Rookie Nicolas Aube-Kubel scored twice, and the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 on Saturday night to attempt the top seed of the Eastern Conference through the playoffs.
The Lightning not only dropped the game in completing the preliminary round robin game with a 2-1 record, Tampa Bay star defender Victor Hedman did not return after appearing to twist his right ankle while he half the first period went down unmolested.
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Coach Jon Cooper had no update on Hedman’s status or how much time he might be missing, although he acknowledged that his potential loss would create a notable gap in Lightning’s lineup.
“It’s a little frustrating because we feel like we’re going in the right direction and losing some of the star power we have,” Cooper said, noting the Lightning are also without captain Steven Stamkos and played on Saturday min Hedman’s defensive partner Jan Rutta. “We need to get around the wagons.”
Stamkos has been out since sustaining a lower body injury before starting training camp last month. Cooper would only list Rutta as unfit to play.
Joel Farabee had a goal and assist, Tyler Pitlick scored in a low net with 1:20 left, and Carter Hart stopped 23 shooters for the Flyers, who finished 3-0. Philadelphia could not score more than one goal in the defeat of Boston and Washington, and scored their opponents by a combination of 11-3.
The Flyers, who entered round-robin as the fourth seed of the East, will advance to the first round next week and face the 12-seeded Montreal Canadiens.
Montreal outscored Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in four games of their best-of-five preliminary round series. Philadelphia and Montreal have split their previous six playoff games, and the teams will meet for the first time since the Flyers defeated the Canadiens in five games of the 2010 East Finals.
Tyler Johnson scored for the lightning, and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 26 shots. Tampa Bay came off a 3-2 win over Boston on Wednesday, and also had a 3-2 shootout win over Washington.
Hedman, a Norris Trophy finalist this year, fell down as he ran around skating on the blue line of Tampa Bay with Pitlick riding up the right flank. Hedman then slowly got up and broke his stick as he walked down the tunnel to the locker room.
‘You hate to see one of your teammates leave a game. Of course, we know the meaning and role that Heddy plays on our team, “said Lightning defender Ryan McDonagh. It was hard to see, but we have to roll with what happens. “
Tampa Bay will enter the first round of the playoffs as the second seed of the East.
The Lightning will have the winner of the best-of-five preliminary round series between eighth-seeded Toronto and ninth-seeded Columbus, which will be determined on Sunday in Game 5. The Lightning were defeated by the Blue Jackets last year in a first- round meeting swept, and to Tampa Bay won the Presidents’ Trophy. The Lightning and Maple Leafs have never met in the playoffs.
Aube-Kubel, who has scored seven goals in 45 NHL games of his career, enjoyed his first NHL career with two goals by putting the Flyers to a 2-0 lead by scoring less than seven minutes apart in the first period.
Lightning in their own zone allowed Aube-Kubel to stand in front and deflect in Shayne Gostisbehere’s shot from inside the blue line 7:40.
His second goal came on a 2-on-1 break, in which he converted Sean Couturier’s pass from the right flank.
“There’s a young man who figured out what it would take for him to play at that level,” said Aube-Kubel Flyers coach Alain Vigneault. “He deserves the ice age and he deserves to play at the moment.”
Vigneault also gave Hart credit for making two clutch saves on Lightning striker Nikita Kucherov, who came twice behind the Flyers defense in the seven-minute opening
‘We bowed a little. We did not break, much of it thanks to Carter, “said Vigeneault.
Farabee then sealed the victory by once in the pass of Gostisbehere in the right circle to put the Flyers on 3-1 with 5:38 left in the second period, and 10 minutes after Johnson scored a power-play- goal.
Gostisbehere had a two-point outing in making his playoff debut after sitting out the first two games
REMARKS: Flyers RW Jakub Voracek did not play for an unknown reason. He had an assist in two games. … Lightning made one rosrter change from Game 2, with D Zach Bogosian returning to the lineup and D Jan Rutta scratching. … Vasilevskiy appeared in his 36th career playoff game, tying Ben Bishop for the most part in team history. Bishop started all 36 appearances, while Vasilevskiy finished third with 31 starts, two behind Nikolai Khabibulin.
FOLLOWING
Flyers: Face Montreal in first round of playoffs.
Lightning: Face Columbus as Toronto in the first round of playoffs next week.
