Flyers-Jets observations: Goal drought ends, but no win to show for it

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WINNIPEG, Manitoba — All the Flyers needed was a change of opponent to change their goal-scoring luck. However, it didn’t change the outcome. 

The Jets connected on 3 of 4 shootout attempts to earn the extra point Thursday and defeat the Flyers, 3-2, at Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg.

Jakub Voracek snapped the goalless drought just 2:27 into the opening period and Sean Couturier added to the lead a few minutes later as the Flyers were up 2-0 after the opening period. 

Jets center Mark Scheifele tied the game with 49 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime.

Despite the loss, Brian Elliott was still superb in net as he turned aside 31 of 33 shots.

• Jacob Trouba deserved a high-sticking penalty with roughly two minutes remaining in overtime when he shoved the butt of his stick under Couturier’s chin. Nothing was called by the officials. 

• The Flyers were given another power play and a chance to extend their lead in the third after Dustin Byfuglien’s sloppy tripping penalty on Travis Konecny. Couturier appeared to have a wide-open net from the left circle with Connor Hellebuyck out of position, but he hesitated long enough as it appeared he couldn’t get off a clean shot through traffic.

• The Flyers’ penalty kill came up with an excellent kill early in the third period as the Jets’ PP wasn't able to generate even one shot on Elliott. The Jets never really threatened to score during the entire two minutes.

• There was good early pressure from the Flyers’ second line when Jordan Weal and Konecny harassed the Jets’ defensive tandem of Toby Enstrom and Byfuglien into a turnover as Enstrom threw a blind pass behind the net. Eventually, that line drew a penalty when Scheifele crosschecked Valtteri Filppula away from the puck.

• Excellent rebound control for Elliott throughout, especially on the Jets’ first power play attempt of the second period. You can’t fault him at all on the Jets’ goal once Brandon Manning was deked on the play off a beautiful move from Joel Arnia. Arnia then fed a cutting Mathieu Perreault, who slid a backhand under Elliott’s pads. The play started when the Jets won the faceoff cleanly and the Flyers couldn’t settle into their coverage.

• Where was the forward coverage on Scheifele’s wide-open backhand shot on Elliott late in the second period? With the defense tied up in coverage along the boards, it appeared as if Konecny was late to react to a wide-open Scheifele in the slot.   

• With the Flyers in the middle of a line change, Couturier forced Trouba into a turnover along the boards and then centered a pass to Konecny, who had a wide-open look from the high slot. Those are the opportunities the other lines need to create and the type of shots Konecny needs to convert. Konecny had another prime opportunity with about five minutes remaining. It appeared he had a wide-open look but then elected to pass.

• Byfuglien delivered an elbow and an open-ice hit that came very close to Weal’s head. No penalty was called, but it very easily could have been elbowing as Byfuglien extended his forearm against a smaller Weal.

• It looked like the second power-play unit had an open seam to Michael Raffl right in front of the crease as the Jets lost containment for a second. Raffl has played well on the fourth line, but hasn’t had too many scoring opportunities. He has just 12 shots on goal in his first 18 games.

• Late in the second period, players on both teams started taking runs at their opponent as they tried to line up the big open-ice hit. These game against Byfuglien and the Jets usually seem to trend in that direction.

• It took all of 2:27 into the first period for the Flyers to finally break the drought. The play started when the Jets’ shot attempt missed the net completely, which produced a clean breakout for the Flyers. Voracek brought the puck across the blue line and sent a cross-ice pass to Couturier, who unleashed a shot that created a big rebound. Credit Couturier for shooting low on Hellebuyck and Voracek skating into the middle where he was in perfect position for the rebound goal.

• Mired in a 4-for-35 slump, the power play gave the Flyers a 2-0 lead as it was able to find the open lanes in the Jets’ box. Voracek spotted Wayne Simmonds just to the left of Hellebuyck. Simmonds nearly scored along the post, but his shot created another rebound in the slot where Couturier was lurking. 

• With Scott Laughton off for hooking, the Jets’ always dangerous first-unit power play looked to unleash Patrick Laine’s wicked one-timer. Elliott was obviously trending to his right and was in position to make a couple of saves on Laine.

• Perreault completely baited Radko Gudas into the five-minute slashing major when Perreault was taking several whacks into Gudas’ back. After having his helmet dislodged and slipping to the ice, Gudas caught Perreault’s neck with his stick (see video). It had the appearance of a very dangerous play, but those are the types of plays that Gudas needs to show some restraint. The play looked a lot worse than it was. 

• Can’t figure out what the officials were thinking when they assessed matching minors and then went to look at video before making the determination that Gudas deserved a major/game misconduct. You make those calls on the ice, not after video review.      

• Big glove save from Elliott on Bryan Little. However, the play was set up by Nikolaj Ehlers, the Danish-born winger who’s one of the more underrated players in the NHL. Ehlers has loads of talent with tremendous puck-handling skills and terrific speed. Ehlers had another drag move that completely faked out Simmonds to free up his shot on the Jets’ power play.

• The best shift of the first period came from Laughton as he displayed tremendous pursuit and aggression to fight off three Winnipeg defenders and cycle the puck behind the net. After the Jets finally gained possession, Laughton never stopped skating and jumped on a turnover and was able to get a shot off from the high slot. Textbook shift! 

• Travis Sanheim seemed inspired to play in front of about 20 family and friends who made the drive to Winnipeg from Elkhorn, Manitoba, which is about a three-hour drive west. Sanheim made a good defensive play on Perreault and then made a nice pass to Couturier, who didn’t appear to be expecting the feed. He seems primed to score his first NHL goal.

Lines, pairings and scratches

Forwards
Claude Giroux-Sean Couturier-Jakub Voracek
Jordan Weal-Valtteri Filppula-Travis Konecny
Dale Weise-Nolan Patrick-Wayne Simmonds
Taylor Leier-Scott Laughton-Michael Raffl

Defensemen
Ivan Provorov-Robert Hagg
Brandon Manning-Shayne Gostisbehere
Travis Sanheim-Radko Gudas

Goalies
Brian Elliott
Michal Neuvirth

Scratched: Forward Jori Lehtera (healthy) and defenseman Mark Alt (healthy).

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