Postgame RAV4: Young Players Star in Win over Penguins

The Philadelphia Flyers erased three deficits to come back and defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins by shootout, 4-3 (1-0), at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday evening. Philly erased three separate one-goal deficits over the first 40 minutes. Trevor Zegras netted the winning shootout attempt in the second round.

Rookie Alex Bump made his National Hockey League debut and celebrated it with a goal. Veteran Luke Glendening played his first game as a Flyer after being claimed off waivers from the New Jersey Devils.

In the first period, Pittsburgh had roughly three minutes more puck possession than Philly. The Flyers also found themselves shorthanded three times. Even so, the teams traded off one goal apiece. Tomas Novak (13th) goal of the season gave the Penguins an early lead. Fifty-four seconds later, Owen Tippett (20th) evened the score.

The teams traded off two goals apiece in the seesaw middle frame Penguins retook the lead early in the second period on a goal by Rickard Rakell (12th) but Bump (1st NHL goal) answered quickly, Pittsburgh struck for a goal by veteran offensive defenseman Erik Karlsson (6th) but Denver Barkey(3rd) made it 3-3.

The third period and overtime were scoreless. That set up the shootout finale.

Dan Vladar got off to a slow start but settled in as the game went along. He finished with 19 saves on 22 shots in regulation and overtime. The big Czech goalie went on to stop all three shootout attempts he faced. Stuart Skinner stopped 12 of 15 shots through 65 minutes before going 1-for-2 in the shootout.

The Flyers ran into penalty trouble during the game but went 5-for-6 on the penalty kill. They were 0-for-2 on the penalty kill.

Flyers Hall of Famer Rick Tocchet marked his 700th game as an NHL head coach.

FIRST PERIOD SYNOPSIS

The Penguins went to an early power play on a Rasmus Ristolainen holding penalty at 1:31. On the ensuing power play, Pittsburgh opened the scoring on a tic-tac-toe hookup. Novak scored from the slot at 3:00.

Philly drew even at 3:54. Cam York  moved the puck out from near the point to Trevor Zegras just below the goal line. Zegras then found Tippett in the slot and Tippett found the net on Philly's first shot on goal of the game. Zegras and York got the assists.

At 9:12, Pittsburgh returned to the power play. Glendening went off for high-sticking. The Flyers killed off this minor.

Drysdale took exception to an Avery Hayes hit on York. For the first time in his pro career, Drysdale dropped the gloves. The Flyers' defenseman was called for an extra roughing minor at 18:40. The Penguins took 1:20 of carryover power play time into the second period.

Shots: Flyers 2 - Penguins 8
Faceoffs: Flyers 12 - Penguins 9

SECOND PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Philly killed off the remainder of the Drysdale penalty.

Rakell received a pass from high in the slot and fired a shot through a screen at 3:38. The puck may have deflected off Rasmus Ristolainen on its way to the net. The assists went to Egor Chinahkov and Bryan Rust. 

Bump got the goal back at 4:46. The puck moved from down low out to Bump. Moving against the grain, Bump pulled off a toe drag and shot the puck past Skinner. The assist went to Nikita Grebenkin.

From the left point, Karlsson hammered a shot that got past Vladar to the short side at 5:45. The helpers went to Chinakhov and Rakell.

Bump started a scoring opportunity along the wall behind the net. He sent the puck to Grebenkin. A moment later, Skinner made a tough stop on Dvorak.

As the game moved past the midpoint, Philly made it 3-3 at 10:03. Barkey forced a turnover. Michkov pounced and found Barkey driving to the back door. Going from his forehand to backhand and back to forehand, Barkey beat Skinner. The assists were credited to Michkov and Noah Cates.

Kris Letang went to the penalty box on a slashing minor at 13:02. Zegras had a look but fired a shot attempt over the net. Barkey tipped a puck just wide of the backdoor on a feed from Michkov. Connor Dewar had a prime shorthanded scoring chance off a Cates turnover late in the Philly power play.

Shots: Flyers 9 (11 overall) - Penguins 7 (15 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 14 (26 overall) - Penguins 8 (17 overall)

THIRD PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Pittsburgh went to their fourth power play at 3:54. Dvorak slashed Rakell, who fired a shot just wide.  Glendening blocked a shot in the latter stages of the kill.

Ben Kindel found a teammate driving to the net. Vlader made a fine save on Justin Brazeau. On the next shift, the Flyers caught a huge break as Vladar was unable to play the puck, leaving a yawning net. Fortunately, the puck bounced over Brazeau's stick.

Through 10:44, shots on goal were 3-0 Pittsburgh. On the next shift, Michkov and Barkey turned in good work down low. Drysdale got a point shot on net for Philly's first shot on goal of the period. Later in the shift, Skinner made an excellent save on Barkey.

Philly went to their fifth PK of the game at 13:19. The Flyers got hemmed in their own zone and Grundstrom took a careless high sticking penalty. After a failed clearing opportunity, Vladar gloved down a Letang shot with Brazeau lurking near the net.

The Flyers had back-to-back shifts where they controlled possession. Philly then benefitted from a very generous icing ruling. Unfortunately, Dvorak lost the ensuing offensive zone faceoff.

Shots: Flyers 4 (14 overall) - Penguins 4 (19  overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 12 (38 overall) - Penguins 11 (28 overall)

OVERTIME SYNOPSIS

Dvorak, Tippett and Travis Sanheim started overtime for Philly. Sanheim bobbled a puck and Pittsburgh gained possession. Later, Sanheim checked Novak off the puck.

Zegras made a play down low that handcuffed Drysdale at 1:08. On the next shift, Vladar stopped a Rakell backhander.

Vladar tripped up Karlsson in the crease. The Flyers' goalie was called from an interference penalty at 2:51. The Penguins went on a 4-on-3 power play. 

Karlsson hit the post to the stick side. The Flyers turned the puck over but caught a break when Chinakhov missed the net. Cates broke up a pass shortly thereafter and cleared the zone.

Shots: Flyers 1 (15 overall) - Penguins 4 (22 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 12 (39 overall) - Penguins 11 (30 overall)

SHOOTOUT SYNOPSIS

• Anthony Mantha denied a five-hole attempt. Matvei Michkov came in slowly and attempted a five-hole shot.
• Rakell was turned aside by Vladar. Zegras scored his sixth shootout goal of the season, speeding up as he moved in.
• Vladar stoned Chinakhov to end the game.

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

Alex Bump — Christian Dvorak — Nikita Grebenkin
Denver Barkey — Noah Cates — Matvei Michkov
Carl Grundstrom  — Trevor Zegras — Owen Tippett
Luke Glendening — Sean Couturier — Garnet Hathaway

Travis Sanheim — Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York — Jamie Drydale
Emil Andrae -- Noah Juulsen

Dan Vladar

[Samuel Ersson]

Postgame RAV4 (RAV4 Things Revisited)

1.  Veteran center Glendening

Glendening played 11:44 including 3:25 on the penalty kill. He won five of six faceoffs and blocked two shots.

2. Penguins missing Crosby and Malkin

The Flyers were unable to capture a regulation win, gaining one point on Pittsburgh in the standings. Other Pens stepped up but they clearly missed their captain in particular.

3.  Energy from Grebenkin

The story of the night was the Flyers' young players, especially Alex Bump and Denver Barkey. Nikita Grebenkin, meanwhile, chipped in a key assist.

4. Sanheim-Ristolainen defense pair

Philadelphia's top defensive pairing logged very heavy ice time. Sanheim played 28:26 on 32 shifts including 7:09 on the penalty kill. Ristolainen skated 23:26 in 32 shifts.