NHL Update: Philadelphia Flyers handled Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-3
Kimmo Timonen lit the lamp in the seventh round of the shootout to carry Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-3 victory against Tampa Bay Lightning, at St. Pete Times Forum on Tuesday night.
Scott Hartnell and Darroll Powe each tallied a goal for Philadelphia, which is the top team in the Eastern Conference and has won four of its previous five contests overall. James van Riemsdyk also added a goal while Brian Boucher stopped 24 shots in the
winning effort.
Vinny Lecavalier and Dominic Moore both found the back of the net for Lightning, who are hot on the Philadelphia’s heels and only five points behind, but fell to 2-2-1 since a six-game win streak. Teddy Purcell also netted a goal in the loss.
"This was a battle between two evenly-matched teams," said Lightning's Randy Jones.
Dwayne Roloson was dented for three goals on 29 shots for Tampa Bay, which won three of the four games against Flyers this season.
Philadelphia got on the board firs for 1-0 lead with 7 ½ minutes left in the opening stanza. It started when Jeff Carter’s strong fore-checking deep in the Tampa Bay zone led Claude Giroux to control the puck. From along the rear boards, Giroux slipped a
blind backhand pass into the lower left slot area for van Riemsdyk, who ripped a snap shot past Roloson.
Lightning knotted the game at 1-1 less than one minute into the middle period. From the right circle, Moore fired a wrist shot that was deflected off the skate of Philadelphia’s blue-liner Andrej Meszaros. The puck changed speed and direction that was enough
to fool goalie.
Hartnell put Philadelphia ahead again with 2-1 lead just 7 ½ minutes into the middle frame. From the right circle, van Riemsdyk banged a wrist shot and Hartnell successfully deflected it into the net from the crease area near the right post. It was Hartnell’s
18th goal of the season.
Just few minutes later, a tripping minor called on van Riemsdyk led to a goal for each team. While short-handed, Powe got a breakaway and was hooked by Steve Stamkos, which led to a penalty shot. On an open opportunity, Powe beat Roloson clean with a wrist
shot to tie the game at 2-2 in the ninth minute of the second period.
However, on the same Lightning power play, Tampa Bay took 3-2 lead at the midway mark of the second period. The goal was set up by Marc-Andre Bergeron, who blasted a wrist shot toward the net. Lecavalier got his stick on the shot and redirected it home from
the right point.
"This game had a playoff-type atmosphere -- it was very intense," said Tampa Bay blue liner Mike Vernace. "It was a very good game between two good teams."
Less than a minute later, Flyers pulled the game even at 3-3 when Pavel Kubina, from above the right circle near the point, threw a pass across the slot for Purcell, who knocked the puck into the net from the left side.
In the seventh shootout round, Timonen capped the scoring at 4-3 as he made a double-fake move near the top of the crease for a goal. Boucher then blocked Marty St. Louis' shot to preserve the win.
"I wanted to come in at full speed, force (Roloson) to make the first move and then jam it in with the forehand," said Timonen.
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