In what turned out to be a highly competitive contest between two banged up teams, the Flyers prevailed at the Wells Fargo Center Monday night in a big win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Avalanche. Let’s wrap on the contest and several good performances:
First Period
Minus: The potent Colorado powerplay waisted little time to get on the board. An early Kevin Hayes holding penalty put the Flyers a man short before Cale Makar flipped a wrist shot that an uncontested Alex Newhook would redirect past Carter Hart at the 16:10 mark of the opening period. The Flyers would do a nice job on the kill (They were 4-for-5 on the PK) for the rest of the game, but it’s certainly not something they’d want to make a habit of against a lethal man advantage like the Avs have.
Plus: The Flyers would answer back with a Travis Sanheim tally at 12:32 after Scott Laughton and Zac MacEwen did some of the yeoman’s like work on the forecheck. The Flyers defensemen would have all kinds of time and space to pick his corner when he received the puck and he did not miss, as Sanheim fired a seed glove side that beat Alexander Georgiev to tie the game at one apiece. Sanheim was all over the ice in this one, using his great four directional skating ability and alertly jumping into plays when the situation called for it. He would also add an assist to his night later in the game.
Plus: Tanner Laczynski would add a goal in the closing two minutes of the opening frame on a 2-on-1 odd man rush with Joel Farabee. It was a heads up play by Farabee, who shot the puck low and away off the goalies far pad so that the puck could ricochet to Laczynski. The Flyers would take the lead on the play, which is of note as you can see below; Philadelphia just doesn’t play with the lead much in games this season.
Second Period
Plus: Tony DeAngelo would pot a powerplay goal at the 16:01 mark of the middle frame. It was a long-range wrist shot with Noah Cates parked in front to provide the screen. Here’s a better look at the play from Flyers Clips on Twitter, where Morgan Frost and Kevin Hayes picked up the helpers:
Third Period
Plus: The Flyers would find the back of the net on yet another powerplay opportunity when Owen Tippett delivered with his seventh goal of the season. The tally snapped a 7-game pointless streak for the winger and it helped push the Flyers lead to three. Scott Laughton and Ivan Provorov picked up the assists at the 9:54 mark. As it turns out, the goal would be an important one.
Minus: The Flyers almost coughed up the three-goal lead late which would have been disastrous given that the team played well throughout the night. Mikko Rantanen scored at the 17:47 mark splitting Ivan Provorov and Rasmus Ristolainen before snapping a picture-perfect shot past Carter Hart, and then Alex Newhook got his second goal of the game with Georgiev pulled for an extra attacker at 18:23. Philadelphia was fortunate to tally an empty net goal by Travis Konecny late, but the club was certainly playing with fire and is still very much learning how to close games out the right way.
Quick Hits
- The Flyers entered Monday last in the NHL on the power play (14.1%) but went 2-for-3 with the man-advantage in this one. It’s the first time this season Philly has scored more than one powerplay goal in a game, according to Adam Kimelman.
- Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon left the game in discomfort after a couple of hits from Zack MacEwen and Scott Laughton in the first period. Like the Flyers, the Avs have had a litany of injuries so far this year and another one to a star player would be a devasting blow for the Stanley Cup Champions.
- The Flyers blocked 31 shots in this one. Patrick Brown led the team with six.
What’s Next
The Flyers look to make their current homestead a winning one, as they host the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night for a 7:00 puckdrop.
