Last night, March 9th, I had the privilege to attend the Philadelphia Flyers vs. Buffalo Sabres game as part of the media. It was one of the most fun experiences of my short life.
The Flyers came out firing in the first period, with the ever-talented James van Riemsdyk netting his 11th goal of the season about two minutes in. I was not shocked to see him score; in fact, I was expecting it. They fell apart after this early goal, though, and quickly found themselves down 3-1 against a team that they should not have let score three first period goals.
In addition to the stinging pain of seeing our home team lose yet another lead (it was 1 goal, but still), we also watched Brian Elliott lead the team onto the ice for the second period, meaning head coach Alain Vigneault had made the decision to bench Carter Hart for the remainder of the game. Elliott has always been a reliable goaltender, so the only pain here was in knowing that Hart’s confidence might be lowered. It is clear to fans and Hart himself that he has been in a bit of a slump recently.
He is so young still, and has so many games ahead of him to improve. Don’t give up hope on him.
“You got to show mental strength, mental fortitude and you have to battle through. That’s what we expect Carter to do.”
Philadelphia Flyers Head Coach Alain Vigneault
After Elliott got comfy between the pipes, the team started to push a little bit harder. A player that stood out, in my opinion, was Travis Sanheim, which is both surprising and thrilling to me. I noticed him making better plays and just improving overall. AV even mentioned that he likes the Sanheim and Justin Braun pairing, and I have to say that I agree. They have had some rough moments, but they’re getting there. Having a solid defensive pair to keep together while switching around the others is always a blessing, and the Flyers could definitely benefit from this.
It was my hope that the Flyers would have a strong regulation win against a Jack Eichel-less Sabres, but that was not the case. In 3-on-3 overtime, the opponent had an interesting– and annoying– strategy of circling and passing the puck back and forth. A breakaway by Sean Couturier did not end with a goal, so it took a shootout to decide the fate of 65 minutes of play.
The first shooter for the home team was our star Sean Couturier, and he expectedly scored on Jonas Johansson. The Moose came up with two huge saves on Rasmus Dahlin and Casey Mittelstadt, and Nolan Patrick scored a very deserved goal. Watching a talented player who has been struggling for a long time with injuries and slumps finally score and help the team win is just incredible. As a fan, the feeling is exhilarating, so I cannot imagine how Patrick felt when the puck hit the back of the net. His teammates were also completely thrilled.
Last night’s opponent almost had a W under their belts, which would’ve been their first since February 23rd. Luckily for the Flyers, a good team battle always proves successful.
The Flyers will face the Washington Capitals at home tomorrow night for the second time this week, and again on Saturday. If they keep up the momentum from this win and secure their D pairs, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to see them win at least once in the coming days.
awesome work Abiageal!