Flyers Dominate Early, Hang On Late To Beat Red Wings
PHILADELPHIA, PA (CBS) — One look at the collective taut faces of the Flyers spoke volumes Tuesday night. It's mid-March, though the frenetic pace in the first few minutes implied something was going to be different about this game. And something was. The Flyers energy, tempo, diligence to grind and sense of urgency has placed them in a nice spot, after handing the visiting Detroit Red Wings a 4-3 loss at the Wells Fargo Center.
The victory, aided greatly by two goals from Michael Raffl, puts the Flyers (33-23-12, 78 points) within a point of Detroit (34-25-11, 79 points) in the Eastern Conference standings for the eighth and final playoff berth.
Detroit, currently the holders of the longest postseason streak among North American professional sports franchises at 24-straight years making the playoffs, last won in Philadelphia almost 19 years ago, in Game 2 of the Red Wings' Stanley Cup sweep of the Eric Lindros-led Flyers, 4-2, on June 3, 1997.
The Flyers weren't about to let that run break and it showed the first 20 minutes.
"We're fighting for our lives and that was the team right in front of us," said Wayne Simmonds, who scored his 25th goal of the season. "That first period was definitely the best start that we've had all year. It was the biggest game of the year for us and everyone was pretty amped up."
Philadelphia, which had gone 7-2-1 over its previous 10 games, started extremely well. The Flyers charged through Detroit firing off a single-period season best 23 shots, which fell just two shots short of the team record for shots in a period. The last time the Flyers had 23 shots or more in the first period was way back on January 29, 1984 against the Chicago Blackhawks (that resulted in a 5-5 tie).
Philadelphia outshot the Red Wings 23-3, which was only the second time in franchise history that the Flyers outshot their opponents in a period by 20 shots or more, going back to April 4, 1982 against Toronto (a 7-1 Flyers' victory on the final game of the season, before being knocked out by the New York Rangers 3-1 in the playoffs).
By the end of the initial stanza Detroit goalie Petr Mrazek appeared shell-shocked. Anything shot even remotely close to the net and Mrazek hit his knees, or his head would dart around trying to find the puck.
Detroit made the game slightly interesting with a pair of goals in the second period, when Andreas Athanasiou slinked his way by Nick Cousins, Radko Gudas and Matt Read. The Flyers' trio all focused on Riley Sheahan as Athanasiou back doored them. On Detroit's second goal, scored by Pavel Datsyuk, when Simmonds was out of place.
With 13:05 left in the first period, Simmonds gave the Flyers a 2-0 lead. With Detroit creeping up, Rookie of the Year candidate Shayne Gostisbehere gave the Flyers another 2-goal cushion with 1:06 left in the second period.
Goalie Steve Mason steered away 34 shots, including a great blocker board save on the breaking Henrik Zetterberg with 7:23 left in the game.