Barbashev, Quick fly past Flyers to finish road trip

The Vegas Golden Knights finished off a five game road trip with a visit into the city of Brotherly Love against the Philadelphia Flyers after a quick stop in St. Louis. During the road trip, the Golden Knights would go 4-1 overall with their lone loss coming against the Florida Panthers to start the trip. Along with a 5-3 win, the Golden Knights also opened up a three point cushion on the Kings and Stars atop the Pacific and West.

The performance of Jonathan Quick has been nothing but spectacular in the trip. With the win, Quick moved into a second place tie with John Vanbiesbrouck for wins among American-born goaltenders all-time.

Dorofeyev gets another goal to give Vegas early lead

Right out of the gate for Quick and the Golden Knights, getting tested early was an all too common sight. The Flyers got off four shots in the first four minutes after Alex Pietrangelo’s opening shot against Felix Sandstrom just 30 seconds in. Chandler Stephenson, Shea Theodore and Jack Eichel would get shots off right after with about five minutes gone by. With 15:12 left, Nic Hague was called for tripping against Noah Cates, giving the Flyers the first power play of the evening. Quick was there to make the stop on Rasmus Ristolainen before the defense was able to silence Flyers on the man advantage.

A couple of minutes later, Pavel Dorofeyev would get his second goal in as many nights to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead with 11:26 left in the first period. The goal from Dorofeyev would be assisted by Reilly Smith, his 25th of the season. Right off the faceoff, Pietrangelo got another shot off on Sandstrom but the Flyers netminder was there to make the save. The next few minutes saw some physical action with the Flyers and Golden Knights trading shots and hits.

Golden Knights 1, Flyers 0 – 1st Intermission

The Breakdown…

For the most part, the first period was relatively even with the difference being the Dorofeyev goal and the power play kill earlier on in the period. Jonathan Quick is playing on a whole new level as of late and it is good to see that continue in the first period of tonight’s game. The more the Golden Knights present an attack on Sandstrom, the better their chances will be of getting the puck into the net.

Barbashev, Blueger bolster Gollden Knights on scoreboard

After a Stephenson shot was made, the Flyers found themselves down a man fairly quickly in the period as Morgan Frost was penalized for closing his hands on the puck, giving the Golden Knights their first power play of the game with just 47 seconds gone. Jonathan Marchessault would get the first shot off before Ivan Barbashev would capitalize on a Flyers giveaway. At the 1:58 mark of the second period, Barbashev would tip in the puck for a goal giving the visiting Golden Knights a 2-0 lead. The goal was Barbashev’s 13th of the season and was assisted by Theodore and Marchessault.

After an icing call, the Flyers got a bit of offense going with five shots going towards Quick in a span of two minutes. At the 8:10 mark, after getting a shot blocked by Alec Martinez, Travis Sanheim got one past Quick to get the Flyers to within one of Vegas. It was Sanheim’s fifth goal of the season. A couple minutes later, Sandstrom was able to stop a pair of shots that came off the sticks of Barbashev and Brayden McNabb. But about a minute later, Sandstrom would not be so lucky. A Teddy Blueger shot via a Cotter blocked shot and pass by Phil Kessel would get past him putting the Golden Knights back up by two goals.

With 7:48 remaining in the period, Marchessault is called for hooking on Kevin Hayes giving the Flyers their second power play of the evening. Tyson Foerster got off a pair of shots including one that went past Quick and hit the post but the Flyers failed to convert the man advantage into a much needed goal. Just after the power play ended, Hayes got off a shot that Quick was again, able to master. The next big opportunity for Vegas came with just under five remaining as Marchessault got a close one in but Sandstrom was there to make the stop, As the period was drawing to a close, Scott Laughton was called for slashing Dorofeyev, giving the Golden Knights at least 1:57 of power play time to start the third period.

Golden Knights 3, Flyers 1 – 2nd Intermission

The Breakdown…

The good thing to note about the Golden Knights in the second period is that they are playing like they are a team that is better than their opponent. Taking care of business where it counts is all that matters. Granted, we are still a period away from the game coming to a close, the hopes of closing the five game road trip on a positive note, looks great.

Barbashev, Quick put Flyers comeback on ice

Starting off the third with the power play, the Golden Knights offense brought some pressure Sandstrom’s way.  Marchessault and Kessel got off shots in the first couple minutes. Less than a minute after the power play expired, the Flyers were called for having too many men on the ice, thus giving Vegas an extended time period of a man advantage. It did not take long for the Flyers to pay the price. The Golden Knights and Marchessault would get a goal to make the score a 4-1 advantage. It would be Marchessault’s 22nd goal of the season and it would also be assisted by Eichel and Stephenson.

Shortly after the Marchessault goal, Pavel Dorofeyev was again, doing Pavel Dorofeyev things, creating chances and getting a shot on goal. At the 8:15 mark, Nick Seeler’s shot was blocked by Barbashev, he quickly recovered to make another shot and got one past Quick to get the game back to within two. Just two minutes later, the Flyers would get another goal to make it a one score affair. Frost would get his 13th of the season with 8:45 left.

After back to back goals by the Flyers, the Golden Knights defensive efforts needed to deliver the goods and door stopper. In the final stretch, inside five minutes remaining and after a Zach Whitecloud  shot, the Flyers launched yet another attempt get the game back to square one. Owen Tippett’s shot with 4:38 left wound up hitting the goalpost. Hayes and Farabee followed with shots of their own. Quick was nothing short of spectacular in net.

With just 100 seconds remaining, after Quick saved a Hayes shot, Marchessault got a pass off to Barbashev, who then launched one past Sandstrom to put the game to bed. It was Barbashev’s second of the evening and more importantly gave the Golden Knights a two goal win to close out the five game road trip.

Golden Knights 5, Flyers 3 – Final

Game Notes

• The Golden Knights improved to 42-20-6 on the season with 90 points, which is three points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings for first place in the Pacific Division.
• Quick got his fourth win as a Vegas Golden Knight and saved 27 of the 30 official shots against him. His win against the Flyers is his 374th of his career, which ties him with John Vanbiesbrouck for second all-time among American born goaltenders.
• After completing the five game road trip, the Golden Knights will return home to face the Calgary Flames on Thursday evening, The Flames are trying to battle their way back into the Western Conference wild card race.
• If the season ended after the day’s activity, the Golden Knights would get the Winnipeg Jets while the Central Division leading Dallas Stars would draw the Seattle Kraken in the first round.

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