Next time, it’ll count for real.
The Flyers dropped their preseason finale to the Islanders on Tuesday. Philadelphia finished up their dress rehearsal games with a 1-4-1 record. Here’s some news, notes, and observations from the final preseason contest:
• Scott Laughton registered a goal and an assist in 19:00 of TOI in the loss. His shorthanded breakaway goal was a beautiful sequence, where he anticipated the cross-ice pass and went in all alone on goaltender Ilya Sorokin and tucked the puck five hole. The Flyers will need these kind of momentum-swinging plays this season more now than ever, as many of the lineups’ regulars battle the early season injury bug.
• Speaking of breakaways, roster hopeful Tanner Laczynski also scored on one in the third period. The 25-year-old is currently in a roster battle with Jackson Cates for the Flyers 4th line center spot and his tally should help with that.
• Morgan Frost won 57% of his face-offs tonight. He’s had a strong, underrated training camp.
• Owen Tippett was finally able to break through with his first goal tonight after picking up a bushel of scoring opportunities this preseason. A common theme for the Flyers forward last year, Tippett has all the makings of a true sniper if he can find the back of the net more often.
• It was a rough night for defensemen Cam York. At the 18:22 mark of the second period a Flyers powerplay, York was beaten cleanly one-on-one by Islanders’ pest Casey Cizikas. The dogged effort by Cizikas led to the short-handed bid. The young defensemen still very much is learning the nuances of the NHL game. Tonight, he learned how strong NHL forwards can be on their skates
• The Flyers powerplay went 0-for-3 tonight and looked rather pedestrian while doing so. That’s likely cause for concern given how awful the unit was last season, as they operated to the tune of a league-worse 12.5% efficiency on the man advantage. The team is down quite a few regulars, so we’ll give them a pass for the purpose of the preseason. It is something to keep an eye moving as inch closer to opening night.
• Philadelphia was charged with eight giveaways in the loss. The Islanders were charged with just one.
• Samuel Ersson was terrific in goal tonight for the Flyers, as the young Swede made 15 saves on 15 shots in 29:17 TOI. With Felix Sandstrom battling injury, Ersson may find himself backing up Carter Hart to start the season. He’s certainly made the most of his opportunity in the playing time he’s received.
• The Flyers are expected to trim their roster with a final round of cuts in the coming days.
The Flyers are set to open the 2022-2023 season with the New Jersey Devils on October 13th.
Listen to the latest Phired Up podcast right here.
