At long last, the Flyers defeat their long-time rivals on home ice for the first time since 2021. Let’s wrap on the sights and sounds of the black Friday matinée:
Quick Strike Offense
The Flyers quite literally came out of the gates flying on Saturday. At the 16:46 mark of the opening period, Tyson Foerster beat defensemen Adam Fox in a foot race to a lose puck before making a nifty backhand pass to the middle of the ice to a streaking Bobby Brink. The tally was Brink’s fourth on the season. In fact, the entire Brink-Foerster-Cates line was among the most reliable lines that played for either team Friday.
“We’ve played together the last couple games,” Brink said. “We know what we’re going to get from each other every night. We’re going to forecheck hard and try to limit mistakes. I think that’s led to success for us.”
Then, at the 15:36 mark, Philly struck again. After a strong outlet pass from Rasmus Ristolainen, Sean Couturier spotted Travis Konecny zipping through the neutral zone and catching New York captain Jacob Trouba flat-footed. Konecny then flew past Trouba and tucked the puck five-hole on Rangers’ keeper Igor Shesterkin to give the Flyers an early 2-0 lead.
The Flyers wouldn’t score again until Konecny’s empty net goal in the third period, but the club’s attention to detail defensively kept the Rangers’ attack off-balance for most of the game.
Fedotov’s Fight
The Flyers outshot New York 15-4 in the first period and outplayed the Rangers pretty handily as well. Not seeing more action can be tough for a goaltender, but Fedotov was good when the Flyers needed him to be. The lanky Flyers netminder ended his night with 22 saves and a .957 save percentage.
“We played as a team,” Fedotov said of the victory. “Everybody played good. We played much better in the neutral zone and we stuck together.”
All things considered, the Flyers have actually fared quite well without their number one goaltender in Sam Ersson of late. Both Alexi Kolosov and Ivan Fedotov have had moments of solid play, especially of late. It’s shaping up to be a legitimate competition for that number two spot in the crease.
They Said it
Noah Cates on the Flyers Finding Their Identity: “It started in Carolina a couple weeks ago and we’ve been building ever since then. To play a game like this against a divisional opponent was huge for us.”
Ivan Fedotov on his mindset last stretch of games: “I’m more concentrated on my game because, of course, you cannot always win or always lose. You have to keep your level at least in medium and not up and down. I keep that point in my mind and step by step, just keep getting better.”
Did You Know?
Per NHL stats, Travis Konecny is officially Mr. November. Konecny scored twice for Philadelphia and boosted his totals in the month of November to 8-11—19 (13 GP). Konecny’s 19 points are tied for the second most among all players this month and behind only Martin Necas (7-15—22 in 13 GP).
On Deck
Quick turnaround for the orange and black, as they head to the Midwest to take on the St. Louis Blues Saturday night, 7:00 p.m. puck drop. The game is televised on NBCSP.
