Philadelphia Flyers forward Jakub Voracek, out a couple weeks with a lower-body injury, is enjoying watching his team.
The Flyers won for the fifth time in six games Monday, completing a brilliant 5-1 homestand with a 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Voracek was a little excited about the win:
What a f****** game!!!!!!
— Jakub Voracek (@jachobe) March 8, 2016
Who needs 140 characters when you can get your point across in only 25?
The Flyers are only two points back in the wild-card race. It's going to be an exciting finish to the season.
Voracek has only 10 goals and 38 assists in 60 games. He's no doubt hoping to make amends in the playoffs.
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Jack Eichel is unlike any previous Buffalo Sabres rookie.
The 19-year-old collected his 20th goal of the season Monday against division foes, the Toronto Maple Leafs.
In the process, Eichel became the first teenage rookie to hit the 20-goal mark in franchise history while also making him the first Sabres rookie to collect 20 goals in a season since Tyler Ennis did so during the 2010-11 campaign.
The goal now sees Eichel just four goals back of Chicago Blackhawks forward Artemi Panarin for the rookie lead in goals.
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PHILADELPHIA - Shayne Gostisbehere scored twice, leading the Philadelphia Flyers past Tampa Bay 4-2 on Monday night to snap the Lightning's franchise-best nine-game winning streak.
Gostisbehere, Brayden Schenn, and Wayne Simmonds each scored third period goals for the Flyers.
The Flyers have 73 points and moved within two of idle Detroit for the final wild-card playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. The Flyers have earned 10 of 12 possible points to key their surge in the standings.
Voracek's goal reached: 5-1 on the homestand.
— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) March 8, 2016
There are 17 games left for the Flyers and two of them are against Detroit.
Ondrej Palat and Vladislav Namestnikov scored for Tampa Bay in its first loss since Feb. 16 against San Jose. The Lightning had won six straight on the road.
Gostisbehere, the sensational rookie defenseman, had his first two-goal game for the Flyers, and his go-ahead goal early in the third ended an 0 for 15 slump for the Flyers on the power play. His 14 goals are a team record for a rookie defenseman.
Andrei Vasilevskiy was sensational, stopping shots from all angles all while carrying a heavy workload. He stopped 21 of a whopping 22 shots in the second period and kept Tampa Bay in the game. He finished with 36 saves.
His lone mistake came when Gostisbehere squeezed in his 13th goal with 3:09 left in the period. Philadelphia's first goal came on its 30th shot.
- With files from theScore
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This ghost is for real.
Shayne Gostisbehere continued his sublime rookie season Monday night, scoring two goals for the Philadelphia Flyers against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The second put him into the Flyers' records book.
The goals were the 13th and 14th of the season for Gostisbehere, and No. 14 - a clapper on the power play - set a new Flyers record for goals in a season by a rookie defenseman. Behn Wilson scored 13 for Philly in 1978-79.
Between Gostisbehere, Artemi Panarin, and Connor McDavid, the future of the game's in good hands.
If you didn't know who Gostisbehere was before the season - or how to pronounce his name - you do now.
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Unreal extension and effort by Vasilevskiy to get a piece of this! https://t.co/LunVNlskfH
— The Goalie Guild (@TheGoalieGuild) March 8, 2016
Andrei Vasilevskiy is so good he appears to be toying with the opposition.
Related: VIDEO: Lightning's Vasilevskiy foils Flyers' 2-on-0 chance
The Tampa Bay Lghtning goaltender made another miraculous save Monday, this time at the peril of Philadelphia Flyers forward Chris Vandevelde.
Vasilevskiy recovered brilliantly after appearing to lose sight of a shot that rang off the crossbar behind him. Vandevelde had Vasilevskiy at his mercy, but even despite the open net, the 21-year-old backstop got back in time to get a skate on the puck.
Better luck next time boys.
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In a showdown with Steve Yzerman, the Red Wings icon always wins. Ask Jonathan Drouin.
Drouin blinked first last week. Suspended for walking out on the Tampa Bay Lightning’s AHL team after requesting a trade, Drouin called his general manager and told him he wanted to do what he should've been doing all along: play hockey.
Related: Yzerman not closing door on Drouin's return to Lightning
It was a call Yzerman was waiting for, likely expected. He was never going to back down, never going to have his arm twisted. Drouin, after not being traded by the Feb. 29 deadline, and set to lose a year on his entry-level contract, had no choice. He needs to play. And so, in a showdown with Yzerman, Drouin - and his agent Allan Walsh - were the unequivocal losers.
Yzerman labeled Drouin's call a "pleasant surprise." He’s saying all the right things.
"I will do whatever I think is right for the Lightning and that could include recalling Jonathan," Yzerman said. "If he gets back, plays well, he’s going to help us win, in the right frame of mind and he deserves it, he’ll get recalled."
Yzerman has proven as a player and executive that nothing and no one comes before the team. He left Martin St. Louis off Team Canada, eventually trading his captain. He did the unconventional, coming out and saying pending unrestricted free agent Steven Stamkos wouldn’t be traded. And Drouin’s been watching with the rest of us as the Lightning have won a franchise-best nine in a row.
Drouin, Walsh, and the NHL once again learned a familiar lesson: No one bullies Steve Yzerman.
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With an assist on Aleksander Barkov's first-period goal Monday, Florida Panthers forward Jaromir Jagr collected point number 1,851 of his career, passing Gordie Howe for third place on the NHL's all-time points list.
There was a brief delay to the celebration of the 44-year-old's feat as the goal was immediately challenged. The Boston Bruins argued that goaltender Tuukka Rask was interfered with on the play.
The goal would stand, leaving Jagr just 36 points away from catching Mark Messier for second place on the all-time scoring list.
Most Points, NHL History
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 8, 2016
1. Wayne Gretzky: 2,857
2. Mark Messier: 1,887
3. Jaromir Jagr: 1,851
4. Gordie Howe: 1,850
5. Ron Francis: 1,798
Monday saw Jagr hit another milestone as he moved ahead of Hall of Fame defenseman Ray Bourque for ninth on the NHL's all-time games played list, dressing in his 1,613th career match.
The assist gives Jagr 28 helpers and 49 points in 63 games this season.
You can watch video of the historic assist here.
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Vasilevskiy stops Bellemare and Simmonds on the 2-0. pic.twitter.com/gWd7l495cG
— Joe Dought (@JoeR35h93) March 8, 2016
Things are not coming easy to the Philadelphia Flyers.
The team had a glorious chance to get itself back into Monday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, courtesy of a 2-on-0 break, but goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy was having none of it.
The Lightning netminder went post-to-post, making a sprawling save on Pierre-Edouard Bellemare to keep the team's early 1-0 lead intact.
The Flyers will need to capitalize on such chances if they plan on claiming a playoff spot in the East.
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