Anthony Mingioni’s Flyers blogs are powered by Phans of Philly, by Lights On Electric, by New Balance of Mount Laurel, by Cover All Exteriors, and our newest sponsors, The Mens and Boys Store and Carl’s Cards and Collectibles.
On Saturday, the Philadelphia Flyers (14-7-3) won their third straight game, defeating the New Jersey Devils 5-3 at the Prudential Center in Newark. In doing so, they swept their Thanksgiving weekend slate of games against two Metropolitan Division rivals, after defeating the New York Islanders on Friday.
Winger Owen Tippett bookended the Flyers scoring with two goals, including his 100th career goal and 200th career point. Matvei Michkov also scored twice.
Goaltender Daniel Vladar once again displayed his outstanding early season form, stopping 29 of 32 shots, including several momentum breaking saves.
In addition, Trevor Zegras notched a power play and assist, bringing his team leading totals to nine goals and 24 points in 24 games. Travis Konecny added two assists of his own.
It was a game where the Flyers once again struck first and then used a dominant second period to give themselves just enough space to hold off the Devils in the third period.
Flyers Game Summary
Pregame
On Black Friday, the Flyers managed to stake themselves a three goal lead against the New York Islanders, but lost it by the end of the second period. However, they were able to tighten things up defensively and earned a 4-3 shootout victory.
Tyson Foerster and Sean Couturier opened the scoring against the Islanders with two goals respectively in the first period. The Flyers got a power-play goal from Trevor Zegras in the second period before the Islanders charged back to tie it. Both Zegras and Travis Konecny scored in the shootout.
Head coach Rick Tocchet deployed the same forward lines for both games. Defensively, he alternated Noah Juulsen on Friday with Egor Zamula against New Jersey. And as expected, Daniel Vladar handled the back end of the back-to-back, following Sam Ersson’s start the night before.
Forwards:
Tyson Foerster- Noah Cates- Travis Konecny
Trevor Zegras- Christian Dvorak- Owen Tippett
Matvei Michkov- Sean Couturier -Bobby Brink
Nikita Grebenkin- Rodrigo Abols- Garnet Hathaway
Defense:
Cam York- Travis Sanheim
Emil Andrae- Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler-Egor Zamula
First Period
The Devils held a substantial possession numbers advantage, but the Flyers were able to stem the tide initially. For the second straight game, they got the first goal of the game when Owen Tippett was able to backhand home a rebound of a Christian Dvorak shot at 5:18. New Jersey defenseman Simon Nemec got himself caught in between on the play when Tippett knifed in.
However, Nemec would get his revenge when he fired home a one timer past Vladar at 12:09 when Jesper Bratt found him off the rush.
After an initial 6-1 shot advantage, the Flyers closed out the period ahead 8-6.
Second Period
The Flyers dominated play in the middle period by using quick strike goals to their advantage.
After getting called for a late period cross check, Matvei Michkov got the scoring started. As the penalty expired, he sped out of the penalty box and scored on a back hander to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead at 53 seconds.
Travis Konecny absolutely wires a wrist shot past Markstrom to make it 3-1 Flyers at 3:16. Cam York made a tremendous deke on Stefan Noesen and fired a backhand pass to Konecny to make it happen.
Just under ten minutes later, Philadelphia took a 4-1 lead as Trevor Zegras fires home a shot on the rush that flutters past Jacob Markstrom. Owen Tippett with the assist. Just seconds earlier, Jesper Bratt got a clean breakaway that he shot wide left of Vladar, leading to the rush the other way.
However, the Devils would get a dreaded late period goal on the power-play. Winger Timo Meier fired a low lying shot just under Vladar’s blocker from the slot to make it 4-2 at 19:32.
Third Period
As expected, the Devils continued to close the gap with dangerous chances. At 6:28, Dawson Mercer dances one right past Egor Zamula and fired a backhands past Vladar to cut the Flyers lead to 4-3.
Shortly after, Garnet Hathaway gets called for delay of game after he put the puck over the glass, gifting the Devils a chance to continue their momentum. However, the penalty killing units held firm and the Flyers seemed to gain a second wind. They would continue pressing their attack and pin the Devils in their end.
Following killing off another penalty (this time to Cam York for slashing at 13:16), the Devils would pull Markstrom for an extra attacker. Near the New Jersey blueline, Tippett was tripped up. As a result, he was awarded a goal and secured the Flyers third consecutive victory.
3 Takeaways, Powered By Phans Of Philly
Vladar Stands Tall
The Flyers continue to be impressed with the work of Daniel Vladar. The Czech goaltender had several high order of magnitude saves, particularly in the first two periods in helping Philadelphia to their third straight win.
Following a late first period penalty to Matvei Michkov, he made two difficult saves. First cutting off Nico Hischier at the right post , then followed that with a sprawling stop on a Timo Meier blast.
Later in the second period, Vladar pulled off a stacked pad stop on Devils center Dawson Mercer following a two on one chance.
Michkov Earning Trust
Matvei Michkov continues to build confidence as the season approaches December. It was not by any stretch a perfect game from the second year Russian winger. He took a careless cross checking penalty late in the first period. In doing so, he forced Vladar to make several key stops on the penalty kill to keep the game tied.
However, he made up for it early in the second period with a pair of goals that gave the Flyers enough of a cushion to win. He also received critical third period ice-time, which included a good back-check on Luke Glendening to steer a Devils zone entry away from a high danger area.
Zamula’s Tough Night
Defenseman Egor Zamula drew in for Noah Juulsen against the Devils. He had a rough outing, playing 14:22 which was the least of any Flyers defender. He had two giveaways, with the first being a whopper of a second period turnover trying to clear the puck through the slot near the end of his shift. In the third period, Mercer easily danced around him for the Devils third goal.
