Thanks to Tyson Foerster and Travis Sanheim, the Flyers recorded their third multi-goal comeback win of the season. Only the Dallas Stars have more this season. Let’s wrap:
More of the Same
The Flyers actually began the game much better than they have in games past. Philadelphia outshot St. Louis 12-9 and generally created some good looks at Joel Hofer, but still fell behind early for their effort. At the 5:31 mark of the first period, Blues defensemen Justin Faulk blasted a shot past the Flyers netminder Dan Vladar to give the Blues a 1-0 win lead. Then, at 12:08, Faulk hit twine a second time with a one-timer after a gorgeous seam pass from Jake Neighbors on the powerplay.
“I don’t know if it was that bad of a start,” Tocchet said to the media postgame. “You make a bad pass or something, that’s when it looks bad. Overall, I don’t think it was that bad. Obviously, I like the result, the guys being down two nothing.”
Ring 10-Bells for that Save
With 12:54 remaining in regulation, the Flyers headed to the powerplay with a chance to even the game. Trevor Zegras would get two golden chances, but could not score, a rarity for him this season. First, he drilled a one-timer that would hit the crossbar. Later in the same man advantage, Bobby Brink would find Zegras with a cross-crease pass for another one-time opportunity, but this time Blues goaltender Joel Hofer would sprawl across and make a huge glove save. You can watch the save above and surely, you won’t see any better, especially on a player as hot as Zegras has been this season.
Comeback Kids
Eventually, the Flyers would find the elusive tying goal. At the 11:49 mark of the third period, Tyson Foerster nailed a one-timer past a screened Hofer after a heady play from Emil Andrae. He would play a puck at the St. Louis blueline that Travis Konecny swatted towards him and quickly skated to his right to look for an option. Andrae’s quick-thinking lured two Blues defenders to him and in turn, opened up Foerster on the flank.
“He’s been great for us,” Foerster said of Andrae after the game. “He’s making plays in the D-zone, breaking up passes and also in the offensive so yeah, he’s been great.”
Andrae’s playing time has been sparse this season, but the 23-year-old appears to be looking more comfortable over the last week. In fact, the young Swede was even bumped up from his usual third pair role and slotted next to Jamie Drysdale in this game, perhaps an indication that the coaching staff is trusting him more.
“When your playing more, the more confidence you have,” Andrae said. “I think me and Jamie played great when we played together in the shifts we had. It was fun to play.”
Andrae ended his night logging 19:30 total time on ice with an assist and a plus one plus/minus rating in the win.
Sweet Sanny
After a nice play by Konecny along the boards in his own zone, Travis Sanheim raced from end to end to score the game winning goal, beating Hofer glove side to send the Philly faithful home happy, even if it wasn’t the exact play the defensemen was looking for.
“I was trying to rim it to TK at the redline,” Sanheim said. “There guy kind of got a stick on me so I fanned on it so TK was forced to come back and he obviously makes a great play sucking two guys to him and springs me on a breakaway.”
The tally is the veteran defensemen’s fourth career overtime goal so he therefore passes Eric Desjardins and Joni Pitkanen on the Flyers all time list. The win now puts Philadelphia at 7-3-2 on home ice this season.
They Said It
Travis Sanheim on the Flyers fourth line: “I thought that line was bringing us some energy to start the game and into the second. Every time they were out there, they were causing havoc.”
Rick Tocchet on Emil Andrae’s performance: “He’s been playing pretty good for us. He’s one our better guys that goes back and wheels the puck and makes an outlet pass. We’ll keep working with him and he’ll get some more ice time.”
Rodrigo Abols on the message between periods after falling behind 2-0: “Just stick with it. There’s a ton of belief in this room. Vladdy keeps us in the game every time, same with Ers. You cans see when we do the things we talk about, it works.”
Did You Know?
With an assist on the Rodrigo Abols goal, Trevor Zegras becomes the fourth player in the past 30 years to record 20 points with the Flyers in fewer than 20 games. He joins Peter Forsberg (2005-2006), Dale Hawerchuk (1995-1996) and Danny Briere (2007-2008), according to NHLStats.
On Deck
The Flyers will return to action on Saturday, November 22nd, when they play host to the New Jersey Devils at the Xfinity Mobile Arena. The game will be broadcast locally on NBCSP with puckdrop set for 7:00 p.m.
