The NHL's feel-good story of the year is leaving Philadelphia feeling a whole lot better.
Golden Knights winger Ryan Carpenter fired a snap shot past Petr Mrazek wth 2:40 remaining in regulation to give Vegas a 3-2 win at the Wells Fargo Center Monday night. It marked Marc-Andre Fleury's 400th career win to become the 12th goaltender in NHL history to reach that milestone.
Flyers captain Claude Giroux extended his point streak to seven games after scoring his 25th goal of the season. That marked the fifth season Giroux has reached the 25-goal mark in a season.
Wayne Simmonds scored his first goal in nearly a month that tied the game at 2-2.
The Flyers outshot the Golden Knights, 40-29, including a 16-8 advantage in the second period.
Philadelphia Flyers
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The Golden Knights and Flyers split their two regular-season matchups with each team winning on the road.
• Sean Couturier has been so good on faceoffs, but he lost a crucial one in the defensive zone with 17 seconds remaining on the Knights' power play in the first period. That gave Vegas one last chance before time expired. The resulting draw led to Erik Haula beating Petr Mrazek from the goal line and a 1-0 Golden Knights' lead. Haula tried a centering pass that Mrazek attempted to poke check and instead it ramped up over his shoulder and into the net.
• In a game featuring two players that should receive a high number of votes for the Selke trophy, Couturier along with Travis Konecny set up the Flyers' first goal. They intercepted a pass in the offensive zone and gave it up to Giroux, who fired a snap shot that beat Fleury high and to the glove side. Once again, Giroux scored the Flyers' first goal and now has points in 15 of his last 17 games.
Look out, Giroux's coming through!
It's all tied up in the second period. pic.twitter.com/lVha2aBeDf— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) March 13, 2018
• The Golden Knights made it a perfect 2 for 2 on the power play when William Karlsson scored on a wide-open net after the initial shot from the point was blocked and then kicked aside reactively by Mrazek.
• Mired in a 2-for-28 slump, the Flyers' power play came through when it desperately needed it against Vegas. Shayne Gostisbehere lasered a perfect saucer pass to Simmonds down low, who roofed a shot after Fleury dropped into the butterfly position. For Simmonds, that was his first goal since Feb. 16.
Simmonds SNIPE 👀👀
It's all tied up in the third! pic.twitter.com/fIBA1WjsaR— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) March 13, 2018
• If I'm a good lip reader, then I could have sworn Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol said, "What the f--- are you talking about?" in regards to the too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty in the first period. Giroux and Hakstol clearly felt the Flyers didn't have a sixth skater out when the whistle was blown. Regardless, it's the most animated you'll see Hakstol on the bench challenging an official.
• There were shades of Fleury during his time wth the Penguins on Monday night. Fleury was all over the place as he tossed his body around the ice in the first period. The Flyers had him out of his net on several occasions, but they couldn't capitalize. The goalie, who had a history of falling apart against the Flyers, finished with 38 saves.
• The Flyers survived a near catastrophe when Andrew MacDonald hung on to the puck too long just inside the Knights' blue line, which resulted in a turnover and a 3-on-1 chance. However, Vegas couldn't failed to take advantage and just settled for a shot that Mrazek saw all the way.
• Much like the game in Vegas between these two teams, the Golden Knights attempted to catch the Flyers leaky on those sharp-angled shots and get the goalie out of position with very quick east-west passes.
