Philly Sports Jabronis
Report From Philadelphia Flyers
* Tonight’s game marked the first time this season the Flyers have not been either tied or ahead at some point in the third period.
* The game marked the first time the Flyers have been shut out by the Blackhawks since January 18, 1976, when they lost 2-0 at the old Chicago Stadium… Tony Esposito stopped all 35 Flyers shots.
* The 43 shots by the Blackhawks are the second-most they’ve ever had against the Flyers, behind only a 47-shot game in a 5-5 tie on October 29, 1992 in Chicago.
* The Flyers didn’t register a shot on net until 12:30 of the first period of which there were only three shots in the game at that point, all by Chicago.
* The line of Voracek-Giroux-Raffl recorded 15 of the Flyers 32 shots on net, firing five shots each.
* Mark Streit led the team in ice time (21:01) for the third straight game.
* The Blackhawks scored twice in a span of 32 seconds in the first period, the last of which came on the power play.
* The Flyers are next in action tomorrow night at Pittsburgh (8:00, NBCSN, 97.5 FM).
GAME RECAP
CHICAGO — The Chicago Blackhawks stormed the Philadelphia Flyers’ net all game, Patrick Kane scored two power-play goals, and goalie Antti Raanta earned his second career shutout in his season debut Tuesday at United Center.
Paced by three first-period goals, the Blackhawks finally reaped some rewards for winning the puck-possession battle, defeating the Flyers 4-0. Raanta, Chicago’s second-year backup goalie, made 32 saves filling in for Corey Crawford, who sat with an upper-body injury.
Steve Mason made 39 saves for the Flyers (1-3-2).
Raanta, who hadn’t played in a regular-season game since April 12, didn’t know he’d be starting until he showed up for the morning skate. He didn’t have much work early, but made a number of key saves in the second and third periods to preserve the lead and shutout.
Kane and forwards Brandon Saad and Bryan Bickell each scored in the first period. Each goal came with traffic around the net, something Chicago coach Joel Quenneville noticed was lacking in the past two games.
Despite wide margins in shots on goal and shot attempts, Chicago (4-0-1) scored a total of three goals in an overtime loss to the Calgary Flames and an overtime win against the Nashville Predators, prompting Quenneville to challenge the Blackhawks to get better at the dirty work down low.
Saad’s goal, scored at 11:54 of the first for a 1-0 lead, must have pleased Quenneville. After Mason made a save on his initial attempt, Saad hung around while his linemates took some whacks at the rebound. The puck eventually slid slowly between Mason’s pads and came to a stop just outside the goal line, without the goalie noticing.
Saad, standing just to the left of the crease, saw it right away though. He and Bickell charged for it, with Saad just beating his teammate to the puck for his first goal of the season.
