Lightning romp in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA — The Lightning arrived in Philadelphia on Sunday morning grateful to get out of Boston with two points after playing a game they were lucky to win.
Games on back-to-back days are always tough, but the Lightning’s poor performance Saturday seemed to be a wake-up call. Even if they were weary from a short night of sleep, they came out of the gate energized for their 6 p.m. puck drop against the Flyers.
After chasing pucks for most of the game the night before, the Lightning scored on back-to-back shifts early, taking a two-goal lead within the first 10 minutes before pouring it on en route to a commanding 7-1 win over the Flyers at Wells Fargo Center.
The Lightning (15-5-4) took advantage of a struggling Flyers team that now has lost eight straight, a stretch that began with Tampa Bay’s overtime win Nov. 18 in Philadelphia.
Early goals by Ryan McDonagh and Corey Perry, both coming after collecting loose pucks near the net, gave the Lightning momentum in the first period. After rookies Taylor Raddysh and Boris Katchouk scored — and Mathieu Joseph was gift-wrapped a goal when goaltender Carter Hart failed to clear the puck — boos filled the arena, and Hart was pulled after allowing five goals before the midway point of the game.
Those boos turned into intermittent calls of “Moooooose,” a homage for Lightning goaltender Brian Elliott, who played the previous four seasons for the Flyers and earned the win in net for Tampa Bay.
Katchouk’s goal 6:47 into the second period was his first in the NHL. After rookie fourth-liners Katchouk and Raddysh went through the Lightning’s first 22 games without a goal, the pair had three in two games this weekend.
Raddysh, who scored his first goal Saturday in Boston, rifled a slap shot from the right circle after defenseman Victor Hedman collected the puck in the neutral zone and led a 3-on-2 rush.
Katchouk then capitalized on a puck that landed at Hart’s right skate, tucking it inside the near post for his first goal. Following his first time leading fist-bumps past the Lightning bench, Katchouk received hugs from his “Kid Line” mates Raddysh and Ross Colton.
After the Flyers dictated the
pace for the first few minutes, the Lightning tilted the ice in their favor by playing an aggressive straight-ahead game they didn’t display the night before in Boston.
In the first period, McDonagh led a rush through the neutral zone and made a drop pass to Steven Stamkos at the top of the right circle. Stamkos launched a slap shot that hit off Hart, but McDonagh wheeled to the far post and tucked the puck past Hart 8:24 into the game.
McDonagh then launched a one-timer from the point wide of the net, but Perry caught the carom off the end boards. Before Hart could react, Perry reached around and swept the puck into the net inside the far post for his fourth goal (he later scored his fifth) in seven games after going his first 17 games without one.
After Joseph intercepted Hart’s failed clearing attempt off the near boards and had an open net to put the Lightning up 5-0, Flyers fans let their struggling team know what they thought of them. They didn’t have much to cheer about after that, except for the minimites players that took the ice in the second intermission.
What looked like the Flyers’ first goal — replays showed that the puck crossed the goal line before Zach Bogosian could swat it away — was waved off due to a high stick.
After Pat Maroon’s goal put the Lightning up 6-0, Lightning defenseman Cal Foote went after Travis Konecny after Konecny brushed Elliott outside the crease, prompting an all-out scrum behind the net that ended with the Flyers on the power play.
Philadelphia forward Cam Atkinson took advantage of the man-advantage, putting the Flyers on the board 7:04 into the third.
Otherwise Elliott, whose first two months with the Lightning have seemed to be a reunion tour, was remarkable. Three of his five starts this season have been against his former teams, even though coach Jon Cooper said that’s purely coincidental.
Elliott, who averaged 30 starts for the Flyers the past four seasons, made 38 saves on 39 shots.
Perry closed out the scoring with his second goal of the game with just under six minutes remaining.