Photo Credits: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
The Chicago Blackhawks came into Philadelphia Saturday night with their 1st overall pick Connor Bedard and their 21 wins on what is proving to be a great week to play against the Flyers. The Flyers spent the last two weeks facing some of the best teams in hockey and making a good run at it. It was thought that after “the gauntlet” was over the following stretch of games would be very winnable.
The Flyers went to Montreal on Thursday and got their clocks cleaned by the worst team in the Atlantic Division. The Canadiens with 68 points were 21 points ahead of the Blackhawks before tonight’s game. Chicago has the second worst record in the NHL this season. The Flyers not only should have won this game, they really needed to. After getting blown out by the lowly Habs and Hawks the Flyers are now in a tie for 3rd place in the Metropolitan Division with the Washington Capitals.
The Flyers had managed to hold onto sole possession of 3rd place for quite some time but the Caps have been coming up fast. Washington currently shares the number three position with two games in hand. Not good.
The “BIG” story
Ivan Fedotov touched Philadelphia ice wearing the orange and black for the very first time. People showed up early to catch the pre-game warm-up and delivered a hearty round of applause as the Russian goaltender stepped out of the tunnel. It had been 3,199 days between Fedotov being singed by the organization and him actually entering the ice as a Flyer.
It was one of those things that was a long time coming and also came out of nowhere, both at the same time. After all the complications many were wondering if we would ever see the day. The head office deserves a ton of credit for pulling this one off and the timing could not be better. It is not known when he will get his first start but his presence surely adds elements of hope and expectation.
Philly vs Chicago
The Flyers came out with an early message for the Blackhawks, this was going to be a physical game. One of Bedard’s first entries was quickly neutralize with a trip to the boards courtesy of Travis Sanheim. Tyson Foerster obliterated Nick Foligno. The Flyers were finishing checks and looking like they had awoken from their slumber. Nick Seeler on his first night back from injury threw a healthy check on Jason Dickinson.
Then two minutes in Lukas Reichel scored on a wrap around. Flyers netminder Samuel Ersson made the initial save getting his skate to the post. Reichel took a second whack at it and the puck slid under the blade of Erssons skate and into the net.
Ok, they got lucky and surprised the Flyers early on, things would surely tighten up. The Flyers got a power-play that didn’t lead to a whole lot. As soon as the penalty expired the puck was on its way into the Flyers end just as Jaycob Megna was exiting the box. A footrace ensued with Ersson racing Megna to the slot. Fortunately Ersson won the race but what was happening? Things weren’t tightening up.
Travis Konecny went in on a breakaway and shot high and wide. Shots were missing the net, passes were not connecting, everything was looking slightly out of synch. Then with three minutes left in the 1st period Philipp Kurashev beat Ersson with a wrister from the slot. It was a nice shot but it was also the type of shot that a sharp Samuel Ersson would snap up with his glove all night long.
Snap out of it
With a minute left in the opening period and the Flyers in need of a boost Scott Laughton squared off against Ryan Donato. Perhaps the momentum from that or discussions during the intermission carried over to the start of the 2nd period. Just seventeen seconds in Tyson Foerster scored his 20th goal of the season. He carried the puck into the Chicago zone and fired from the slot using the Blackhawks defenseman as a screen.
Instead of the momentum taking hold things fell back into a pattern that more resembled the opening period. With 2:32 left Nick Foligno scored on a perfect tic-tac-toe play with the man advantage. As the horn sounded the Flyers left the ice for the 2nd intermission to a hail of boos. You have to wonder what was going through Ivan Fedotov’s head as he experienced his first night in a Flyers uniform.
Your typical Flyers Fan knows the sport well. They are very passionate and vocal about it as well. They love, and live, and die with the team. Oh, and they are going to let you hear about all of it. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Welcome to Philly.
It gets worse
The game did not get any better in the final period for the Orange and Black. The Flyers trailing 3-1 were not connecting. Things were not clicking for them at either end of the ice. At 9:09 Joey Anderson beat Ersson five hole on a 2-on-0 break giving the Blackhawks a 4-1 lead.
Chicago goaltender Arvid Soderblom stopped 30 of 31 Flyers shots and improved his record to 5-20-1 on the season. Mackenzie Entwistle put the icing on the cake scoring Chicago’s fifth goal with 5:27 left in the game. For what it’s worth it was a beautiful goal. Joey Anderson threaded a perfect pass through a ton of traffic from the side-boards to the slot and Entwistle gripped it and ripped it into the Flyers net.
Mercifully time finally ran out and the Flyers went up the tunnel to a chorus of boos. Anyone who follows the team closely enough to still be reading this recap already understands the implications and possible ramifications of these last four consecutive losses. So we’ll just leave it at that for now. I believe this team may still have it in them but they have to find it fast. Time is getting short.
Extra Credit: When Jamie Drysdale reported to the Flyers it was wild to get a glimpse of his speed and agility during the warm-up before his first game. He looked primed and ready to go. In tonight’s warm-up Ivan Fedotov looked like he might need a little time to settle in. Hopefully that happens sooner rather than later. It has to.
Drysdale = always hurt.