Before the Philadelphia Flyers began this six-game homestand, Jakub Voracek said they needed to grab at least 10 out of a 12 possible points. They did just that after Monday’s impressive win against the red-hot Tampa Bay Lightning.
That’s not to say that it was easy, however.
Andrei Vasilevskiy played a brilliant game in keeping the Lightning competitive even though the Flyers amassed a lopsided shot advantage. Ultimately, the Flyers overwhelmed Tampa Bay, stopping the Lightning’s franchise-best nine-game winning streak by a score of 4-2.
#tblightning franchise record nine game winning streak over after 4-2 loss to #Flyers. Got outshot 40-18. Vasilevskiy was brilliant
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) March 8, 2016
The big hero for the Flyers was a familiar one: Shayne Gostisbehere scored Philly’s first two goals when it seemed like Vasi might just shut them down entirely.
(OK, if you want to quibble, you could call Claude Giroux the hero with his two assists.)
The Flyers won five of six during this homestand, bumping the thought of a playoff push from “too optimistic” to “perfectly reasonable.”
Philly gets a little breather before they face the Lightning in Tampa Bay to start what looks like a scary streak: seven of the Flyers’ next nine games are on the road.
Don’t blame the Flyers for putting those thoughts on the backburner right now, especially with a nice break. They needed these wins, and they got (most of) them.
