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 The Flyers have been on a roll on the road, coming into Thursday
night's game against the Blues riding a three-game winning streak
away from home.
A three-goal outburst in the second period, including a goal and an
assist from center Claude Giroux, helped the Flyers extend that
streak with a 4-2 win -- their first victory in St. Louis in almost
10 years.
"I think we do a good job on the road kind of keeping our composure
and waiting for our opportunity." Giroux said.
That opportunity against the Blues came in the second period, when
the Flyers got goals 3:24 apart from left wing Michael Raffl and
left wing Matt Read to take a 2-1 lead after the Blues had scored
the game's first goal by right wing Robby Fabbri.
Giroux capped the big period with his 11th goal of the year with
1:54 to play, skating around Blues left wing Magnus Paajarvi and
flipping a backhander past goalie Brian Elliott.
"He's had a few when you see it every day in practice or whatever,
but in the game that's pretty amazing to watch him put it under the
d-man's stick and was able to make the deak at full speed," said
defenseman Luke Schenn.
The win was the first by the Flyers in St. Louis since Dec. 17,
2005, snapping a four-game losing streak that included being shut
out in their last two games. This is the first time the Flyers have
won more than three road games in a row since a five-game road
winning streak in 2011.
"I think we've been playing very good hockey in the last two or
three weeks," Read said. "We've let a couple slip away, but even in
the last couple games we've been playing really good hockey and
maybe just on the road things are going our way or something, but I
think in the last month we've been playing a lot better hockey then
we started off with and our record's coming around."
Giroux's goal was his first in nine career games against the Blues
and gave him at least one goal against every team he has played in
his NHL career.
The Blues cut the lead to 3-2 on a power-play goal from center David
Backes 7:37 into the third period, but the Flyers added an empty-net
goal from center Ryan White with two seconds to play. Giroux earned
his second assist on the goal, completing a three-point night.
Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said his team lost the game in the second
period for one simple reason,
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"We stopped checking," Hitchcock said. "(That) opened up gaps, had
some soft plays in the scoring areas against us and that gave them
the three goals. It's the common denominator in four of the last six
games. This is a league that the more you check, the more you have
the puck ... When you are inconsistent in that level you open it up.
This has been an ongoing theme for a little while and we've got to
get it solved.
"To me checking is a mindset. It's a collective effort; it has to be
there if you expect to win on a consistent basis. That allows you to
make plays, it allows you to have the puck and build momentum."
Momentum has been hard to come by for the Blues, who once again
failed to win back to back games. They have not won two games in a
row since they had a three-game winning streak from Nov. 4-10.
"Our game just isn't consistent enough," said defenseman Jay
Bouwmeester. "Whatever you do you have to find a way to figure it
out. The games don't get easier."
NOTES: D Radko Gudas returned to the Flyers' lineup after serving a
three-game suspension for an illegal hit on Ottawa C Mika Zibanejad.
... Healthy scratches for the Blues were C Scott Gomez and D Robert
Bortuzzo, who spent part of the morning skate working out at right
wing, signaling a possible position switch in the near future. ...
Philadelphia C Sam Gagner, who has missed seven consecutive games
because of a concussion, has been cleared to play and is on the road
trip but was not in the lineup Thursday night. ... The Flyers played
the front end of back-to-back road games, playing the Stars in
Dallas on Friday night. The Stars will then turn around and come to
St. Louis to play the Blues on Saturday night.
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