PHILADELPHIA (AP)
Adidas Jonny Brodzinski Jersey , the Philadelphia Flyers aren’t going to let a few injuries stop them.Jakub Voracek scored the tying goal with 1:25 left in regulation and then got the game-winner 1:26 into overtime to lift the Flyers to a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night.Voracek also had an assist and Nolan Patrick had the other goal for Philadelphia, which improved to 7-0-2 in its last nine games. The Flyers, third in the Metropolitan Division, pulled two points behind second-place Pittsburgh and three behind first-place Washington.Article continues below ...”That’s a nice way to get two points,” Philadelphia coach Dave Hakstol said.It’s even better, perhaps, considering the state of the Flyers.The Flyers were without forward Wayne Simmonds, who will be out for 2-to-3 weeks after suffering an upper-body injury in Sunday’s win over the New York Rangers.Simmonds joins a growing list of injured Flyers. Starting goalie Brian Elliott had surgery Feb. 13 for a core muscle injury and is expected to miss up to five more weeks. Backup Michal Neuvirth, who was elevated to No. 1 last Tuesday after Elliott’s injury, will be sidelined 4-to-6 weeks after suffering a lower body injury in Sunday’s game.”You just have to dig in,” Voracek said. ”We have to find a way to win games. We’ve got to keep finding a way.”Philadelphia acquired goalie Petr Mrazek from Detroit on Monday night for a pair of draft picks to fill the void. Mrazek backed up Alex Lyon on Tuesday. Lyon, appearing in his fifth career game, made 25 saves for his second victory.”He took care of business and was a big part of us winning a hockey game,” Hakstol said of Lyon. ”We’re going to need contributions from everybody in our lineup.”Oskar Lindblom replaced Simmonds, who has 20 goals and 37 points
Adidas Peter Budaj Jersey , and didn’t register a point in his NHL debut.”Those are big shoes to fill, but I don’t think anybody spends too much time thinking about the injuries or who’s out of the lineup,” Hakstol said.Paul Byron and Jeff Petry scored for Montreal, which lost its sixth straight. The Canadiens’ NHL-worst road record fell to 8-19-2.With Lyon pulled for an extra attacker, Voracek sent the game to overtime with a slap shot from the point that deflected off Montreal’s Max Pacioretty and through goalie Carey Price’s five-hole.”It’s not ideal, that’s for sure,” Price said of giving up the late tying goal. ”Pretty good game up to that point. That pretty much sums it up, really.”Voracek netted the game-winner when he skated to the slot and fired a wrist shot past Price’s glove side.”We would have liked to prove something on the road, but we weren’t able to,” Pacioretty said. ”We were close tonight and it goes off my stick and goes in for the tie, so it’s tough.”Price played in his 552nd game for the Canadiens to move past Patrick Roy for second all-time in games played among Montreal goalies. Jacques Plante tops the list with 556.Byron scored his 14th of the season after a pretty assist from Tomas Plekanec with 11:15 left in the third period to put Montreal up 2-1.Petry opened the scoring with 2:13 left in the first period when he deflected Karl Alzner’s shot from the point past Lyon.The Flyers tied it on the power play 7:18 into the second period when Patrick, replacing Simmonds on Philadelphia’s top extra-man unit, one-timed Claude Giroux’s pass from the slot past Price’s glove side.NOTES: Montreal C Phillip Danault returned for the first time since suffering a concussion on Jan. 13. … The teams wrap up their season series Feb. 26 at Montreal. … LW Nicolas Deslauriers, who signed a two-year contract extension on Monday, won a one-sided fight with Brandon Manning in the second period. … The Flyers have not played short-handed in three straight games
Adidas Matt Read Jersey , becoming the first team to do so since the league started keeping power-play and penalty-kill stats in the 1977-78 season. … Flyers C Travis Konecny struggled to get through the game after blocking a shot with his skate with 5:02 left in the first period.UP NEXTCanadiens: Host the New York Rangers on Thursday night to open a four-game homestand.Flyers: Host Columbus on Thursday night. DENVER (AP) Semyon Varlamov stopped everything – including a hard-crashing Chicago player late in the third period.Only, the collision took its toll: sending the Colorado goaltender flying into the net and knocking him out of the game.Varlamov stopped 30 shots before leaving with an apparent injury, and the Avalanche continued their playoff push with a 5-0 victory over the Blackhawks on Friday night.Colorado coach Jared Bednar had no update on Varlamov’s status after the victory.Varlamov was cruising along until Blackhawks forward Tomas Jurco tumbled into his left pad with 6:25 remaining. Varlamov was looked at by trainers before Jonathan Bernier skated in to finish the game.Bernier, who stopped three shots, and Varlamov combined for the first team shutout in franchise history, according to the Avalanche.Losing Varlamov – who has a history of groin issues – would be a blow for an Avalanche squad that remains in contention a season after finishing with a league-worst 48 points.”Varly keeps us in it for a while and then we get our legs going,” Bednar said. ”We have to take care of our business. That’s all we can do.”Collin Delia stopped 31 shots for last-place Chicago. He made his NHL debut the night before, but left in the third due to cramps. That opened the door for Scott Foster, a 36-year-old accountant who made an emergency appearance and became an instant feel-good story.Delia was impressed by the speed of the Avalanche, whose scoring attack was led by Sven Andrighetto’s two goals . Tyson Barrie, Mikko Rantanen and Tyson Jost also scored.”Very skilled,” Delia said. ”It’s good for me to get in there and see that, see a dominant team like them, how they move the puck.”Colorado converted each of its three power plays. Rantanen’s goal with the man advantage in the third came off a feed from Nathan MacKinnon, who now has 93 points. It’s the most by an Avalanche player since Joe Sakic had 100 in 2006-07.Barrie gave the Avalanche a 2-0 lead at 8:14 of the second period with a shot near the blue line. Barrie then saved a potential goal minutes later when he swatted away a puck that had trickled through the pads of Varlamov
Adidas Matt Hendricks Jersey , who was back in net after missing a game with an illness.”It was probably my fault that the puck was even that close to the goal line,” Barrie said. ”So, it’s fortunate that I could get a stick on it a couple of times.”Andrighetto scored the game’s first goal on a power play late in the first period. He skated in, split two defensemen and lifted a shot over Delia for his first goal since Dec. 23 at Arizona. He has missed a total of 31 games this season with what’s been termed by the team as a lower-body injury.”Definitely a big win for us and we’ve got to keep that going,” Andrighetto said.Chicago called up goaltender J-F Berube on the heels of Foster’s appearance against Winnipeg on Thursday. Foster was summoned into action when starter Anton Forsberg was hurt during pregame and Delia, who was just recalled from the minors, went out with cramps.The NHL adjusted its rules last summer to mandate that teams have an emergency goalie present for all home games ready to fill in for either side. Foster, a former goaltender at Western Michigan University, stopped all seven shots.Foster made an immediate impression.”What are the chances that someone else ever gets to do that again?” Delia said. ”It was good for him and the boys really rallied around him.”NOTES: Blackhawks D Blake Hillman made his NHL debut. He recently signed a two-year deal with the team after playing down the road at the University of Denver. … Bernier is quickly mending after suffering a cut on his finger that became infected. ”It was pretty bad,” Bernier said. ”Lucky enough, didn’t need surgery.” … Avalanche D Erik Johnson was a late scratch with a lower-body injury. … It was the Avalanche’s 27th home win, which is tied for second-most in franchise history.UP NEXTBlackhawks: At St. Louis on Wednesday.Avalanche: Start a three-game trip Sunday in Anaheim.—