The Flyers improved to 3-1 with their Thursday night win over Connor McDavid and the visiting Edmonton Oilers. There were several quality efforts up and down the lineup for Philadelphia so for the first time this season, let’s dive into it:
Hart Continues Strong Play
The Flyers turned in a quality effort in all three zones in this game and their attention to detail defensively really was a positive takeaway. However, Carter Hart was more than capable in goal. Through the first four games this season, Hart has a .929 save percentage and a 2.01 goals against average.
Farabee Scores, Brink Continues to Impress
At the 15:50 mark of the first period, Farabee scored what turned out to be an excellent play all the way around. In the neutral zone, Travis Sanheim astutely swept a puck away from Oilers forward Warren Foegele. Joel Farabee picked up the puck and skated it into the Edmonton zone before finding a passing lane for Bobby Brink. Brink had the wherewithal to quickly pass the puck back to Farabee for the goal on the give-and-go. The goal was Joel’s second of the season.
For Brink, he’s been quite impressive dating back to the preseason. He nearly scored his first NHL goal on a wraparound attempt in the second period but was stuffed at the post. His playmaking ability is a welcome addition in a lineup that doesn’t have much of it. Moreover, he can seemingly create plays with little to no space. That very well may be his best quality.
Tippett and Atkinson Team Up for Two
Flanking Sean Couturier, both Cam Atkinson and Owen Tippett turned in their best performances to date and were rewarded with two points apiece. One could say that both players have struggled to date, albeit for different reasons. Atkinson is still looking to find his legs after missing an entire season last year due to injury, while Tippett is striving for more game-to-game and really, shift-to-shift consistency. Both players were catalysts for the offense on this night.
Plus/Minus
- According to NHL stats, the Flyers (3-1-0, 6 points) have earned three wins through their first four games in a season for the third time in the last four years (also 2022-23 & 2020-21).
- Cam Atkinson’s multi-goal game was his first since March 5, 2022.
- Sean Walker scored his first goal with the Flyers on a beautiful short-handed shot. Walker was acquired in the three-team trade that sent Ivan Provorov to Columbus.
