PHILADELPHIA – The Flyers tried to make of a game of it with the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday evening when they scored twice ahead of the midway point of the third period to trim the Vegas lead to 4-3 at the time.
Ivan Barbashev ended the threat when he scored his second of the night into an empty net with less than two minutes left on the clock for a 5-3 win to the Knights.
Johnathan Quick picked up his fourth straight win for Vegas, he made 27 saves.
“Quick gives us a chance to win. Guys are comfortable with him,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Veteran guy. He does a lot of those little things, not only stop the puck. He’s been in the League a while so he’s comfortable doing it.”
The win moved the Golden Knights three points clear of the Los Angeles Kings atop the Pacific Division.
“We showed a lot of resiliency. Found ways to win games [on this trip],” Vegas center Jack Eichel said. “Each game had its own story and we found ways to win. [With] the exception of the first game in Florida (a 2-1 loss March 7), we did a good job. Some nights it was a checking, low-scoring game. That’s what we did. There were other nights where we were good offensively. It was a long road trip and to get eight out of 10 [points] is pretty good.”
Vegas improved to 42-20-6.
The Knights took a 1-0 first period lead on a marker from Pavel Dorofeyev .
“I liked him in training camp, I really did,” Cassidy said. “But we were healthier at the skill positions. He went and worked on his game. You can see it now. It’s paid off. He’s strong on the puck. He separates in the offensive zone. He gives you [offensive] zone play and not just a rush guy. You need that.”
Barbashev’s first of the night came off the power play for a 2-0 lead in the middle frame.
Philadelphia dropped to 24-32-11
“Lot of good things offensively, but we just don’t get shots to the net,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. “Throughout most of the game, we had some breakdowns here and there. I didn’t mind a lot of the game. We just have to keep on going. The effort’s there.”
The Flyers trimmed the lead to 2-1 on a strike by Travis Sanheim,.
Teddy Blueger scored for the Knights at 11:06 of the middle frame to help send the game to third period with Vegas up, 3-1.
“Good to see him get rewarded,” Cassidy said. “He’s been so concerned with trying to check well and make sure you’re in the right spots that sometimes he forgets about the offensive part of it. So, good for him.”
Johnathan Marchessault scored in the third to push the lad for Vegas to 4-1.
Nick Seeler and Morgan Frost made the back half of the third period more interesting when they scored to cut the deficit to 4-3 for the Flyers.
“Without a doubt, that was definitely a nice one,” Seeler said. “Not the result we wanted. No quit in this group. We played really well.”
Felix Sandstrom made 28 saves in the loss.
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