PHILADELPHIA, Pa- After spending Sunday afternoon with fans at the Flyers Wives Fight for Lives Carnival, the Philadelphia Flyers were back on the ice Tuesday night to face-off against the Calgary Flames for the first time this season.
Dealt during trade deadline Monday, defenseman Braydon Coburn was sent to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for defenseman, Radko Gudas and 1st and 3rd draft picks in the 2015 NHL entry level draft.
Playing alongside Gudas in the 2014 Olympic Games and in their home country of the Czech Republic, Jakub Voracek described playing with the newest Flyer, “He’s a gritty player and very tough to play against. Fans are gonna love him here. He hits hard, he steps in, he fights.” He continued, “He’s strong as a bull. Other teams are afraid to play against him because when he hits, you’re gonna get hurt.”
The 24 year old defenseman is currently recovering from knee surgery and is expected to miss the remainder of the season.
Image by Lewis Bleiman
It wasn’t an ordinary night at the Wells Fargo Center for Flames rookie forward, Johnny Gaudreau better known as “Johnny Hockey.” Coming home for the first time in his NHL career and playing against his childhood favorite NHL team, the Carney’s Point, N.J. native recalled playing against the Flyers at Wells Fargo Center ” a dream come true.” Gaudreau was drafted by Calgary in the 2011 NHL entry draft 4th, 104th overall and played for Boston College Eagles from 2011-2014.
Guarding the post for the Flyers stood Steve Mason with Karri Ramo in between the pipes across the ice.
With family and friends in the stands, all eyes were on Johnny Hockey. As he made his way to the ice for his first shift of the game, loud cheers erupted in the stands.
Rushing into Mason, Sean Monahan had the puck on his stick. Netting in his 22nd goal of the season, Monahan gave the Flames 1-0 lead early in the first period.
As a quiet period came to a close, the Flames held onto the lead 1-0.
Taking the ice for the second period, Calgary continued to dominated.
Image by Lewis Bleiman
Increasing the lead early in the period, Mikael Backlund found the back of the net, slipping the puck past Mason.
With pushing and shoving in front on Mason, the game continued on.
Guilty of interference, Michael Raffl took a seat in the penalty box, giving the Flames the first power play opportunity of the game. Unable to produce, the score remained 2-0.
Holding the stick in the neutral zone lead Flames, Joe Colborne to the penalty box. Having their first chance on the man advantage, Philadelphia could not find success.
As the time in the period began to diminish, Flyers were sent back on the power play with Mason Raymond in the sin bin due to closing his hand on the puck. Having ample chances as the horn sounded, the orange and black would begin the third period with 27 seconds on the advantage.
Coming on the ice for the third period, Flyers could not come up with a power play goal.
Image by Lewis Bleiman
With the puck on his stick behind Ramo, Ryan White found Sean Couturier in front of the net. Lighting the lamp for the 13th time this season, Couturier got the Flyers on the score sheet.
Seconds after Couturier’s goal, Michael Del Zotto was found guilty of high sticking, sending the Flames to the power play. Locking down the Flames on the man-advantage, Flyers did not allow Calgary to capitalize.
Charging the Calgary net, Nick Schultz slipped the puck past Ramo. Sending the play under review, referees announced the play was “not reviewable” ruling out a no goal.
Image by Lewis Bleiman
Frustration began to take over on the Flyers bench.
In pain along the boards, Raffl recieved medical assistance off the ice after taking stick to mouth. Piling up center ice, players defended their respective teams. With no penalty issued, the crowd let everyone know they were not happy.
Tying the game midway through the 3rd period, Mark Streit scored his 9th goal of the season.
With a tied game, Philadelphia began to dominate.
Image by Lewis Bleiman
As the third period came to a close, overtime would have to determine a winner.
Having ample chances early in overtime, Claude Giroux and Voracek were denied.
Rushing in on Mason, Jiri Hudler had the game on his stick. Netting in the victory goal, Hudler notched his 20th of the season.
The Philadelphia Flyers dropped to the Calgary Flames, 3-2.
“We definitely need to be better,” said Mason following the loss. “If you look at our game as a whole, it was up and down. Second period was good for the most part. Third period was great. We need to have that energy an full 60 minutes,” He continued. “It’s great the guys found the energy to play the way they did in the third period because we’re a tough team to play against when everyone is going like that. That’s the type of effort we need. But at the end of the day, we should have been able to close it out.”
Analyzing his club’s effort against Calgary, head coach Craig Berube said, “I’d say the first 10-12 minutes we lacked that energy and execution we needed. After that we played a pretty solid hockey game. The start of the game wasn’t good enough. It needs to be better.”
The Flyers will face off against the Flames in Calgary on March 19th.
After suffering an upper-body injury against the New York Rangers on Saturday night, defenseman Nicklas Grossmann remained out of the lineup for the Flyers. A time frame for his return is currently undetermined.
Prior to Tuesday night’s contest, the Philadelphia Flyers organization announced the signing of 2013 3rd pick, Tyrell Goulbourne to an entry level contract. Signing a two year contract extension on Monday, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare notched 4 goals and 4 assists in 62 games with the Flyers this season.
Wrapping up a three game home-stand on Thursday, the Flyers will host T.J. Oshie and the St. Louis Blues. Hitting the road by the weekend, the orange and black will face off against the Boston Bruins on Saturday and will travel to New Jersey to play the Devils on Sunday.
Puck drop between the St. Louis Blues and Philadelphia Flyers is slated for 7 p.m
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