Flyers Outlast Golden Knights to Sweep Weekend Trip

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The crowd at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas contained many Philadelphia fans that were still basking in the glory of the Eagles Super Bowl win a week ago. It's been a week of celebration for the city. For the Flyers, it's been a pretty impressive week in terms of results.

The Flyers managed to do something that had happened just three times earlier this season to the Vegas Golden Knights, claiming a win in regulation by a score of 4-1 to secure their fourth straight win on Sunday night.

Vegas got on the board first, capitalizing on a strong forecheck. William Karlsson got the puck to Reilly Smith, who dished a pass to an open Brayden McNabb who stepped up and fired to beat Michal Neuvirth and give the Golden Knights the lead.

The Flyers managed to tie things up in the late stages of the first. A quick passing play set up the goal as Travis Konecny put a perfect centering pass to Sean Couturier for the goal, Couturier's 28th of the season.

Vegas outshot the Flyers, 12-7, in the first period.

Vegas heavily controlled the second period, outshooting the Flyers, 15-7, in the period. But it was the Flyers that managed to strike where it counted.

Konecny and Couturier teamed up again, with Couturier tipping a pass toward the net and off of Andrew MacDonald's skate and in to give the Flyers the 2-1 lead with 2:52 left in the second.

With just seconds remaining in the period, the Flyers had a rush up the ice with a chance to get one last opportunity in the period. Again, it was Couturier leading the charge and driving to the net. Claude Giroux followed up on the chance and took a one-handed stab at the puck to poke it in and give the Flyers a two-goal lead going to the third.

Vegas once again controlled the third period, outshooting the Flyers, 12-4. One of the Flyers four shots managed to find the net, as Radko Gudas' long-range shot toward an empty net went in for his first goal of the season to seal the victory.

Neuvirth was stellar in goal, making 38 saves in the win. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 14 of 17 shots faced in the loss.

The Flyers also became the fourth team to win in regulation in Vegas. Their fourth straight win overall increased their point total to 65, just five back of the Metropolitan Division lead and five points ahead of the final playoff spot in the East.

The Flyers return home and get back to action on Tuesday night against the New Jersey Devils. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

Box Score

  1 2 3 T
Flyers 1 2 1 4
Golden Knights 1 0 0 1

Scoring Summary

1st Period

  • VGK Brayden McNabb (4) (Reilly Smith, William Karlsson) 11:22
  • PHI Sean Couturier (28) (Travis Konecny, Claude Giroux) 17:50

2nd Period

  • PHI Andrew MacDonald (3) (Couturier, Konecny) 17:08
  • PHI Claude Giroux (18) (Couturier, Ivan Provorov) 19:54

3rd Period

  • PHI Radko Gudas (1) EN (Unassisted) 17:34

Game Statistics

  Flyers Golden Knights
Shots 18 39
Power Plays 0/0 0/1
Hits 17 15
Faceoff % 59.4% 40.6%
Giveaways 5 14
Takeaways 3 8
Blocked Shots 10 7
Penalty Minutes 2 0
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