The Chicago Blackhawks travel to the city of brotherly love Thursday night (Nov. 9) to face off against the Philadelphia Flyers. The former 2010 Stanley cup rivals are off to a rocky start this year. Both teams are struggling to climb the ranks in their respective divisions. The Blackhawks have struggled to generate offensive scores this year, and the defense has been mute in helping Corey Crawford. The Flyers' Giroux-Couturier-Voracek line has had little help from the rest of the offense in generating points on the board.
Period 1: CHI 0 PHI 2
The Flyers’ offense came out strong against the struggling Blackhawks defense.
Corey Crawford, who shut the Flyers out last Wednesday at home, struggled to repeat his efforts tonight. The Giroux-Couturier-Voracek line picked up a pair of goals. Claude Giroux beat the Blackhawks’ netminder at 4:58 into the period and Jakub Voracek added to the deficit at 12:08 in the period. The Blackhawks failed to capitalize on a late period power play when Travis Sanheim got an interference call. They remained scoreless going into the second period.
Period 2: CHI 1 PHI 3
Chicago Blackhawks’ coach Joel Quenneville got to work in the intermission mixing up the lines to try and generate some offensive plays. The Giroux-Couturier-Voracek added to their night early in the first with a goal by Sean Couturier 3:51 into the period.
Defenseman Connor Murphy scored his first goal of the season at 16:13 in the period, breaking a twelve-game streak without a defenseman scoring for the Blackhawks. The Blackhawks failed again to convert on the power play, missing out on an extended two-man advantage called against Radko Gudas and Ivan Provorov late in the period.
Period 3: CHI 1 PHI 3
The Flyers’ had their first power play opportunity early in the third period after a slashing call on Blackhawks’ captain Johnathan Toews. The Blackhawks could not take advantage of a third late period power play called on Travis Konecny for tripping. The Flyers got their second power play chance on a high-sticking call against Tommy Wingels, but could not generate a goal.
The Blackhawks pulled Corey Crawford with 1:18 remaining in the third period to try and cut their two-goal deficit, but could not generate a scoring chance before the period expired.
The Blackhawks had 39 shots on goal but struggled tonight in the faceoff circle, only winning 33 percent of pucks dropped. They also failed to generate offense in key moments of the game, going 0/4 in powerplay opportunities. The Flyers relentlessly haggled Corey Crawford and the Blackhawks' lethargic defense all night, which gave them a much-needed victory at home.The Chicago Blackhawks head to North Carolina to face the Hurricane and the Philadelphia Flyers will host the Minnesota Wild Saturday night (Nov. 11).
