The Flyers once again dug themselves an early hole Wednesday night in Sunrise, Florida but this time, it was not one they could overcome. Let’s wrap on the Flyers first loss of the 2022-2023 season.
First Period
Minus: The opening period of this contest was not pretty for the orange and black. The Flyers allowed quite a few odd-man opportunities to the Panthers, as their defensive zone coverage was not up to snuff early and often. Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe scored the second of his two first period goals on a breakaway due to both a miscommunication on the bench (as noted by the TNT intermission crew via Keith Jones) and on the ice from Philadelphia. Neither shot was on Flyers’ backup netminder Felix Sandstrom, as the Flyers’ defenders appeared to have changed trajectory of both pucks in effort to recover defensively.
Minus: Leading up to the second goal by Verhaeghe, defensemen Ivan Provorov looked to have been banged up by what appeared to be an arm injury. He was back to taking regular shortly thereafter, so it’s safe to say that he is fine, as per usual.
Plus: It what had become a theme of sorts over the last two games, the Flyers found a way to battle back into the game at the 16:31 mark. Both Kevin Hayes and Zack MacEwen won foot races to the puck deep in the Panthers zone, when MacEwen tried centering the puck for a scoring opportunity. His attempt was muted, but Kevin Hayes was able to corral the attempt before he found a streaking Nick Seeler who then chipped the puck past Sergi Bobrovsky to cut the Panthers lead in half.
Second Period
Minus: The second period opened with the Panthers continuing to push the pace of play and they broke through for two more odd-man rushes, bringing the total to six to that point.
Plus: At the 15:16 mark of the middle frame, the Flyers were able to bank one of their many powerplay opportunities with a mad scramble in front of the Florida net. Travis Konecny and Ivan Provorov picked up the assists on the jam play and it temporarily gave Philadelphia a boost.
Third Period
Minus: With the game tied at two apiece – at the 3:51 mark of the final frame – the Panthers executed a perfect passing play from Same Bennett to Rudolfs Balcers, who then got in behind defensemen Egor Zamula and Nick Seeler, as both drifted to Bennett. Balcers sent a backhander into the top of the Flyers cage after slipping behind defense, giving Florida a lead, they would never relinquish.
Quick Hits
- Tony DeAngelo once again led the Flyers in ice time with 24:18.
- Philadelphia has scored four powerplay goals in four games.
- Felix Sandstrom made 31 saves in the loss, but made a number point blank chances. The Panthers fourth goal of the game is one he likely would want back, but he was otherwise solid in goal.
- Travis Konecny added a goal and an assist in the losing effort but was particularly noticeable all night long. He looks a lot like the All-Star player he was in 2020 so far this year.
What’s Next
The Flyers will head to Nashville with a matchup against the Predators on Saturday night, 8:00 puckdrop.
