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The Philadelphia Flyers (22-12-8) had a regulation win within their sites against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night. Leading 1-0 in the latter half of the third period, the Flyers had a 5-on-3 power play. Philadelphia failed to score. Late in the remaining 5-on-4 advantage, Travis Sanheim missed the net badly on a shot attempt. Former Flyers center Scott Laughton (5th goals of the season) scored shorthanded at the 14:04 mark.
The game went to overtime. In sudden death, Trevor Zegras had a breakaway opportunity. Toronto goaltender Dennis Hildeby (21 saves on 22 shots) made the save. Philly also had a 2-on-1 they were unable to finish. Finally, Toronto rookie Easton Cowan (6th) won the game, 2-1, at 2:47 of sudden death. Moments earlier, Dan Vladar (22 saves on 24 shots) denied a Cowan scoring chance.
Travis Konecny (14th) scored the lone Flyers’ goal. He took a feed from Christian Dvorak and broke a scoreless deadlock early in the second period. Konecny later left the game with an upper-body injury, not returning after the second period.
The good
- Missing two players from the lineup (Jamie Drysdale and Bobby Brink), the Flyers held an even more banged-up Toronto team to a rather low-event game for long stretches. It wasn’t exciting but the Flyers had sufficient control to put themselves in position to win.
- Philly went 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. The PK has had some hiccups again lately. This was a corrective step.
- Nikita Grebenkin played a strong and energetic game. He moved up to the Noah Cates line after Konecny left the game.
- The Flyers sold out their second straight game. The announced attendance: 19,546. Unfortunately, the game was not nearly as exciting or emotional as Tuesday’s win against Anaheim.
- The home crowd gave a very nice ovation to Laughton in his return to Philadelphia. His former Flyers teammates on the ice and the bench tapped their sticks. It was a memorable moment for someone who gave his heart and soul to the organization.
The bad
- After going 1-for-8 on the power play on Tuesday — including a failed 5-on-3 — the Flyers’ power play proved costly in this game. There was another failed 5-on-3, followed by Laughton’s shorthanded goal. In fact, at one point Simon Benoit lost his stick and the Flyers still didn’t score (or generate a shot on goal).
- At 11:45 of the third period, Trevor Zegras may or may not have poked the puck over the goal line. Replays were inconclusive. As a result, there was no goal on the play. Toronto’s Laughton went on to score shorthanded.
- Sanheim simply could not afford to miss the net on that power play shot. The Toronto counterattack shorthanded goal was a dagger.
- Another name on the Flyers growing injury list: Konecny. It’s unclear when or what happened. However, just before the start of the game, Konecy was accidentally tripped by one of officials and Konecny exited the tunnel.
The ugly
- Before the game, Konecny took a puck to the face during warmups. He dodged a bullet on that one.
- Cam York later took a puck to the chin in the first period. He had to go off for repairs (five stitches). Fortunately, York returned two shifts later.
- The Flyers were a mere 16-for-51 on faceoffs. Toronto was 12-for-15 in the first period alone.
Flyers lineup
Trevor Zegras – Christian Dvorak – Travis Konecny
Denver Barkey – Sean Couturier – Owen Tippett
Carl Grundstrom – Noah Cates – Matvei Michkov
Nikita Grebenkin – Rodrigo Abols – Garnet Hathaway
Cam York – Travis Sanheim
Nick Seeler – Rasmus Ristolainen
Emil Andrae – Noah Juulsen
Dan Vladar
{Samuel Ersson]
Postgame reaction
Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet
Flyers winger Owen Tippett
Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar
