Philly Sports Jabronis
By Adam Kimelman, Flyers.com
PHILADELPHIA — Brayden Schenn scored with 2:24 left in overtime to give the Philadelphia Flyers a 3-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday at Wells Fargo Center.
Schenn tipped a Jake Muzzin pass at the Philadelphia blue line and won a race for the puck. With Muzzin whacking Schenn’s stick from behind, Schenn got a wrist shot on net. Kings goalie Jonathan Quick made the stop, but the puck and goaltender drifted back across the goal line.
Referees initially waved off the goal, but the call was reversed by video review.
Michael Raffl and Chris VandeVelde also scored for the Flyers, and Jakub Voracek had his third straight two-assist game. Goaltender Ray Emery, making his third straight start, stopped 38 of 40 shots he faced.
Tyler Toffoli and Mike Richards scored for the Kings, and Quick stopped 40 of 43 shots.
The Kings had 19 players in the lineup Tuesday. Anze Kopitar was unable to play because of an upper-body injury. The Kings also are missing Marian Gaborik (upper body) and Trevor Lewis (upper body) to injuries, as well as defenseman Slava Voynov, who is suspended. The three injured players are not expected to be out long, so with little roster or salary-cap space, the Kings were unable to recall a player from Manchester of the American Hockey League.
Richards tied the game 5:01 into the third with his first goal of the season. Kyle Clifford put a shot on net that Emery stopped with his left pad on the post, but the Flyers goalie couldn’t cover the puck. It got dug out, and Emery made a stick save on Drew Doughty’s shot in close, but Emery directed the puck right to Richards to his right, and the former Philadelphia captain scored into a nearly empty net.
The Flyers had several chances to break the tie in regulation.
Voracek hit the right post behind Quick with 11:17 left in the third, and with 6:53 left he split two Kings to create a chance in front, but Quick stopped him.
With 5:07 remaining Schenn made a great move with the puck along the right wall in the Los Angeles end and sent a backhand pass through the slot to Claude Giroux, but the Philadelphia captain fell as he shot and missed wide. Schenn went behind the net to collect the rebound and threw it in front, but the pass handcuffed Wayne Simmonds, who couldn’t get much on his shot.
The Kings outshot the Flyers 15-14 in the third, and their best chance came when Jeff Carter played a puck that took an odd bounce off the wall behind the Philadelphia net, but Emery made the save with 7:30 remaining.
The Flyers preserved a 2-1 lead through a scoreless second period, despite being outshot 10-7 and spending most of the period in their zone, thanks to another strong effort from Emery. His best save came 1:07 into the period when he snapped his pads shut to deny Tanner Pearson on a breakaway. He made another nice save with 14:16 left in the period when he fell trying to go side to side but recovered into a sitting position to stop Jarret Stoll’s shot from the right circle.
The Flyers also held the Kings to two shots on a power play that started 1:09 into the second period when defensemanNick Schultz was whistled for tripping Toffoli.
VandeVelde gave Philadelphia a 2-1 lead after one period with his first goal in more than two years. A strong Flyers forecheck held the puck in the Kings end, and VandeVelde one-timed a Voracek pass from the slot past Quick with 43.7 seconds left in the period.
“It was a good, hard-working shift,” VandeVelde said. “I was out there with [Giroux and Voracek], and you know they make some pretty good plays. [Voracek] found me in the slot, and I was able to bury it.”
The goal was VandeVelde’s first since March 25, 2012, when he was playing for the Edmonton Oilers.
Toffoli tied the game when he scored shorthanded at 13:08 of the first. Matt Read‘s pass from the left wall in the Los Angeles end hopped over the stick of Philadelphia defenseman Michael Del Zotto, and Toffoli had a clear path on the Flyers goal. He beat Emery high to the glove side for his fifth goal.
The Flyers took a 1-0 lead 5:24 into the game on Raffl’s fifth goal. Raffl won a board battle for the puck in the Kings end and sent it behind the Los Angeles net. It hopped past Doughty to Voracek, who found Giroux open in the high slot. Muzzin partially blocked Giroux’s shot, but Raffl got to it first and beat Quick from in close.
“It was good cycling, offensively,” Raffl said. “[Giroux] found [Voracek] in the slot wide open. He took a shot and I happened to be at the right spot and hit the rebound in.”
It was the second time this season the Flyers have scored the first goal in a game; they also did it against the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 11, when Raffl also scored the first goal.
