Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Flyers steal shootout win against Canucks

masonsedingetty

James OBrien

The Philadelphia Flyers looked like they were down-and-out against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday until Brayden Schenn scored a last-minute goal in OT. After that, the Flyers edged the Canucks beyond regulation, winning via the shootout 4-3.

Here’s that goal by Schenn, which ended a 16-game drought for the plucky Philly forward:

Ultimately, it all came down to two players who have powered much of the Flyers turnaround: Steve Mason and Claude Giroux.

Mason, 25, was called upon often in making 41 out of 44 saves for his fifth win in a row and 16th of 2013-14. This was the first time Mason has faced 40+ shots this season, as the Canucks carried the shot advantage in all three periods plus overtime.

Giroux, also 25, is making it virtually impossible for Team Canada to leave him out of the mix. He has a nine-game point streak in which he’s scored a blistering six goals and 11 assists (he has at least one assist in every contest). Eight of those nine games have included multiple-point outputs.

After a tough start to December, Philly is ending the month on a high note. They’ve won three in a row, five of six and have recorded a standing point in all but one of their last eight games (6-1-1). They close out the month and year against Calgary tomorrow.

One could argue that the Canucks have been even hotter this month. The Flyers ended Vancouver’s three-game winning steak and handed them just their third loss of the month (10-1-2 in that span).

Tom Sestito understandably called it a tough game to lose for Vancouver, yet it was tough to shake the feeling that both squads might be going in the right direction. Of course, both might agree with the notion that things could go in the other direction just as easily, however.

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins