In Toronto on Saturday, the Philadelphia Flyers finished off their round robin tournament with 3-0 record after defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-14.
The win secured the top seed in the Eastern Conference and they will face the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Carter Hart made 23 saves to get the win.
“Everybody has to be thinking about team-first,” Philadelphia coach Alain Vigneault said. “There’s no doubt that some players right now are playing well. That’s very beneficial for our team.”
Tyler Johnson had the lone goal for the Lightning.
“We don’t know how long this is going to be, but when your perennial Norris Trophy finalist is out, that creates a hole,” said Lightning head coach Jon Cooper, who did not provide an update on Hedman. “We’ve dealt with injuries before. Our captain’s out. He’s been out a long time. It’s frustrating. We feel we’re going in the right direction and we lose star power.”
Nicolas Aube-Kubel scored twice to give the Flyers a 2-0 lead.
“I feel like I played well the two previous games,” Aube-Kubel said. “Skating hard, finishing hits. I guess the team result is what makes me confident.”
Joel Farabee had a single marker for Philadelphia.
“[Vigneault] definitely preaches defense first,” Shayne Gostisbehere said. “I think it shows. A good defense leads to good offense, so I think for us, three pretty good teams offensively, only letting in one goal. … I think it really speaks volumes to our defense as a whole, as a team. It’s something we definitely take pride in.”
Tyler Pitlick added a late empty net goal to seal the win.
“Give the Flyers credit. They played a pretty simple game, played as a team,” Tampa’s Ryan McDonagh said. “That’s one thing for us to look at moving forward, how well they support each other. We forced things. That allowed them to get back into it, find their groove.
“We made some errors, lost some pucks and lost our structure. At the end of the day, we can take a lesson in how simple and how better they worked, and it allowed them to get the lead.”
[WATCH: All Flyers vs. Lightning highlights]
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 26 saves, in the loss.
“I believe we’re in good shape and ready for the first round,” Vasilevskiy said. “I’m pretty sure it’s a good thing we lost tonight. We don’t want to get comfortable like last year, and for sure we’ll have some urgency in the first round.”
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