So much went right for the Flyers on Monday night against the highest-scoring team in the NHL that you kept asking yourself why Craig Berube’s team can’t look like this more often.
Seven goals from seven different Flyers, representing all four lines. Three power-play goals. A call-up goalie from the AHL, who is now 2-0.
If there had been more games during the first half of the season resembling the 7-3 whipping the Flyers handed the Tampa Bay Lightning at Wells Fargo Center, this team would not be so far out of the playoff picture.
“We defended really well and you have to defend against that team because they’re the highest-scoring team in the league,” Berube said. “They come with a lot of speed. I thought our defense did a good job with good gaps.
“The forwards backchecked hard. We forced turnovers and actually caught them a few times with odd-man rushes the other way.”
Defensively, through two periods, the Flyers held the Lightning to just 11 shots (see Instant Replay). Offensively, it was a 7-2 game at that point.
Phantoms goalie Rob Zepp wasn’t overwhelming. He gave up three goals on the first 12 shots he faced, but after the Bolts scored early in the third, he had to buckle down because the Flyers struggled on the breakout and were outshot, 13-2, in the last period.
Zepp had 12 consecutive saves after giving up the third goal and they were a lot harder than the previous ones. He faced 24 shots.
“It probably feels even better than the first time around,” the 33-year-old goalie said of his victory. “What can I say? The guys played outstanding to build a 7-1 lead against a team like that. That’s incredible. ... They have a lot of offensive power, but we hung with it to the end.”
He got secondary scoring from Chris VandeVelde and R.J. Umberger early for a 2-1 lead to close out the first period, then five goals in the second period — the most they have scored in a middle stanza in more than a year (Dec. 19, 2013 vs. Columbus).
The Flyers chased starter Evgeni Nabokov (four goals against, 13 shots) for Ben Bishop (three goals against, 12 shots).
Berube wanted shots and the Flyers had 23 through 40 minutes.
“We have to get bodies to the net, shoot the puck no matter where you are on the ice and who knows,” VandeVelde said. “I think that [was] very evident with our two goals. They weren't pretty, but they got the job done.”
Their second period saw power-play goals from NHL leading scorer Jakub Voracek (52 points), Mark Streit and Brayden Schenn. It’s only the second time all season the power play scored three times in a game.
Schenn’s goal was 5-on-3, only the third time that has happened this season.
“Some games you get hot and some games it’s tougher with shots getting blocked and unlucky bounces and they clear the puck,” said Streit, who along with Giroux and Voracek, has a four-game power-play point streak going.
“Sometimes you get hotter and sometimes cold and we want to stay consistent, especially with this stretch of games coming up.”
The Flyers held Steven Stamkos to one goal and one shot.
“They were three power-play goals ahead,” Stamkos said. “That wasn’t the problem, though. The problem was our first period. I know it was 2-1, but we didn’t start the game very well. They had all of the momentum. They were getting to the pucks faster.
“[We] were not touching anyone around our net and leaving our goaltender out to dry. It was an accumulation of things that we probably got away with in the first, but not the second.”
As for the big picture, the Flyers picked up two points on idle Boston in the wild-card chase and are now nine points back.
“We can’t look back,” Streit said. "Obviously, we’re not happy in the position we are in. This was game we learn from. There were still too many things I didn’t like. Way too many turnovers.
“A little casual at the end. We can’t do that, especially, this next game in Washington. We’re a good team if we play the right way.”
Berube said at the morning skate that his rationale for using Zepp instead of veteran Ray Emery was he saw lots of “energy” in him and wanted it to rub off.
No one can deny that didn’t happen, yet from a strategic standpoint, the real reason for starting Zepp was that his lateral motion going post to post is better than Emery’s.
Tampa Bay plays a very east-west game with the puck, even during set plays.
“He moves well in net, post to post,” Berube said. “He’s got good structure in the net.”