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After a lost week in which they gave up ground in the Eastern Conference playoff race, the Philadelphia Flyers (24-20-10) entered their Saturday afternoon game against the Los Angeles Kings grasping for positives.
If you only watched the opening 15 minutes of the game, skepticism of seeing any would be understandable. However, Philadelphia showed resiliency in rallying from a two goal deficit, but ultimately they fell short in overtime, losing 3-2.
Game Summary
As they had in games earlier in the week, Philadelphia once again started slowly, falling behind 2-0 in the first period on pair of Adrian Kempe goals.
It was a sloppy, disjointed effort, punctuated by a delay of game penalty thanks to forward Nic Deslauriers looking for someone to fight in order to spark the team. That penalty was followed by a holding call on Sean Couturier.
The game seemed on the edge of slipping away from the Flyers. And it nearly did when former Flyers winger Andrei Kuzmenko appeared to have scored on an odd man rush. However, forward Kevin Fiala was called offsides.
Fortunately, the Flyers came out much more focused and structured in the second period and got on the board quickly. Trevor Zegras, playing a second straight game at center, was the recipient of a gorgeous passing sequence to cut the Kings lead to 2-1.
Travis Konecny would tie the game at 2-2 on a deflection of a Rasmus Ristolainen shot only 25 seconds into the third period.
However, in a game where the Flyers could’ve used two points, they were unable to possess the puck much in overtime. After Konecny’s breakaway chance hit the post behind goalie Darcy Kuemper, the Kings responded. Quinton Byfield would finish things off on a one-timer from a great feed from Kempe.
As a result, the overtime loss leaves the Flyers with only two wins in their last 13 games (2-8-3).
In the meantime, let’s take a look at some player performances from the game in the latest edition of Flyers Focus.
Travis Konecny
Put simply, Konecny seemed to be everything, everywhere, all at once for the Flyers. He finished the game with a goal and assist, but his imprint on the Flyers rally from their two goal deficit was plainly evident. Even if his breakaway chance in overtime was unsuccessful in delivering his team a much needed win.
On the Flyers first goal, Konecny patiently set up the scoring play and fired a cross ice feed to Brink. Brink would relay Zegras for the one timer at the net. 25 seconds into the third period, he was able to deflect home Ristolainen’s point shot to tie the game.
But he had numerous chances both for himself and for his linemates. In the second period, Konecny had a dangerous wrap around chance.
Later, after Nikita Grebenkin was able to clear the puck, he chased the puck down in the left corner. He fired a quick centering pass that Christian Dvorak nearly put past Kuemper. Later in the third period, he nearly pulled off the exact same pass to a crashing Dvorak.
In all, it was a strong performance from the Flyers assistant captain.
Denver Barkey
It’s been a month of learning experiences at the NHL level for Denver Barkey. While he’s had moments where his offensive talent shines, there are times where he overcommits or gets caught between actions.
A perfect example happened in the first period. Barkey made a major coverage mistake in the first period following the failed Zegras clearing attempt. Adrian Kempe scored his second goal of the game on a feed out of the corner. He was wide open and rifles it past Vladar as Barkey didn’t get back in time to cover for him. The reason? He was trying to help down low and was caught between.
In the second period, Barkey turned over the puck as he tried a cross ice pass that led to a Cody Ceci breakaway. Luckily Vladar was able to stop it, but you could see the rookie’s frustration with himself behind the play. In addition, he took a hard shot off his left ankle that kept him wincing in pain.
However, Barkey did get a late shift in the third period and disrupted the Kings neutral zone transition on it. Even with the mistakes made, his effort doesn’t lack. As he continues to learn the NHL’s nuances, he seems well positioned to capitalize on these lessons.
Nikita Grebenkin
Another good game from Grebenkin as he helped the Flyers tie the game early in the third period. On the play, he was able to come out of the corner with the puck and found Rasmus Ristolainen for a one timer that Konecny was able to deflect past Kuemper.
Beyond that, he was physically engaged from puck drop, as he made a point to make a hard clean check on Anze Kopitar on the opening shift. Even in relatively limited ice time, he continued to dig the puck out of several board scrums to get the Flyers cycle started.
In addition, Grebenkin was able to block a Joel Edmundsen point shot in the second period. Looked a bit painful but the Russian was able to shake it off.
Trevor Zegras
Zegras made his second straight start centering a line with Matvei Michkov and Bobby Brink. Their first game together against Boston on Thursday was an unmitigated disaster. However, Zegras looked much better on Saturday, as he scored his 20th goal of the season on a second period power-play.
The biggest area of improvement was his face-off results as won five of eight draws. When the Flyers struggled in the first period, his line was the one who was the most dangerous offensively. Zegras seemed to work fairly well with Brink, who understands his role with his skilled linemates. While he still finished with a minus-two, his performance was certainly a step forward from the game before.
Will head coach Rick Tocchet opt to continue the center experiment with Zegras this upcoming week?
