ST. LOUIS – This was the very definition of a goaltenders’ duel.
Two shutouts, 0-0 through the actual play of 60 minutes and the five-minute overtime.
Flyers backup Ray Emery took turns with St. Louis Blues No. 1 Ryan Miller in making save after save -- 31 for Miller in 65 minutes of play, 28 for Emery.
In the end, Miller prevailed in his first shutout wearing the bluenote in the Blues’ 1-0 in a shootout (see Instant Replay).
No surprise there, really. The Blues are 9-3 this season in the postgame-skills competitions; the Flyers are 3-7.
T.J. Oshie lit the red lamp in his shootout round, just as he did for Team USA vs. Russian in the Sochi Olympics. He dipsyed, he doodled, and ultimately put the puck behind Emery. After Alexander Steen lost control of the puck on his salvo, Kevin Shattenkirk put a wrister past Emery to clinch it.
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At the other end, Miller robbed Vincent Lecavalier with his right pad, then gloved a shot by Claude Giroux to set up the Shattenkirk’s winner in round No. 3.
The adage is that a tie is said to be like kissing your sister; losing in a shootout is much the same.
“It’s frustrating going the distance and falling short in the shootout,” said Emery, who nevertheless pitched his second shutout of the season and 21st of his career. “It’s a good effort, but at the same time, it’s kind of frustrating losing in the shootout the last couple games.”
The Flyers are unbeaten in regulation in the past three games, with shootout losses to the NHL’s best teams – first overall Boston on Sunday and the second overall Blues on Tuesday. They whipped up on Toronto on Friday.
“I thought we did well,” Emery said, adding that the Blues are “a great team. We had a good start and a lot of chances throughout the game; we played really good [defensively]. It was definitely a good effort on our part.
“They’re a tough team to play against. They cycle a lot, spin out of the corner and they just kind of throw it at the net, kind of make that backdoor pass and try to bounce it off guys. They really work you hard down there. I thought we did a good job in the defensive zone.”
The Flyers beat the Blues 4-1 on March 22 at Wells Fargo Center, so they have limited the NHL’s No. 4 scoring team to one goal in 125 minutes of play over two games.
This game wasn’t like the previous one, though, with Miller on top of his game and on top of his crease throughout. Two of his best saves were on Michael Raffl, one each in the first and second periods. Raffl had a 2-on-0 with Giroux in the first period after Blues defensemen Alex Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester collided and fell down. Then, he had a point-blank shot in the second period, but Miller slid across to make the left pad save.
Raffl said he’d change nothing about the first shot.
“I got a good shot off there. I got it high up, but Miller played outstanding tonight and he was right there,” said Raffl, adding that he was somewhat surprised to be the one taking the shot. “Both their D-men fell and I thought G was going to go for the breakaway. I didn’t expect that he was going to pass it.”
Raffl would change his approach on the second-period chance, though.
“I could have taken my time a little bit more, get it up there and it would have been a sure goal,” said Raffl, whose low shot was stopped by Miller. “It happens quick out there. If I could go back, I’d change it.”
The Flyers would change little else about their effort Tuesday in holding one of the league’s elite teams off the scoreboard in the actual on-ice competition.
“It was a great battle for us,” Raffl said. “I think we played really good defensively, and Ray was outstanding, as well as Miller over there. It was a heck of a game, a real fun game.”
Flyers coach Craig Berube agreed, calling it “a good game, had some good chances. Ray battled hard tonight and did a really good job. … Miller made some big saves all game. Both goalies were really good.”
In the end, the Flyers earned the one point, could have used the two, but oh, well.
“I look at how we played,” Berube said. “We played a good hockey game. We got a point out of it. Of course, we want two points. We didn’t put it in the back of the net.”