With 3 minutes, 49 seconds left in the first period and the Flyers leading 1-0, Laughton was racing for the puck in the offensive zone with Capitals defenseman John Carlson.
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The Flyers went on to win the game 2-1 and stave off elimination from the playoffs but still trail in the series 3-1.
The Wild finished the game with a 6-on-4 after a high-stick penalty on Antoine Roussel with goalie Devan Dubnyk pulled, but the Stars tightened up and allowed only one shot on target over the 84-second two-man advantage.
“We know we’re in a tough spot right now, and we need to keep playing the way we did last game”, he said. Congratulations Caps fans, you’ve got Friday Night plans. Holtby’s pretty calm back there. With how Neuvirth played, he might have stopped them anyway. The Flyers didn’t take a penalty through 35 minutes to start Game 4. The team finally has a pulse after three straight losses, all of which just about the same way. His 17 regular-season goals were a Flyers record for a rookie defenseman and, barring something drastic, he’ll be a finalist for the Calder Trophy come June’s NHL Awards in Las Vegas.
“For our power play, it took the heat off us a little bit”, Gostisbehere said.
A former second-round draft pick of the Capitals, Neuvirth is 4-5 with a 2.30 goals-against average and a. 914 save percentage in 10 career post-season appearances. “I think it set the tone”.
Giroux set up the Flyers’ first goal, assisting on Shayne Gostisbehere’s first-period power-play blast in the Flyers’ 2-1 win Wednesday over the visiting Washington Capitals.
Laughton lost his balance after taking the hit from Carlson, sending him crashing into the boards where the back of his head took the brunt of the impact. He was then transferred to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where subsequent tests proved negative. I think it’s a good time for a change for our team going into this game.
“You ride the hot goalie”, Voracek said. Mason was back in net following his Game 2 gaffe that has been replayed on an endless loop in Philly – Jason Chimera’s 101-foot tip-in on a play that would have been icing had it not gone on net. That Neuvirth responded with 24 saves-after making just three appearances in March and April, after lasting five years without starting in the playoffs, against the organization that drafted him in 2006-ensured Philadelphia’s season would not end in a sweep.
The despicable (yes, despicable) manner that Flyers fans reacted to the poor calls by the referees and were utterly angered by the results of the night. Oshie’s backhander broke the shutout early in the third period, the ninth power play goal scored by Washington in the series, but Neuvirth only tightened up down the stretch while the Capitals mounted their final push toward a four-game sweep. Their discipline was the biggest key coming into the do-or-die game. In a series that got out of control so quickly, the best response is always to win games and get out of town as quick as possible.
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The Flyers took the first step to a potential comeback that four clubs in National Hockey League history have accomplished. Several other offers were on the table, Neuvirth said, but he deemed the Flyers “a ideal fit”. Just a great team effort for 60 minutes.
