The Flyers were controlling the puck right from the opening faceoff. There were a few defensive zone turnovers early in the 1st period, but goaltender Steve Mason was able to bail the Flyers defense out time and time again. Mason finished the game with 34 saves on 36 shots faced. He was absolutely incredible Tuesday night, flashing his glove, moving post to post, getting set up early, seeing through screens. He played with a ton of confidence, making tough saves look easy. Mason's performance was just what the Flyers needed Tuesday night in a crucial Game 6.
The Flyers opened up the scoring on a powerplay goal by forward Wayne Simmonds 7 minutes into the 1st period. He set up to Rangers' goaltender Henrik Lundqvist's right, and kept gathering rebounds until he pounded the puck into the back of the net.
The Flyers held their 1-0 lead through the remainder of the 1st period. Simmonds hit the twine for the second time in the game just a minute thirty into the 2nd period. The goal was very similar to his first goal of the night. Simmonds was camped on the side of the net where Brayden Schenn found him for the assist.
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| Wayne Simmonds Celebrates After Scoring His Second of His 3 Goals in Game 6 |
The Flyers penalty kill, which was perfect yet again Tuesday night, fought off a penalty committed by recently activated defenseman Erik Gustafsson. The penalty was a weak high sticking call in which Gustafsson's stick barely brushed the helmet of Rangers' forward Derek Dorsett, who has repeated flopped in this series to draw penalties. After the penalty was killed, Gustafsson broke out of the box, received an outlet pass, which turned into a breakaway, and Gustafsson beat Lundqvist through the 5 hole to give the Flyers a commanding 3-0 lead.
Simmonds found his way on the scoreboard again, with yet another powerplay goal to record his first career playoff hat-trick. The goal was set up by a smooth cross ice pass by Claude Giroux to Jakub Voracek, who wheeled into the slot and threw the puck towards the net, which found Simmonds stick for the deflection to beat Lundqvist and give the Flyers the 4-0 lead.
The Flyers were able to hold their 4-0 lead until the14th minute of the 3rd period when Rangers' forward Carl Hagelin put a shot past Mason for the first time in Game 6 to make the game 4-1. 2 minutes later, the Rangers pulled their goalie and Giroux was able to score an empty netter to put the Flyers back up by 4, with a score of 5-1. The Rangers added another tally with less than a minute left in the game with a goal by forward Mats Zuccarello. The final score was 5-2.
Overall, the Flyers played a great hockey game from start to finish. The power play was great, the penalty kill was great, Steve Mason was fantastic, and the Flyers dominated the hockey game.
The Flyers look to keep on rolling and harness the momentum they built up in their Game 6 victory by taking the train up to NYC, and finishing the Rangers off in a winner take all Game 7 Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.
The game can be seen on Wednesday night, at 7 PM EST, on NBC Sports.
Fun Fact of the Night: 640 hats rained down onto the Wells Fargo Center ice when Wayne Simmonds recorded his hat-trick.
P.S. It worked for Game 6, gotta keep the mojo going....
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GO FLYERS!
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