One thing you can never take away from the Flyers this season, is that they compete quite hard and tonight, they were rewarded for that. Let’s wrap on the Flyers win at the Prudential Center to end their road trip:
First Period
Minus: The Flyers puck possession was, to be frank, atrocious in this period to open the game. It culminated in a Kevin Hayes hooking penalty at the 16:34 mark of the opening frame.
Minus: Shortly after the penalty, Devils’ star Jack Hughes would score a dazzling goal at the 15:40 mark. After receiving a pass in the neutral zone from defensemen Dougie Hamilton, Hughes would split both Lukas Sedlak and Ivan Provorov at the Philly blueline before getting Carter Hart to bite on an excellent head fake for a goal surely to be on Hughes’ highlight tape for years to come.
Second Period
Plus: At 15:48 mark of the middle frame, Scott Laughton would tie the game on a one-time blast from Travis Sanheim. It was just Laughton’s second tally in the last 20 games.
Plus: Credit the Flyers for upping the physical intensity of this game with their two second period fights from Nick Deslauriers and unlikely combatant Joel Farabee. Deslauriers’ scrap was his league-leading 8th fight, while Farabee likely took some challenging words from John Tortorella at the morning skate to heart. Tortorella said that Joel needed to “help himself” and while a fight isn’t necessarily the way one would expect a player who is coming off a serious neck surgery to respond, it was nice to see Farabee get himself in the game and not shy away from physicality. The points will come for him.
Third Period
Plus: Like so many games this season, the Flyers would find themselves in a game with a chance to win. Travis Konecny would make that possible at 11:46 with a breakaway. It was the active stick of Noah Cates that started the break, and it would give the Flyers a lead that they would not relinquish thanks to a gaudy performance from Carter Hart.
Quick Hits
- Carter Hart was phenomenal tonight in goal for the Flyers. His 48 saves tied the most for his career in an impressive showing for the netminder.
- In addition to his second period goal, Scott Laughton had an efficient otherwise for Philadelphia. He led all forwards with three blocked shots and won 53% of his face-offs, including several key ones late in the game.
- Kevin Hayes spent the entire third period on the bench after a rough turnover late in the second period. He wasn’t playing well so Tortorella chose to play the players he felt were. Tortorella didn’t elaborate on why he was benched, but this is the second time this season that he was made an example for poor play.
- Recently recalled from the Phantoms, forward Olle Lycksell logged 10 minutes of ice time and appeared to be able to keep up with the pace of play.
- Noah Cates registered two assists tonight and played yet another strong overall game for the Flyers. He’s been something of a Swiss army knife for Philly this year.
What’s Next
The Flyers will return home to take on the New York Rangers on Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center for a 7:00 p.m. puckdrop.
