Two days after slamming the teams effort in a 2-1home loss to the Stars, goaltender Steve Mason was so close to leading the Flyers to victory in a much-improved effort against the St. Louis Blues.
Mason shut out the first three periods and indeed that of overtime, but history repeated itself as the Flyers fell to a heartbreaking 1-0 loss in a shootout. Mason stopped 35 shots, that total stood at 19 after the second intermission.
The whole team seemed to improve and it felt like the Flyers were back. The only real negative was the failure to capitalise on the Power Plays. The team ended up scoreless on four, three coming in the first period. A perfect scenario to bury the game before it’s even started.
The Defence stepped up big time, Nick Schultz spent most of his time on the ice acting as a second keeper, aiding Mason in stopping a barrage of St Louis shots. An effort which despite the loss, most fans will be proud of after seeing a severe lack of effort in the past few games.
The Broadstreet Bullies did however earn a point to improve to 70 with an overall record of 28-27-14. Two points was the ultimate goal here if they were to keep any kind of playoff dream alive, with both Boston and Ottawa both winning on Thursday. Boston currently holds the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 80 points, now ten ahead of Philly.
A moral victory is better than none at all, as the Flyers extended their unbeaten in regulation streak to seven against playoff bound teams. A statistic which after a season of inconsistency is somewhat pleasing to the eye.
It’s a long return home for the team now who will have mixed thoughts on their remaining games. They play Detroit on Saturday before going on the road for a four game stint.
