Steve Mason returned to the line-up tonight after sitting out the last four games with back spasms, unfortunately the rest of the Flyers decided not to show up, at least not for the first 50 minutes. Antoine Vermette scored a hat trick for the Coyotes (Edit: No he didn't. His first goal was actually credited to Shane Doan) and Oliver Ekman-Larsson chipped in to give Arizona the 4-2 win. R.J. Umberger scored the 2 Flyers goals in the final half of the third period, but it was too little too late.
R.J. Umberger's first goal came with 7:49 left and the Flyers facing an 0-3 deficit. Mark Streit broke to the left of the goal drawing 2 Arizona defenders and found an open Umberger with a cross-ice pass that he netted. The second came after redirecting a Sean Couturier shot one second after a power play ended.
Steve Mason looked noticeably shaky in his first start in 11 days. Mase saved 21 of the 24 shots he faced for a .875 save percentage. (For anyone who cares, Zepp is back with the Phantoms now) Arizona's Devan Dubnyk saved 30 of 32, including all 14 shots on goal Philadelphia managed in the first period.
Dubnyk was helped by a staunch defensive effort anchored by Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who gave Giroux and Voracek real trouble tonight. Neither of them were able to ever really find space to create opportunities. Jakub Voracek is now scoreless in 2 straight games for the first time this season.
After starting this 8-game tour of North America with three straight wins, the Flyers are close to giving back all of the ground they gained, dropping tonight's contest to the Coyotes and Saturday's to Nashville. They'll look to turn things back in the right direction on New Year's Eve against the Colorado Avalanche at 9:00 pm.
-Ben Lebo
Steve Mason looked noticeably shaky in his first start in 11 days. Mase saved 21 of the 24 shots he faced for a .875 save percentage. (For anyone who cares, Zepp is back with the Phantoms now) Arizona's Devan Dubnyk saved 30 of 32, including all 14 shots on goal Philadelphia managed in the first period.
Dubnyk was helped by a staunch defensive effort anchored by Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who gave Giroux and Voracek real trouble tonight. Neither of them were able to ever really find space to create opportunities. Jakub Voracek is now scoreless in 2 straight games for the first time this season.
After starting this 8-game tour of North America with three straight wins, the Flyers are close to giving back all of the ground they gained, dropping tonight's contest to the Coyotes and Saturday's to Nashville. They'll look to turn things back in the right direction on New Year's Eve against the Colorado Avalanche at 9:00 pm.
-Ben Lebo
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