Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said Saturday morning he didn’t expect to have an angry group looking to avenge Thursday night’s loss on home ice against Edmonton.
“We gotta go out and play with a clear mind and play with an edge like we have to every night,” he said. “We didn’t do that two nights ago. We left opportunity on the table, especially in the first period. And that can’t happen again.”
It surely didn’t.
The Flyers responded to one of their worst efforts of the year with one of their best, smashing the Blue Jackets, 6-0, Saturday night. They had an unlikely offensive outburst, too, from defenseman Radko Gudas.
With the win, the Flyers moved to three points out of the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot, thanks to Pittsburgh’s loss to Calgary earlier in the day.
Thursday night it was the first period that doomed the Flyers. Saturday, they dominated the first 20 minutes, taking a 2-0 lead into the first intermission while outshooting Columbus 17 (28 total attempts) to six (12 total attempts).
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They never looked back and scored six goals without needing an empty-netter for just the second time all year.
On the night, the Flyers had 65 shot attempts to Columbus’ 44, one of the more dominating puck-possession games of the year for the orange and black.
Notable goals
The most notable, for anyone not named Columbus goalie Curtis McElhinney, came 11:45 into the first period. Gudas launched a shot from the red line past McElhinney to give the Flyers a 2-0 lead.
Realistically, the most notable goal that basically put the game away came from Sam Gagner. The winger made a great backcheck and then fired a slap shot by McElhinney down the other end to put the Flyers ahead, 3-0, with 2:47 left in the second period.
Ten seconds later, Claude Giroux really put the game away with his 18th goal of the season, sending the Flyers into the second intermission with a 4-0 lead.
Gudas’ big night
Gudas’ goal gave him just his second multi-point game in his career, which has spanned parts of four seasons. He assisted on the Flyers’ first goal after sending a perfect pass to a waiting Michael Raffl in front of the net.
Gudas’ big night continued. When Gagner put the Flyers ahead, 3-0, Gudas, 25, picked up his second assist and first career three-point game. Then, 10:29 into the third period, Gudas’ second goal gave the Flyers a 6-0 lead, his first ever multi-goal game.
Unsurprisingly, he was the game’s “First Star.”
Goalie report
Steve Mason returned to the net for the first time in two weeks and secured his fourth shutout of the season. With the Flyers having one of their strongest defensive outings of the season, Mason wasn’t tested greatly throughout the night, but he was solid when he needed to be.
The 27-year-old made 19 saves on the night.
McElhinney, meanwhile, allowed six goals on 36 Flyers shots.
Power play
After an 0-for-7 outing Thursday night, the Flyers didn’t create any momentum on their special teams, though they didn’t need to on this night.
The Flyers were 0 for 6 on the night with the man-advantage, though they had chances later in the game.
Penalty kill
The Flyers stayed disciplined while Columbus got a little chippy as the game progressed. The Flyers took only two penalties that resulted in a penalty-killing situation, killing them both with relative ease.
Scratches
Both R.J. Umberger and Evgeny Medvedev were healthy scratches. Jakub Voracek (lower-body), Jordan Weal (upper-body) and Michael Del Zotto (out for season, wrist surgery) sat out with injuries.
Up next
The Flyers’ season-long six, six-game homestand concludes Monday night against Tampa Bay, a team the Flyers play four nights later in Florida.
Columbus returns home Tuesday night to host Detroit.