Neuvirth, Flyers shut out Blues

ST. LOUIS -- Michal Neuvirth made 33 saves to help the Philadelphia Flyers to a 2-0 win against the St. Louis Blues at Scottrade Center on Thursday.
It was Neuvirth's 11th NHL shutout. Brandon Manning and Claude Giroux scored for Philadelphia (7-6-1), which finished a set of back-to-back games after a 3-0 loss at the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday.
Neuvirth's shutout was his first since Nov. 7, 2015.

"I thought Neuvirth] was excellent and he had to be sharp right from the start of the game," Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. "I thought he was a big part of getting everybody settled in. After the first 10 minutes, we were able to push that period back a little in our direction and throughout the game, he was excellent throughout."
***[WATCH: [All Flyers vs. Blues highlights]*
The Flyers came into the game playing rookie defensemen Travis Sanheim, Robert Hagg, Mark Alt and Will O'Neill, who made his NHL debut for injured Radko Gudas.
"Unbelievable," Neuvirth said. "That's one of the hottest teams in the League over there. They stepped up when they needed to step up. That's what they did."
St. Louis (10-3-1) lost in regulation for the first time in eight games (6-1-1) and for the first time at home this season (5-1-0). Jake Allen made 21 saves.

"Neuvirth played well," Blues center Brayden Schenn said. "As a team, we weren't even as close as good as we needed to be. We came out a little bit flat, second period wasn't that good either. A team playing on a back-to-back, (we) just didn't really give them enough effort."
Manning gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead on a wrist shot from the blue line past a screened Allen. The call was officially waved off for goaltender interference on Jakub Voracek, but the Flyers challenged and the call on the ice was reversed after it was determined that Alex Pietrangelo initiated the contact with Voracek.
The Blues outshot the Flyers 10-1 in the first five minutes of the game, but the Flyers recovered and had seven of the final 11 shots of the first period.

"You know they put a lot of pucks (on net) early and I just found my game and guys really stepped up, especially on [the penalty kill]," Neuvirth said. "They blocked so many shots and I had to work really hard to find the puck through the seams. They're a big team and they gave me a hard time in front of the net."
Giroux scored an empty-net goal with 5.4 seconds left in the third period.

Goal of the game

Manning's goal at 38 seconds of the second period.

Save of the game

Neuvirth's glove save on Schenn at 7:17 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Neuvirth made two point-blank saves on Schenn with 33 seconds remaining.

They said it

"I played with [Schenn] for a couple years in Philly. I know he likes to go high glove and I read it well." -- Flyers goalie Michal Neuvirth on his glove save on Blues center Brayden Schenn
"It's hard to see live on the ice from the angle of the bench, but when you look at it on video, it looked to me like a good goal. We looked at it a couple of different times and the fortunately the review when our direction." -- Flyers coach Dave Hakstol on challenging Brandon Manning's goal
"It's always weird playing buddies and stuff like that. I think it's a little bit different in that regard, but it would have been nice to beat them." -- Blues center Brayden Schenn, who spent the past six seasons with the Flyers

Need to know

St. Louis was shut out at home for the first time since Dec. 30, 2016. … Ivan Provorov blocked 10 shots and tied a Flyers single-game record previously held by Andrew MacDonald from March 11, 2016, against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Flyers blocked 20 shots. … Gudas did not play and is day to day after he sustained an upper-body injury Wednesday. … The Blues were the last team in the NHL to lose at home this season.

What's next

Flyers: Host the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSP, ALT2, NHL.TV)
Blues: Host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CBC, FS-MW, NHL.TV).