LDN - Sports

Flyers hand Blues their first home loss this season

[November 03, 2017] ST. LOUIS -- Getting shut out seems to bring out a pretty good response from the Philadelphia Flyers.

For the third time this season, the Flyers followed up a shutout loss with a big victory, getting a shutout from their own goalie, Michal Neuvirth, in a 2-0 win Thursday night over the St. Louis Blues.

The win against the Western Conference's top team came one night after the Flyers were shut out 3-0 by the Blackhawks Wednesday night in Chicago.

"I thought we had a real similar effort to what we had last night," Philadelphia coach Dave Hakstol. "We knew it was going to be a little different game against this team but effort wise I thought it was identical to what we did last night and just a group of guys that went out there and worked real hard."

The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Blues and was their first in six home games this season. They were 6-0-1 in their last seven games in surging to the best record in the Western Conference.

The Blues had 10 shots in the first few minutes of the game but failed to take advantage of a 10-1 shot advantage and Neuvirth went on from there to frustrate the Blues with a 33-save effort in his 11th career shutout.

"We generated some good zone time, some good chances but I don't know that we got to the inside enough or generated enough quality grade A chances," Blues coach Mike Yeo said. "I don't know if we made it hard enough on their goalie."

Neuvirth made several big saves in the game, including stopping a breakaway on his former teammate, Brayden Schenn, as he protected a 1-0 lead until Claude Giroux scored into an empty net with six seconds left in the game.

"They put a lot of pucks (on net) early and I just found my game and guys really stepped up especially on PK and they blocked so many shots," Neuvirth said. "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."

Brandon Manning scored the first goal of the game just 38 seconds into the second period, thanks to a coach's challenge and a video review.

Even though Manning's shot from inside the blue line went past goalie Jake Allen and into the net, the goal was waved off on the ice because of goalie interference.

After the review, however, it was determined St. Louis defenseman Alex Pietrangelo knocked Jakub Voracek into Allen, negating the interference call.

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Flyers goalie Michal Neuvirth (30) and defenseman Brandon Manning (23) defend the net against St. Louis Blues right wing Scottie Upshall (9) during the third period at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

"I didn't see the puck go in," said Pietrangelo, who said it deflected off his elbow. "We didn't really know where the puck was because it was kind of a scrum. That happens. It's one goal. We didn't score. Whether that went in or not it would have been 0-0."

Added Yeo: "I had a pretty good feeling the goal was going to count. If he wasn't touched and went in on his own the call would have held up but I saw the contact with Petro and I think there was enough for them to say he was pushed in."

Manning also thought after watching the video that the goal would count.

"I knew Voracek would challenge him (Allen)," Manning said. "There wasn't much there so it all worked out in the end. It was a big one tonight."

Schenn, playing his first game against his former team, was involved in a scary collision with Sean Couturier in the second period. His hit sent Couturier to the ice and earned an interference penalty. Couturier was able to clear concussion protocol and returned to play the third period.

"I'm not trying to go out there and trying to hurt a guy," Schenn said. "I know him well. I played with him for six years. I didn't even finish (the check) through him. I was gliding. I tucked my shoulder, tucked my elbow (and), didn't hit his head."

NOTES: With D Radko Gudas out of the Flyers' lineup after suffering an upper-body injury on Wednesday night in Chicago, D Will O'Neill made his NHL debut, meaning four of the team's six defensemen had less than 15 games of NHL experience. The team's most experienced defenseman was Brandon Manning, playing in the 150th game of his career. ... G Ville Husso served as the backup for Blues G Jake Allen and normal backup G Carter Hutton was out because of the birth of his first child. ... The Blues will host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night and the Flyers return home to host the Colorado Avalanche.

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