Voracek, Flyers sink Lightning, halt 5-game skdi
PHILADELPHIA -- Coach Dave Hakstol knew it was time for a change with his struggling Philadelphia Flyers.
So, Hakstol drastically juggled his lines for a key matchup against a Tampa Bay Lightning team that was breathing down Philadelphia's neck for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
The move worked -- thanks primarily to Jakub Voracek.
Playing with a new set of linemates, Voracek set up his team's first two goals, and the Flyers kept the pedal to the metal from there en route to a 4-2 win over the Lightning, snapping a five-game losing streak (0-4-1).
Rookie Travis Konecny, who has been mired in a prolonged slump, scored just his second goal in the past 23 games to start a barrage of four goals in the second period for the Flyers (21-15-5, 47 points).
Konecny took a pass from Voracek on a 2-on-1 breakaway and one-timed the shot so quickly that no one but the Wells Fargo Center horn operator saw it go in the net, as the puck hit the camera and bounced right back out.
It took video review to confirm the laser snipe from Konecny, his sixth goal of the season, which tied the score 1-1 just 1:11 into the second period.
Voracek set up the next goal as well, working hard in the corner to gain possession of the puck before getting it back to defenseman Ivan Provorov. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped the shot from the point, but Sean Couturier -- Voracek's other new linemate -- was on the doorstep to bang home the rebound for his seventh goal.
The goal marked the first time the Flyers had a lead in a game since Dec. 27, a stretch of 227 minutes, 49 seconds that spanned parts of five games.
A little more than a minute later, after Vasilevskiy stoned Nick Schultz on a breakaway, Claude Giroux gathered the puck and fed Michael Raffl for a one-timer that stretched the lead to 3-1. It was Raffl's eighth goal.
Alex Killorn drew the Lightning (19-18-4, 42 points) back within a goal when he pounced on a rebound just as a penalty to Chris Vandevelde expired, but the Flyers responded quickly. Defenseman Radko Gudas made his former team pay by skating into the zone untouched and scoring on a wrap-around just 57 seconds after the Killorn goal.
It was Gudas' second goal of the season and first in 26 games.
Michal Neuvirth, playing for the first time in nearly two months made 24 saves to pick up his fifth win of the season.
Vasilevskiy was under duress from the Flyers all game and ended up making 40 saves in defeat for the Lightning, who lost for the third consecutive game, having allowed 16 goals in the three losses.
NOTES: Flyers G Michal Neuvirth made his first start since Nov. 12. He returned to the active roster prior to Wednesday's game but served as Steve Mason's backup. He missed 23 games with a knee injury. ... Flyers first round pick German Rubtsov was in the building, adding fuel to the fire that he was getting out of his KHL contract to come over to North America to play in the QMJHL. However, Flyers GM Ron Hextall said that wasn't the case -- at least for his presence in the Wells Fargo Center. Hextall said Rubtsov was just in town to see a team doctor because of a nose injury suffered in the World Junior Championships. As for getting out of the contract, Hextall said that's not a matter for the Philadelphia Flyers, but for Rubtsov's agent and his Russian team. ... Lightning RW Nikita Kucherov remained red hot since returning from a pre-Christmas injury. With his goal against the Flyers, he now has three goals and six assists in six games since returning to the lineup. ... Lightning D Braydon Coburn missed his first game of the season after suffering an upper-body injury Friday. He is considered day-to-day.