In an eventful and dare we say, fun(?) home opener for the Flyers, a ton of positives stood out in the contest. Let’s wrap on all that took place Thursday at the Wells Fargo Center in John Tortorella’s regular season debut as head coach.
First Period
Plus: Forward Wade Allison got the goal scoring started for the Flyers at the 8:24 mark of the first period. After a face-off win by Noah Cates, defensemen Tony DeAngelo went dee-to-dee with Ivan Provorov, who took the long wrist shot. With Cates providing the screen at net-front, the shot handcuffed Devils’ netminder Mackenzie Blackwood before the puck bounced to a wide-open Allison at the far post.
Minus: The Flyers took all three of their penalties during the opening frame of play and each of them were due to over-aggression. John Tortorella wants the Flyers to be harder group to play against to be sure, but he won’t care for undisciplined play.
Minus: With 36 seconds remaining in the period, Owen Tippett inadvertently collided with Devils’ forward Ondrej Palat. Both players were shaken up, but Tippett did not return to the game. With a laundry list of injuries, the Flyers can’t afford another player to be added to the injury report to start the season. It would hurt an already shallow forward group.
Second Period
Plus: Wade Allison and Noah Cates both had several shifts where they did the yeoman’s like-work along the walls and won their fair share of board battles. Both young players used their size and physicality throughout the contest, but it was particularly noticeable in the middle frame.
Plus: New Jersey registered 37 shots for the game, but 15 of them came during this period. However, many of those shots were low event and long range. The Flyers defense deserves some credit here for effectively boxing out around the net and giving Carter Hart clean sight lines to pucks.
Plus: Clearly with his skating legs in this one – at the 10:39 mark of the period – Konecny finally broke through and his first of the night was a beauty to give the Flyers the lead. Konecny’s shot came from the left side off the rush, as he used Devils defenseman Brendan Smith as a screen to beat Blackwood low on the glove side.
Plus: Just 23 seconds later, Morgan Frost joined in on the scoring too. From behind the net, Tanner Laczynski made a nifty back-hand pass to an open Frost, who then wired home the one-timer. The play gave Laczynski his first NHL point, in his seventh career game.
Minus: After they established their two-goal lead, the Flyers play sagged, and the Devils were able to set up shop in the defensive zone numerous times. Philadelphia competed hard tonight, but New Jersey still managed to outshoot and out chance them.
Third Period
Plus: Travis Konecny scored a power-play goal at 1:31 mark of the third period to continue his solid night to make it 4-1. It’s safe to say that an engaged Konecny, one that is willing to shoot the puck and get to the tough areas on the ice to score, is a handful for the opposition. He was outstanding tonight for Philadelphia.
Plus: Speaking of outstanding, Carter Hart slammed the door shut on the Devils in this one, as he made 35 saves in the game. He was the difference maker for the Flyers.
Minus: At the 9:26 mark of the final frame, the Flyers once again took their foot off the gas pedal and this time, defensemen Damon Severson made them pay for it, as he scored from the right face-off dot to make it 4-2 after a sloppy sequence in the defensive zone by the Flyers.
Minus: Flyers forward Hayden Hodgson spent just 4:46 of TOI in the game. He struggled to effectively the handle the puck a couple times and seemed to have trouble with the pace of play. It appears he has some work to do to get himself out of Tortorella’s doghouse to start the year.
They said it
What’s Next
The Flyers play host to the Vancouver Canucks for a late afternoon match-up on Saturday. Puck-drop is at 4:00 p.m.
