Instant Replay: Blues 1, Flyers 0 (SO)

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BOX SCORE

ST. LOUIS — The Flyers faced the only team they had beaten this month — the St. Louis Blues — Thursday night at Scottrade Center.

After the game, they still had beaten only one team and only had a moral victory to show for their second game in a week against the Blues, a 1-0 loss in a shootout despite stellar goaltending by Steve Mason.

T.J. Oshie and Vladimir Tarasenko each scored for the Blues in the shootout. Blues goalie Brian Elliott stopped Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds in the shootout.

Despite falling in the shootout, the Flyers' unbeaten streak against playoff-bound teams reached seven to go with a six-game losing streak (counting overtimes) against non-playoff teams.

The Flyers' playoff bid took a big hit. Boston and Ottawa both won Thursday night.

Early chances
The Blues gave the Flyers two power plays in the first 10 minutes — with Steve Ott called for holding a stick at 5:27 and Robert Bortuzzo for cross-checking Claude Giroux at 8:37. Try as they might, the Flyers didn’t light the red lamp. They fired six shots at Elliott, whose best save was diving from the left post to the right to block with his glove a wrister from Voracek in the right circle.

Oh, my
Voracek had a golden chance with about seven minutes left in the game. Tarasenko dropped the puck to no one just outside the blue line, and Voracek pounced. He skated in and fired a slapper from the left circle that Elliott again blocked with his glove.

Der Bingle
Mason heard the sweetest sound a goalie can hear — the ping of the puck hitting the goalpost in the second period. Alex Steen’s slapper from the top of the left circle rang off the goalie’s best friend, but Mason got a slight piece of it to make it do so.

How the West was won
The Flyers came into the game with an 11-7-4 record against the Western Conference. Conversely, the Blues were 19-7-2 vs. the East.

Head games
Defenseman Andrew MacDonald cleared the puck in front of the Flyers' net about 14 minutes into the second period right onto the stick of Blues winger Ryan Reaves. No worries. Reaves seemed intent on taking off MacDonald’s noggin’ and attempted to do so. He not only didn’t even try to control the puck, but by the time of the hit, MacDonald wasn’t even close to it. Interference, Reaves. No worries there, either. The Flyers didn’t score on the PP.

Goalie report
One of Mason’s better stops was on a flurry about eight minutes into the second period. First, he stopped Paul Stastny’s salvo, then dived to his right to smother with his blocker Dmitrij Jaskin’s shot swooping in for the rebound. But the third period. Whoa, Nelly! Seventeen shots for the Blues, 17 saves for Mason.

Tasmanian Devil
Blues winger Jaden Schwartz was a whirling dervish out there, but Mason had his number with three strong saves — a flurry early in the first, on a rush in the second and good chance from the right circle in the third. He added two more on a single shift.

Power play
The Flyers failed to score on three power plays in the first period, including two in the first half of the period. Then, they missed out on a PP in the second.

Penalty kill
The Flyers killed a penalty in the first period and another in the second.

Big shots
The Flyers outshoot the Blues, 10-8, in the first period, but managed only three shots through 13 minutes of the second. The shots ended up tied at 16 through two periods, but the Blues had a decisive advantage at the end of regulation play, 33-25.

Scratches
Defenseman Michael Del Zotto (upper body); forward R.J. Umberger (healthy); defenseman Brandon Manning (healthy).

Up next
The Flyers return home to play the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday before leaving right away on a four-game trip. They play Sunday in Ottawa, Tuesday in Vancouver, Thursday in Calgary and Saturday in Edmonton.

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