|
 Right winger Wayne Simmonds scored the 100th goal of his Flyers
career, helping Philadelphia to a 4-1 win over the visiting Chicago
Blackhawks on Wednesday night.
The Flyers are now 9-1-4 in their last 14 games against teams in
playoff position, including the Blackhawks, who entered the game
five points out of first place in the Central Division.
Conversely, the Flyers are winless (0-6-3) in their last nine games
against teams not in playoff position.
"If I had the explanation why, I wouldn't be standing here talking
about why we didn't make the playoffs," said Flyers right winger
Jakub Voracek, whose assist on Flyers center Claude Giroux's goal
tied him for the NHL points lead with New York Islanders center John
Tavares and Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby.
"I mean, we're obviously not out of it, but I can't give you that
answer. We played a good hockey game. We've got to build on it and
we've got another good team (San Jose at home) Saturday."
Philadelphia goaltender Steve Mason stopped 34 of 35 shots, but like
Voracek, spoke very candidly and realistically after the game.
"At this stage, winning's still good," Mason said. "However, there
is that sobering feeling of where we're at in the standings. We took
care of our job tonight, and that's what we have to do to continue
to get wins."
Flyers left winger Pierre-Edouard Bellemare squared off against
former Flyers and current Blackhawks bruiser Dan Carcillo and echoed
the mystery behind the results.
"It's a good question," Bellemare said. "Somehow we're fired up when
we play those big teams. I mean, there are no easy teams to play
against. But maybe when we play those teams that we are in front of,
we don't do the same kind of small, little work that we did tonight
and make sacrifices for the team."
Regardless, the Flyers will take the win and hope this time it will
propel them to better things. The previous Philadelphia victory was
a 7-2 thrashing of Detroit at home on March 14, ending a four-game
losing streak.
Instead of being a turning point, the Flyers embarked on another
four-game losing streak -- all on the road -- before Wednesday's win
over the Blackhawks.
Philadelphia shaved two points off the 11-point gap separating it
from eighth-seeded Ottawa and playoff hopefuls Boston and Florida,
all of which were idle. Five of the Flyers' seven final games are at
home, where they sport a 21-9-6 record this season compared with a
dismal 9-20-10 road record.
As for the win itself, Philadelphia had four different goal scorers,
including Simmonds. His goal 7:20 into the game was partly the
result of his hard work 30 seconds earlier. Chicago netminder Corey
Crawford, who had 29 saves, tried to backhand a pass behind the net
to defenseman Michal Rozsival, but Simmonds stormed in and poked the
puck away.
Chicago was never able to clear the puck and eventually Flyers right
winger Matt Read fed it back to Simmonds, who fired a shot past
Crawford for a 1-0 lead.
"It's one game," Crawford said. "The Flyers played really well. I
don't think we played our best game. It's a little frustrating, but
we still have tons of confidence in this room."
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Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews agreed.
"We've got to focus on playing good hockey. We do that, and we give
ourselves a chance," said Toews, not looking to overthink Chicago's
loss. "We'll figure things out together the way we always do and get
back on the right page."
After Flyers center Ryan White put Philadelphia ahead 2-0 in the
second period, Giroux made it 3-0 on his 22nd goal of the season. It
was Giroux's first even-strength goal at home all year.
Chicago center Andrew Shaw, who almost tied the score but missed a
wide-open net after Simmonds' goal, scored his 13th goal of the
season early in the third period on the power play.
Flyers left winger Michael Raffl put the game out of reach with five
minutes to go, making it 4-1 on his 19th goal of the season.
Philadelphia right winger Matt Read and defenseman Michael Del Zotto
added two assists apiece.
Despite the loss, Chicago is 7-2-1 in its last 10 games and is a
strong candidate to capture home-ice advantage in the opening round
of the Western Conference playoffs.
The Blackhawks (94 points) also remain within striking distance of
St. Louis (99 points) and Nashville (98 points) for first place in
the Central Division. Chicago also has nine games remaining compared
with eight for both St. Louis and Nashville, with two of Chicago's
remaining games against the Blues.
NOTES: The game marked the return of longtime Flyers D Kimmo
Timonen, sent to the Blackhawks for draft picks days before the
March 2 trade deadline. Timonen, cheered loudly during the
announcement of the starting lineups, played seven seasons in
Philadelphia but missed the entire 2014-15 campaign with blood clots
before being traded to Chicago. The trade was designed to give him
one more chance at a Stanley Cup ring before he retires. ...
Blackhawks LW Bryan Bickell, LW Teuvo Teravainen, and D David
Rundblad were all out. ... Flyers C Vincent Lecavalier was a healthy
scratch, while D Luke Schenn (lower-body injury) remained out. ...
The Blackhawks won 4-0 in the teams' only other meeting this season,
Oct. 21 in Chicago. ... Chicago plays host to the Columbus Blue
Jackets on Friday. The San Jose Sharks visit Philadelphia on
Saturday.
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