Fly-by: Flyers 4, Maple Leafs 3
Thursday, 02.09.2012 / 6:11 PM
/ News
philadelphiaflyers.com
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CHARACTER WIN
Well that didn't take long. The Flyers put any talk of a winless skid to an end with a crucial 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs, who prior to tonight's game had won five of their last seven games. They capitalized on a pair of goals 74 seconds apart to snap a 2-2 tie and take the lead for good. The team was led by it's top line, which made a statement in the scoring column tonight. Scott Hartnell showed exactly why he was an all-star recording a "Gordie Howe" hat trick (goal-assist-fight), while his line-mate Claude Giroux scored his 21st goal of the year. Jaromir Jagr recorded an assist and a plus-minus rating of plus-3 on the night to give that line four points (2G-2A) and a combined plus-7. Likewise the Flyers defense was up to the task as the Leafs came at them in the third period, which included a power-play during the final two minutes of the game and turned into a two-man advantage with an empty net. Bobrovsky made the save when the team needed it most. He stopped 24 shots in total for his 12th victory of the year. |
Scott Hartnell recorded the second “Gordie Howe Hat Trick” of his career. His last came Jan. 11, 2011 against Buffalo. The Flyers won both games at home against the Maple Leafs this season and have defeated Toronto for the seventh time in their last eight meetings on home ice. Claude Giroux’s 21st goal of the season pulled him within one point of Evgeni Malkin in the NHL scoring race. He has 21 goals and 40 assists for 61 points. Giroux had 11 total attempts on net; Kimmo Timonen contributed nine. Timonen led the team in shots on goal tonight (6). Max Talbot was 7-for-10 on faceoffs (73 percent). He is 28-for-40 (70 percent) in his last four games. 
Hartnell took care of two-thirds of the trick on the same play. Planting himself in front of the net, Hartnell capitalized on a funny bounce and swatted it past Maple Leafs goaltender James Reimer to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead. Seconds later he and Toronto Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf dropped the gloves. Hartnell would add an assist on Claude Giroux's goal at 13:53 of the 2nd period. |
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| "Obviously, I was rattled up. I thought I got a cheap shot going into the boards right before I scored but I'll take the five minutes and the goal, for sure." - Scott Hartnell “I think after last game, we got shut out, we had chances and things weren’t going in for us. And tonight kind of the same thing, but they were going in. Good to see guys get rewarded and I guess we can build off it now.” - Brayden Schenn |
The turning point came in a span of 1:14 when the Flyers scored back-to-back goals to take a 4-2 lead in the second period. After taking the lead twice and the Maple Leafs fighting back twice, the Flyers received even-strength goals from Claude Giroux and Brayden Schenn to gain a two-goal lead, which was good enough to fight off the Leafs for the remainder of the game. |
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PIC OF THE NIGHT: Andrej Meszaros tries a wrap around with goaltender James Reimer out of position.  |
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 Flyers 4, Maple Leafs 3 Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Claude Giroux and Brayden Schenn scored 1:14 apart in the second period to lift the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night. Scott Hartnell and Max Talbot also had goals for Philadelphia, which snapped a three-game losing streak.  FULL RECAP |
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