A no-look pass from Travis Konecny to set up Noah Cates in the slot was the difference on Tuesday as the Philadelphia Flyers (19-10-7) beat the Chicago Blackhawks (13-17-6) 3-1 on Tuesday night at the United Center in Chicago.
In one last game before the holiday break, the Flyers snuck out with the win.
Travis Konecny (11) lit the lamp first at the United Center. After the Flyers killed off a Trevor Zegras tripping penalty, the forward came out of the box and joined the play. Zegras (22) put Konecny on the doorstep, helping put his team up 1-0 at 10:17 into the first period. Sean Couturier (15) had the secondary assist on the play.
With the primary helper, Zegras extended his point streak to nine games.
The Flyers, once again, led shots after the first frame, outshooting the Blackhawks 7-4.
Just like the first period, it took a little over halfway through the second period for someone to score. It was the Flyers tacking on to their lead.
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On the power play after a Chicago too many men on the ice penalty, Konecny (22) set up Noah Cates (9) with a perfect no-look feed to the slot, and Cates buried the shot. The power-play goal put the Flyers up 2-0.
It looked like Philadelphia would take the 2-0 lead into the second period. However, with 1:30 left in the period, Ryan Donato (9) got Chicago on the board.
The game was at 4v4 after a Connor Murphy cross-check and a Denver Barkey boarding penalty just 10 seconds later. Matt Grzelyk (7) and Artyom Levshunov (15) set up the score, which cut the Flyers’ lead in half going into the second intermission.
Both teams traded chances in the third period. No chance was bigger than Louis Crevier’s shot with just over seven minutes remaining. But Sam Ersson made a giant glove save for the Flyers.
The Blackhawks again had a great chance after Sean Couturier got called for a hook with just over four minutes remaining. Philadelphia was without both Travis Sanheim and Denver Barkey, who both exited the game with an apparent injury.
Even down two skaters, the Flyers killed off the penalty. Chicago immediately pulled goaltender Spencer Knight, even though Philadelphia still had possession of the puck.
Carl Grundstrom (5) hit the empty net next and extended the Flyers’ lead to 3-1, scoring the dagger in the game, bringing it to the final score.
What’s next
The holiday break begins on Wednesday. Philadelphia plays next on Sunday when the Flyers take on the Kraken in Seattle at 8:00 p.m. EST.
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