the Trevor Zegras line.

Bump was the Flyers' best forward in this game. He had three shots on goal and five shot attempts in the first period. By the end of the night, he had four shots on net in nine attempts.

2. Transition game

The Flyers did not have nearly the volume of transition rush opportunities -- and no breakaways --that they generated in Games One to Four. The Flyers struggled with some failed clearing opportunities at times and ended up pinned in their defensive zone.

3. Physical play

The Flyers played a more physical game than they did in Game Four. By the end of the night, they were credited with 42 hits to 37 for Pittsburgh. Tyson Foerster and Sean Couturier had four hits apiece.

4. Discipline and special teams

The Flyers went 0-for-2 on the power play. They were 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. There were a fairly high number of penalties let go by the officials.