Jakub Voracek had dead aim, at least that's what the score sheet confirmed Tuesday following the Flyers' 3-2 overtime win over the Montreal Canadiens (see observations).
Two shots on net. Two shots that found a way past Carey Price.
Even though the NHL's assist leader has more shots on net than Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby and Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos, Voracek hears the voices that say he passes up on quality scoring opportunities.
One prime example came with 30 seconds remaining in the second period. Claude Giroux forced a takeaway and fed Voracek on a 2-on-0 prime scoring chance, but it resulted in Voracek sending a pass back to Giroux when perhaps he should have shot.
"It's always easier to say we're over-passing things," Voracek said. "If you're on the ice, the actual situation looks completely different. I hear ‘shoot the puck' every single time I touch it. If I listened to all the people who say shoot the puck, I'd have 500 shots at the end of the season."
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However, Voracek shot the puck when it mattered most. With the Flyers trailing, 2-1, Dave Hakstol pulled goaltender Alex Lyon for the extra attacker Voracek, who took a shot from the top of the right circle that deflected off the stick of Max Pacioretty and past Price for the game-tying goal, and then buried the game-winner 1:26 into overtime (see highlights).
When asked if he caught Price by surprise on the equalizer, Voracek responded: "Me shooting? 100 percent. I just tried to hide behind the D and I got lucky and it went in."
"It's one of those nights when you had a lot of really good scoring opportunities and we weren't able to cash in on them," Hakstol said. "It's nice to get a bounce like that with a minute and a half to go to tie it up."
For the game, the Flyers had 79 shot attempts to Montreal's 55. Thankfully for the Flyers, No. 79 was Voracek's game-winner, which came at the end of his 56-second shift. Had he missed the net and been forced to play defense at the other end of the ice, there may not have been much left in the tank.
"I was pretty tired," Voracek said. "I'd rather have it like that. If I had missed the net, I'd have to stay on the ice and try to backcheck after, so I got lucky."
Voracek became the second player in franchise history to score a game-tying goal in the final two minutes of regulation, and then follow it up with an overtime game-winner. Moving forward, the Flyers may need Voracek to shoot and score more with the recent injury to Wayne Simmonds, who will miss the next two to three weeks with an upper-body injury (see story).
To make matters worse, Flyers top-line winger Travis Konecny may have suffered a foot injury after taking a shot off his skate in the opening period (see video). Konecny never left the game but labored playing short, limited shifts, and wasn't on the ice with Sean Couturier and Ivan Provorov to begin the overtime session.
"He obviously got hit with the puck there, but he finished the game and that's part of the game," Hakstol said. "He was obviously sore through the rest of the game, but I give him credit, he continued to battle through to do everything that he could."
Less than 24 hours after the Flyers acquired Petr Mrazek from the Detroit Red Wings to solidify the goaltending position, Alex Lyon turned in another solid effort with 25 saves on 27 shots, beating perennial All-Stars Henrik Lundqvist and Carey Price in back-to-back victories.
"Yeah, it's cool obviously to play against those guys," Lyon said. "You watch them and you try to model your game after them. Obviously, they're fantastic. In the same breath, you've got to go out there and say, ‘I'm coming out here to be better than you today.'"
"It's always nice to have some clarity," Hakstol said. "I think Alex said it best after the game in New York the other day - it's an ever-changing business. You just have to be ready and prepared for what the next day brings. He pretty much lived by his words."
Notables
• Simmonds' streak of 223 consecutive games played ended Tuesday night. It marked the first game Simmonds has missed dating back to April 11, 2015.
• For the third straight game, the Flyers weren't forced to utilize their penalty kill at any point, becoming the second team in NHL history to go three games without allowing a power-play opportunity.
• Forward Oskar Lindblom made his NHL debut Tuesday night, replacing the injured Simmonds in the Flyers' lineup. Lindblom finished the game with 15:11 of ice time and one shot on net.
