Hart, JVR star as winless streak ends
PHILADELPHIA – They scored first, they played solid defense and they received some stellar goaltending.
So it came as no surprise that the Flyers finally put an end to their eight-game (0-6-2) winless streak on Thursday night with a crisp 2-1 win over the Dallas Stars at the Wells Fargo Center.
Philadelphia had been outscored by a 15-1 margin in the second period during that skid, but in this contest, they reversed the trend, scoring a pair of goals.
James van Riemsdyk had a hand in both markers, scoring one and assisting on the other.
At the other end of the ice, rookie Carter Hart came within two minutes and 51 seconds of his first NHL shutout in goal for the Flyers. Jamie Benn scored the Dallas goal to foil Hart's shutout bid.
JVR entered the game with just one goal in his last nine games.
He's been the first to admit that his game is still a work in progress after missing 16 games with a serious foot injury.
Against Dallas, he looked close to full strength.
Coach Scott Gordon probably helped the cause by putting van Riemsdyk back on the first line with Claude Giroux and Travis Konecny.
On the Flyers' first goal at 1:23, van Riemsdyk executed a nifty backhand pass to Konecny, who wristed a shot past Dallas goalie Anton Khudobin.
The Flyers are 9-3-4 when they score first.
Then at 8:51, van Riemsdyk was in position to have Giroux's shot from the left circle deflect off him.
At the morning skate in Voorhees, N.J., van Riemsdyk talked about his progress since coming back from the injury in November.
That injury came just two games into the season and didn't give him a chance to acclimate with his new teammates.
“When a team is going like this, I don't think anyone can be content with how things are going for themselves personally,” he said. “Certainly I would like to have more production [he's up to seven goals and 16 points in 28 games].
“Again, I'm putting my best foot forward, using the same process and stuff like that I've always used. You continue to dig in, kind of grind at it. I knew coming in it was going to be an adjustment … I definitely feel like I can be better.”
Hart turned in one of his best performances since making his NHL debut last month.
A save on a point-blank shot by offensive-minded defenseman John Klingberg in the second period typified the effort.
Klingberg wound up with the puck in the deep slot with no defenseman in sight. But Hart stood his ground and made the save. A frustrated Klingberg slammed his stick against the glass behind the Philadelphia net.
Van Riemsdyk likes what he sees of Hart so far.
“He looks really good,” JVR said. “You can tell he's got a really good mindset. Just watching him off the ice, he wants to get better, he wants to know the ‘why' performance-wise.
“When you have that mindset, I think the sky is the limit, especially when you have that mindset that he has. That's been impressive to me, he's been like a sponge. He's taking advantage of the different resources to keep growing his game.”
Wayne Fish is a freelance writer.