Philly Sports Jabronis
Report From Philadelphia Flyers
* Jake Voracek recorded an assist on the Flyers lone goal… He now has 67 points which is currently tied for fourth overall in the NHL scoring race.
* Voracek was also credited with six shots on goal and had another three that were blocked… The Flyers as a team had 31 shots that didn’t reach the net – 17 that were blocked and 14 that missed.
* Luke Schenn recorded the lone Flyers goal, giving the Flyers 14 consecutive games in which defensemen have recorded a point, and 16 goals and 46 points in their last 23 games.
* Nicklas Grossmann returned to the lineup after missing four games with an upper-body injury – he recorded four hits, 16:23 of ice-time on 23 shifts.
GAME RECAP
PHILADELPHIA — Vernon Fiddler scored the game-winning goal with 6:10 left in the third period to lead the Dallas Stars to a 2-1 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday at Wells Fargo Center.
Brett Ritchie had a goal for Dallas (30-27-10), and goaltender Kari Lehtonen made 25 saves.
It was Lehtonen’s first win in 14 games against the Flyers; he had been 0-10-3 with a 3.70 goals-against average and .886 save percentage.
Luke Schenn scored for the Flyers (28-27-13), who lost their third straight game (0-2-1). Goalie Steve Mason made 37 saves.
The game was tied in the third when Fiddler scored his third goal in two games. Ryan Garbutt chipped the puck past Flyers defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo at the Stars blue line, where Colton Sceviour got it and carried it down the right wing into the Philadelphia end. Sceviour centered a pass to a cutting Fiddler, who beat Colaiacovo down the ice and tipped the pass between Mason’s pads.
The Flyers had a chance to take the lead at the start of the third after the Stars’ Jason Spezza was called for hooking at the end of the second, but they failed to get a shot on goal during the power play. Philadelphia, which entered with the NHL’s third-best home power play, went 0-for-3 with the man-advantage and had four shots.
The Flyers and Stars traded goals in the first period, and then the goalies were the story in the second, when Mason and Lehtonen each made several big saves.
Lehtonen made a nice stop on a Brayden Schenn shot on a 2-on-1 with Claude Giroux, then made an even better stop on Giroux in front after Jakub Voracek got the puck to him with 11:57 remaining. Lehtonen also made a nice stick save on a Voracek shot from the slot with 6:25 left.
Mason was at his best when the Stars put traffic at the net. Early in the period he scrambled to make two saves on Ales Hemsky in front. Late in the period he stopped a Spezza blast from the right side, then pushed across to stop Hemsky on a rebound. Then with 1:30 left he stopped Ritchie in the slot and Curtis McKenzie from the side of the net poking at the rebound.
Ritchie’s goal at 11:23 of the first period tied the game 1-1. Jordie Benn transitioned the puck out of the Dallas end and got it ahead to McKenzie. He entered the Philadelphia zone and made a hard pass that got through Luke Schenn to Ritchie. He had an open look on net and fired a shot from the left hash marks that beat Mason past his glove. It was Ritchie’s fifth goal.
The Flyers opened the scoring on Luke Schenn‘s third goal. The Flyers had good pressure in the offensive zone when Voracek retrieved the rebound of a Schenn shot and got it back to the defenseman at the right point. Schenn faked a shot to get Fiddler to slide past on his block attempt and put a wrist shot on net through traffic in front, including brother Brayden, and past Lehtonen 1:13 into the game.
