March 21, 2016
If the Philadelphia Flyers weren’t already on the New York Islanders’ radar, they certainly are now. In fact, they’re directly in the Isles’ rear-view mirror.
On Monday night, the Orange and Black closed to within three points of the Isles with a 4-1 win over their Metropolitan Division rivals in front of the Barclays Center crowd (and the car, that too). The two teams have both played 71 games, and as Sam Hinkie once described it, the Flyers now have “optionality” when it comes to their playoff chances. No longer is the path Detroit or bust.
The Flyers are going to make or miss the playoffs on Steve Mason’s back, and he was spectacular in this one. Mason stopped 23 of the Isles’ 24 shots, and many of them came with a high degree of difficulty. One minute into the game, he stoned Nikolay Kulemin on the breakaway:
A Stone Cold start from Mason. pic.twitter.com/aYtROec7YS
— Sons of Penn (@SonsofPenn) March 21, 2016
From a puck possession standpoint, this game was much closer than the final score indicated. After the Islanders came out flying in the first five minutes of the game, the Flyers settled down, started driving their share of the play, and eventually cashed in on a few of their opportunities.
Mason was the difference, and the Flyers will take two points any way they can. They’re right back at it tomorrow night in Columbus against the Blue Jackets.
1-0 Flyers, Nick Cousins (2:24 2P). Cousins gets the goal, but Jake Voracek’s assist feels more significant moving forward. If Voracek can find his game with Cousins and Read on the third line, the Flyers really might have something here:
1-1, Kyle Okposo (3:54 2P). This wasn’t Claude Giroux’s finest shift by any means. The Flyers had a failed clearing attempt, and then Okposo simply wanted the rebound more than Giroux:
2-1 Flyers, Brandon Manning (13:01 2P). The Flyers were fortunate here (great save by Mason on the PK followed by a lucky bounce off the linesman), but Manning certainly wasn’t. What a well-placed shot for the 25-year-old defenseman’s first NHL goal:
Also, this has to be trick photography of some sort:
Boy that Brandon Manning shot even got a smile outta Dave Hakstol. Kinda. #Flyers pic.twitter.com/zGQohxMx9L
— John Clark CSN (@JClarkCSN) March 22, 2016
3-1 Flyers, Sam Gagner (4:22 3P). Great teamwork from the second line on this play, as terrific passes from Sean Couturier and Michael Raffl get Gagner a tap-in.
Giroux added the empty-netter to close the scoring.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
