Analysis: Flyers beat Blackhawks 3-1

Blackhawks Goals

• Connor Murphy (1), assists: Lance Bouma, Jan Rutta

Flyers Goals

• Claude Giroux (9), assist: Jake Voracek
• Jake Voracek (4), assists: Shayne Gostisbehere, Claude Giroux
• Sean Couturier (10), assists: Jake Voracek, Claude Giroux

A revenge game at its finest for the Orange and Black after having a few days off to recoup and re-gather themselves from their loss last Saturday against the Colorado Avalanche. The Philadelphia Flyers have now won their last 14 straight regular season home games versus the Chicago Blackhawks, an undefeated record that they have held since 1996. (They got that one damn game here and it ruined lives in the postseason).

Here are five takeaways from the game:

5 Takeaways from Flyers vs. Blackhawks

• The Flyers’ top line of Claude Giroux, Jake Voracek, and Sean Couturier looked absolutely dominant vs. the Blackhawks, accounting for all of the Flyers scoring and earned seven points. They mostly faced off against the Blackhawks best line of Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp the entirety of the game and made it look easy. It’s incredible just how good of a level that this Flyers’ top line has been performing to in each and every game this season. They seem really comfortable playing with each other at this point in the season, and can find each other at almost any moment on the ice with ease. And once the first line gets going, it seems like everyone is on a completely different level.

• Shayne Gostisbehere reached a milestone on Thursday night! His 100th career point as a Philadelphia Flyer, and in the NHL, came on an assist for a Voracek goal in the first period. Gostisbehere has now become the fastest Flyers defenseman in franchise history to reach 100 points, reaching the landmark at 155 games played. After missing a few games this season and struggling for a majority of last season, this milestone is well-earned. Congrats Ghost!

• One name that completely stunned me on the ice was Travis Sanheim. He played really well, and is starting to get a little more confident too. He was paired with Radko Gudas, who made his return to the ice on Thursday night, and played very well. Sanheim took a few good shots and set up Valtteri Filppula for a great shot on goal, only to bounce back quickly and take a shot of his own on the rebound, but was robbed of his first NHL goal of his career. It was a very well-rounded performance from the Flyers rookie and one that they need going forward.

• A moment where I got a little nervous was after Gudas and Ivan Provorov both earned penalties in the second period. The Flyers had to kill back-to-back penalties, but they managed to do it with ease. I have to give props to the penalty killing team of Sean Couturier, Robert Hagg, and Brandon Manning because they were out there for a long time, killing the end of those penalties and did so without letting shots on goal. A great effort.

• Brian Elliott looked stellar in net. He saved 38 of 39 shots, and made some great glove saves to preserve the Flyers lead, especially in the third period where Chicago seemed to ramp up the offense. Elliott held tall, and made his saves at the exact right times. It will be hard for Hakstol not to play Elliott Saturday vs. the Minnesota Wild.

Additional Notes

• Nolan Patrick is still unable to play, and has not been in the lineup since Oct. 24 with an upper body injury.

Star of the Game

Jake Voracek. He put up a goal and two assists on Thursday night and is now tied for third in the league with points with 21.

The Flyers play the first of a home-and-home with the Wild on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center.