|
 Beautiful? Not quite.
Effective? You bet.
"If you work hard, the bounces are going to go your way," Gudas
said. "I thought we did a great job."
Gudas' goal proved to be the difference as the Flyers held on for a
3-2 win against the Blackhawks on Wednesday night. Philadelphia
(34-23-12) increased its point streak to six consecutive games and
improved to 8-1-1 in its past 10 contests.
Ryan White and Brayden Schenn also scored as Philadelphia won its
first game at the United Center since Jan. 23, 2011. The Flyers
showed no signs of sluggishness despite arriving at their hotel in
Chicago around 2 a.m. Wednesday after playing a home game one night
earlier.
"Our players have done it night after night, and again tonight,"
Philadelphia coach Dave Hakstol said. "A real good team effort.
Every guy chipped in and contributed in one way or another. We did a
lot of the little things right that you have to do to be able to win
a game on a back-to-back."
Marian Hossa and Jonathan Toews scored for the Blackhawks, who
squandered a pair of leads. Chicago (41-24-6) dropped to 0-3-1 in
its past four games.
 "We've got to get back to playing our kind of hockey," Blackhawks
defenseman Brent Seabrook said. "We've got to generate more. We've
got to create more traffic. (Coach Joel Quenneville) talks a lot
about getting pucks to the net, getting bodies there, making it
tough on their goaltender to see."
Instead, Philadelphia goaltender Michal Neuvirth had a clear view of
the Blackhawks' shots for most of the night. Neuvirth turned aside
24 of 26 shots, including a late flurry after Chicago pulled its
goaltender for an extra skater. One of Neuvirth's best saves came
against Artemi Panarin, who blasted a one-timer from the left
circle.
Neuvirth said he embraced the moment as the Blackhawks desperately
tried to force overtime.
"I was relaxed and patient, and I was seeing the puck well,"
Neuvirth said. "You know, I was actually enjoying the last few
minutes."
Chicago goaltender Scott Darling stopped 26 of 29 shots in the loss.
A fortunate bounce allowed Philadelphia to grab a 3-2 lead midway
through the third period. Gudas fired a shot from the right point.
The puck deflected off of the stick of Blackhawks defenseman
Christian Ehrhoff and skipped high off the ice to surprise Darling.
Chicago opened the scoring on a short-handed goal by Hossa with
11:42 to go in the first period. Artem Anisimov fed a pass across
center ice to Hossa, who sneaked behind Philadelphia's defense for a
breakaway. Hossa buried a low shot for his 11th goal of the season
and the 497th of his career.
[to top of second column] |
The Blackhawks had a chance to take a two-goal lead during a lengthy
five-on-three power play midway through the first period. Neuvirth
turned aside slap shots by Seabrook and Panarin.
"We had a couple of good chances," Quenneville said.
The Flyers evened the score at 1-1 on a power-play goal by White
with 1:12 left in the first period. White stood in front of the
crease and redirected a one-timer from Andrew MacDonald.
Chicago regained a 2-1 lead on a wraparound goal by Toews with 15:02
remaining in the second period. Toews skated from behind the net to
the right side of the crease. He lifted a sharp-angle shot
underneath the crossbar to secure his seventh 25-goal campaign in
nine NHL seasons.
Schenn scored during a two-on-one break with Claude Giroux to even
the score at 2-2 with 6:58 to go in the second period. Giroux
stopped, spun and zipped a pass to Schenn to set up the one-timer.
"I don't know if I expect anything less from him," Schenn said with
a grin. "That's the way he sees the ice. He made that spin-o-rama
back pass to me, and I was able to put it in."
NOTES: Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville moved RW Patrick Kane to
the team's top line alongside C Jonathan Toews and LW Tomas
Fleischmann. Quenneville bumped RW Marian Hossa to the second line
alongside C Artem Anisimov and LW Artemi Panarin. ... Flyers D
Evgeny Medvedev was a healthy scratch for the second consecutive
game. Medvedev, 33, has three goals and eight assists in 44 games
this season. ... Blackhawks D Christian Ehrhoff returned to the
lineup after missing the previous game as a healthy scratch. Ehrhoff
replaced D Erik Gustafsson, who was a healthy scratch. ... Flyers RW
Jakub Voracek participated in Wednesday's morning skate, but he
remained out for the ninth consecutive game because of a lower-body
injury.
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