Jakub Voracek had a hat trick and Wayne Simmonds added two goals as the Flyers held Pittsburgh at bay in a 6-5 win. Voracek scored the game-winner with 91 seconds left in regulation for Philadelphia. Evgeni Malkin and James Neal each scored power-play goals in the loss while defenseman Paul Martin had three assists.
SPIN: Yep, the Flyers are back. They hung seven on the Islanders on Monday and now dropped a sixer on the Penguins on Wednesday. It’s been a long time coming for owners of Claude Giroux. Scott Hartnell is getting closer to getting back on the ice and this Philly team might be able to get on a run here to get above .500 and back into the playoff conversation. The downside of all this is that the goaltending of Ilya Bryzgalov leaves something to be desired after allowing five goals. Voracek has gone white-hot this week and should be added to ride the hot streak and the same goes for Simmonds. I don’t know how long it’s going to last but this should be fun while it does.
Sidney Crosby got an assist to tie Thomas Vanek for the league lead in scoring with 25 points. I like how Pittsburgh just kept playing even when it was down 4-2 and 5-3 in the third period. It’s not a three or four goal deficit but the heart they put on display was nice. Neal’s goal was his 12th on the season and eighth on the power play.
On the other end of the spectrum, we had Colorado slipping past St. Louis 1-0 in overtime on David Jones’ goal with 17 seconds left in the extra period.
SPIN: Seymon Varlamov is quickly turning into a goaltender who is seeing a lot of rubber on a regular basis and has seen 126 shots over his last three games. It’s concerning that the Avalanche have allowed that many shots because eventually some of them will go in. This was a hard-fought , low-scoring hockey game and so there’s no real concerns coming out of this one about any players being on cold streaks or anything like that. Vladimir Tarasenko took a check to the head in the third period and didn’t return. The play was a clean hit and no penalty was called.
The Kings doused the Flames 3-1 for their fourth win in their last five games. Dustin Brown, Trevor Lewis and Jeff Carter scored for Los Angeles while TJ Brodie got the lone Calgary goal.
SPIN: Los Angeles goes into the key part of its season at 7-6-2 as they play 13 of their next 16 games at home. The road games are Vancouver, San Jose and Phoenix so the travel is almost a non-factor between now and the 25th of March.
Multiple Goal Scorers
Voracek-PHI HAT TRICK Simmonds-PHI two goals
Stat of the Night
Voracek’s hat trick was the first one by a Flyer in a regular-season game in Pittsburgh since Bobby Clarke did it in December of 1980. That game was also a 6-5 final.
Three Stars of the Night
1. Voracek Hat Trick
2. Simmonds Scored Twice
3. Varlamov 33-save shutout
Thursday’s Games (all times ET)
Buffalo at Toronto 7pm
Florida at Philadelphia 7pm
New Jersey at Washington 7pm
Winnipeg at Carolina 7pm
NY Islanders at Montreal 730pm
NY Rangers at Ottawa 730pm
Boston at Tampa Bay 730pm
Columbus at Detroit 730pm
Vancouver at Dallas 830pm
Minnesota at Edmonton 930pm
