Anthony Mingioni’s Flyers blogs on Hockey Hot Stove are powered by Phans of Philly, by Lights On Electric, by New Balance of Mount Laurel, by Cover All Exteriors, by Summit Public Adjusters and our newest sponsors, The Mens and Boys Store and Carl’s Cards and Collectibles.
The Philadelphia Flyers have been “money in the bank” when it comes to shootouts, winning every session this season. However, the visiting Carolina Hurricanes ended Philadelphia’s dominance in the extra session on Saturday when winger Jackson Blake score the only shootout goal. As a result, Carolina earned a 4-3 victory at the Xfinity Mobile Arena.
The Flyers lept out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, matching the Hurricanes’ speed with crisp work in exiting the zone. Both goals, by Bobby Brink and Trevor Zegras, were highlight reel quality.
However, Carolina found their legs about eight minutes into the second period and did not relent in their pressure. As a result, they were able to crawl back to tie the game at 2-2 at the end of 40 minutes with goals from winger Nikolaj Ehlers and Andrei Nikishin.
Rod Brind’Amour’s club kept up the pressure and finally took the lead in the third period on a Seth Jarvis goal, but the Flyers’ Carl Grundstrom would respond only 23 seconds later to tie the game at 3-3.
Flyers goalie Sam Ersson authored another good outing, with 18 saves on 21 shots. His counterpart Pyotr Kotchetkov with 15 saves on 18 shots.
Former Flyers’ defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere added two assists. Trevor Zegras led the home team in scoring with a goal and an assist.
Saturday’s game was the front end of a back-to-back home and home series. Both teams will travel to Raleigh, North Carolina to play each other again on Sunday.
Flyers Game Summary
Pregame
Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet went with the same lineup he had against the Vegas Golden Knights from Thursday. However, goalie Sam Ersson got his third start in four games, with Dan Vladar likely to be the visiting netminder in Carolina on Sunday.
Defenseman Ty Murchison played in his third game since his recall from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. In addition, defensemen Cam York and Rasmus Ristolainen both practiced with the team in the morning. There’s a decent chance the former will play on Sunday.
Forwards
Trevor Zegras–Christian Dvorak–Travis Konecny
Matvei Michkov–Sean Couturier–Owen Tippett
Nikita Grebenkin–Noah Cates–Bobby Brink
Carl Grundstrom–Rodrigo Abols–Garnet Hathaway
Defense
Nick Seeler–Travis Sanheim
Emil Andrae–Jamie Drysdale
Ty Murchison–Noah Juulsen
Goalie
Sam Ersson
(Daniel Vladar)
First Period
The Flyers came out buzzing, seemingly knowing they would need to play with pace against the very fast Hurricanes. They also did a strong job breaking up Carolina’s fearsome forecheck and turned the puck up ice confidently. As a result, Philadelphia built a two goal lead.
After giving an early breakaway to Seth Jarvis, the Flyers began using quick zone exits to release and attack Carolina. Despite Matvei Michkov getting tagged for tripping, Sean Couturier and Carl Grundstrom get a two on zero shorthanded break on Kotchetkov, which wasn’t successful but caught the Canes by surprise.
Bobby Brink got the Flyers on the board at 10:04. After making a strong cut after the drop pass from Trevor Zegras, he fired a low lying shot through a Christian Dvorak screen. Subsequently, defenseman Jamie Drysdale gets a clean look at the net and tried to get one in for a possible Travis Konecny rebound that was unsuccessful.
Late in the period, Trevor Zegras scored his 12th goal of the season to give the Flyers a 2-0 lead. A smart backhand pass from Travis Konecny found the net crashing Zegras near the crease.
Second Period
After some initial good shifts from the Flyers to start the second period, Carolina began to turn play their way about half-way through. The Hurricanes had been out of sync, but put together some of their patented offensive zone shifts where they found some soft areas in Philly’s defense.
Eventually, they broke through with their first goal at 9:11 off a turnover by Ty Murchison. The zone exit mistake led to Shayne Gostisbehere finding winger Nikolaj Ehlers blasting one past Sam Ersson high glove side.
After that, Carolina took control of the game for the next 12 minutes and the Flyers fed into that with carelessness with the puck. The Hurricanes’ Alex Nikishin blasted a shot through traffic that deflected off of Noah Cates to tie the game at 14:12.
While the Flyers were able to survive a delay of game penalty, it felt like a period where they were particularly fortunate to escape it.
Third Period
Carolina maintained their puck possession advantage during the early portion of the third period. They blanketed Philadelphia with their forecheck and disrupted even simple passing plays. Offensively, they tested Ersson with scoring chances by Sebastian Aho and Logan Stankoven.
As a result of their pressure, the Hurricanes broke the deadlock at 12:28. Seth Jarvis knifed through the Flyers defense and scored on a backhand deke over a prone Ersson.
However the Flyers responded 23 seconds after, when their fourth line managed to generate an odd man rush. Rodrigo Abols chipped the puck up to a streaking Carl Grundstrom who broke in with Garnet Hathaway. The left wing briefly showed pass before ripping a wrist shot past Kotchetkov to tie the game at 3-3, setting the stage for yet another overtime game.
Overtime
The Flyers played for possession throughout overtime, but the Hurricanes got a few chances in Ersson. However late in the extra session, Zegras had the game on his stick following a Konecny pass, but he partially whiffed on his shot and clanked the puck off the left post.
Zegras, Michkov, Konecny and Brink would not score for the Flyers in the shootout, while Blake connected on the Hurricanes’ final attempt.
3 Takeaways, Powered By The Mens & Boys Store
Grundstrom “Paying The Mortgage”
The Swedish wing continues to solidify his hold on a line-up spot, while Tyson Foerster remains out and Nikita Grebenkin plays in his stead. His addition makes the Flyers fourth line a potential liable unit, instead of an afterthought as he scored his second goal in three games.
“He can skate and he’s not afraid to get inside,” Tocchet said. “When you’re a player who skate and play inside, you can ‘pay the mortgage.’ He wants to stay here, you can tell. He’s scored a couple big goals for us so far.
Murchison’s Up And Down Performance
Ty Murchison had a bit of a rollercoaster game that mirrored his team’s performance. In his third game since his call-up from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, he played a strong first period with good positioning and willingness to sell-out to stop the puck. However, he had two credited giveaways, including one that led to Nikolaj Ehlers’ second period goal.
The remainder of the game, he didn’t play as confidently. With Cam York likely to return soon, there’s a good chance he will return to the AHL. Overall, Murchison had to impress Flyers brass with his overall play this week against some difficult opponents in Vegas and Carolina.
Tippett Continues To Impress & Befuddle
Tippett looked impressive in the first half of Saturday’s game. He had a really strong early second period shift, power-skating into the Canes end. Went past the circle, behind the net and backhanded a shot that Kotchetkov was able to stop. That’s what the Flyers want to see consistently from him.
However, he took a puck off his hand in the late second period and struggle to impact play. In overtime, he made a baffling move to wheel back with the puck when he had a seam open up ice. Tippett remains a player who can blow you away when he’s locked in and completely befuddle you when he’s not
