Bill Meltzer’s Flyers blog is 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 (23-17-9) absorbed a brutal gut punch in Salt Lake City on Wednesday night. Rick Tocchet’s team had a regulation win all but sealed. In the final 90 seconds of the third period, Garnet Hathaway stared at an open net as he entered the attack zone. He had space and (he thought) time. Then this happened:
Hathaway crept toward the yawning net for a tap in to ice the game. One could almost see the wheels turning in the veteran winger’s head: Don’t shoot and miss the net. Don’t lose your handle on the puck. You have daylight. Get to point blank range.
Hathaway never got there. Nick Schmaltz caught Hathaway from behind and picked his picket. There was an immediate sense of dread. Sure enough, at 19:25, Clayton Keller corralled a bouncing puck and scored to force overtime. In sudden death, the Flyers’ game rescue hopes died. Keller took a pass from Dylan Guenther and ended the game with his second goal of the night.
Philadelphia played from ahead from the 30-second mark of the first period to 19:25 of the third period. The Flyers led by scores of 2-0 after the first period, 3-0 early in the second period, and 4-2 at the second intermission. The Flyers still held a two-goal lead midway through the third period. Unfortunately, that’s when the collapse unfolded.
Final score in overtime: Mammoth 5 – Flyers 4.
The good
- The Flyers played an excellent first period. Indeed, it was one of the best period the team has played all season. Apart from the 2-0 lead, the Flyers dominated puck possession. They owned the faceoff circle. They had clean breakouts. When they needed a save (Samuel Ersson made seven), it was there.
- Travis Konency, who entered the game with a team-high 24 points in the last 24 games, stayed got. After scoring early goals in the last two games, he set up a pair in the first period on Wednesday.
- The Flyers’ long-suffering power play connected on two of their first three genuine power plays of the game (an abbreviated power play came first).
- Flyers defensemen jumped into the play effectively. On this night, Philly got a combined five points from the blueline. This included a Cam York goal (4th) and two assists from Jamie Drysdale.
- Christian Dvorak broke free from a recent offensive mini-slump. He notched even strength and power play goals.
- The Flyers regained equilibrium after a sudden second period push from Utah. The Mammoth reduced a 3-0 gap to 3-2 with almost dizzying speed. A timeout and Dvorak’s power play tally midway through the period (Utah took a too-many-men penalty) restored order for the next 20 minutes of game play.
The bad
- The sudden turnaround in the second period was a bad omen. This time, the Flyers took a deep breath and counter-punched. They weren’t so fortunate in the third period into overtime.
- As good as the power play looked on tallies by Bobby Brink and Dvorak, things reverted later in the game. Neither a third-period carryover power play nor a quick followup power play after Dvorak’s man advantage goal generated any significant pressure. Instead, it went back to looking disorganized and sloppy.
The ugly
- There was zero need for Noah Juulsen to fight Jack McBain midway through the third period. Actually, it wasn’t so much the fight itself. It was the initial roughing penalty to preceded the fight. Yes, Juulsen was defending Drysdale. However, midway through the third period of a two-goal game is not the time to leave your team shorthanded.
- The Juulsen penalty was a must-kill. It wasn’t. Guenther’s power play tally gave Utah life. Before that, the third period was under control. Now Philly was in hang-in mode. They still should have won, 5-3.
- What more is there to say about the Hathaway sequence? Unfortunately. like the infamous Patrik Stefan empty-net gaffe, this one will be replayed for years.
- The first turning point of the second period: a rescinded major penalty for a high hit on Owen Tippett. It went from a major to no penalty at all after a video review. Meanwhile, Tippett had to go off for concussion protocol testing. Fortunately, he was OK. The hit wasn’t worth a major but it was still high. A minor was in order. The bigger concern, since Tippet wasn’t injured: Utah had an instant energy surge. Two quick goals followed.
Flyers lineup
Trevor Zegras – Christian Dvorak – Travis Konecny
Denver Barkey — Sean Couturier — Owen Tippett
Matvei Michkov – Noah Cates – Bobby Brink
Nikita Grebenkin – Lane Pederson – Garnet Hathaway
Cam York — Travis Sanheim
Emil Andrae — Jamie Drydale
Nick Seeler — Noah Juulsen
Samuel Ersson
[Aleksei Kolosov]
Postgame reaction
Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet
Flyers center Christian Dvorak
Flyers Daily (Jan. 22)
Flyers Daily host Jason Myrtetus and I commiserated by text after last night’s game. Jason had to experience last night’s devastation three times over: real time, Flyers Daily taping and our text exchange. I’ve got him beaten. I did it four times: live off the TV broadcast, writing the Postgame RAV4 for PhiladelphiaFlyers.com, exchanging text thoughts with Jason and now in writing GBU at Hot Stove. Talk about gluttons for punishment. This one was agony.
