Blues Blank Sleepy Flyers for 7th Straight Loss

1-7-2019_FlyersvsBlues_2nd_credKateFrese

(Photo: Kate Frese)

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

Monday night's game at Wells Fargo Center put the 29th and 30th ranked teams in the NHL against each other. It looked every bit of it.

In the end, the lifeless and sleepy Flyers were shut out by a rookie goalie making his first NHL start and fourth NHL appearance in a 3-0 defeat to the St. Louis Blues. It was the Flyers seventh straight loss.

The Blues outshot the Flyers in the opening, 13-11, with Carter Hart taking center stage. While many saves were fairly routine, Hart made two incredible saves off a rush, first stopping Vladimir Tarasenko and then getting the rebound chance from Jaden Schwartz with the inside of the blocker while sprawling across.

It took 41 seconds for the Blues to strike in the second period. A cross-ice pass got to Schwartz and he put a shot on goal. Hart made the save, but left a big rebound and Brayden Schenn was there uncovered to put it home for his ninth goal of the season.

The rest of the period was very sloppy for both sides, but St. Louis carried the play with tons of possession time all while outshooting the Flyers, 14-6. Through two periods, shots were 27-17 Blues.

Things didn't get any better in the third as the Flyers were once again limited in shots. Sean Couturier drew a tripping penalty on Carl Gunnarsson with 10:46 to play, but took a hooking penalty 29 seconds later, nullifying the man advantage.

With the teams at 4-on-4, Tarasenko got space to let go a wrist shot that beat Hart to the glove side, making it 2-0 with nine minutes to play.

With Hart pulled for the extra attacker with under three minutes to play, David Perron iced the game with an empty net goal to seal the win for St. Louis.

Hart finished the game with 33 saves. Jordan Binnington, in his first NHL start, made 25 saves for the shutout win.

The Flyers get back on the ice on Tuesday night as they face the Washington Capitals. Game time is at 7:30 p.m.

Box Score

  1 2 3 T
Blues 0 1 2 3
Flyers 0 0 0 0

Scoring Summary

1st Period

  • No Scoring

2nd Period

  • STL Brayden Schenn (9) (Jaden Schwartz, Carl Gunnarsson) 0:41

3rd Period

  • STL Vladimir Tarasenko (12) (Ryan O'Reilly, Alex Pietrangelo) 11:00
  • STL David Perron (14) EN (Zach Sanford, O'Reilly) 18:12

Game Statistics

  Blues Flyers
Shots 37 25
Power Plays 0/2 0/1
Hits 21 29
Faceoff % 39.0% 61.0%
Giveaways 6 15
Takeaways 6 5
Blocked Shots 15 11
Penalty Minutes 2 4
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