Photo: Rob Windfelder | Flyers Nitty Gritty
This was the game the Flyers absolutely had to win. The Vancouver Canucks were the low hanging fruit of this current road swing having won just one of their last 16 games.
Michael Bunting who has been a healthy scratch for the last five games justified his return by scoring tonight’s 1st goal just 2:03 into the contest.
Bunting picked up a loose puck through traffic in front of the Vancouver net. He went low glove side from the slot to give the Flyers the 1-0 lead.
Porter Martone stood out in the opening period creating a number of solid chances and making his presence known. He even took a stick to the face while waiting for a face off to drop. How ironic is that?
Michkov
Right at the start of the second period the rejuvenated Matvei Michkov continued to make an impact. His hard work in the Vancouver zone led to a Flyers power-play, with Michkov drawing the penalty then setting up the goal. A backhanded pass from behind the net out front to Travis Konecny who beat Leevi Merilainen short-side at 2:03. Michkov had a solid game at both ends of the ice.
Quiet Sticks
It looked like the Flyers had taken a three goal lead just 25 seconds into the 3rd period. After missing a number of golden opportunities Trevor Zegras got the puck to Tyson Foerster who put a wrister in from the slot. After review the play was found to be offside and the goal disallowed.
Players who the Flyers are counting on for offensive output had been missing the net all night long. This has been a running theme. Foerster, Tippett, Cates, when the opportunity arises you gotta hit the net.
You can’t win games hitting the goaltender in the logo all night so these guys are always shooting for the corners and edges, that’s how you score goals. But just like a lot of things that don’t go right when you’re struggling shots are missing the net altogether way too often.
3rd Period Struggles
The Flyers skated into the final period ahead by two goals but this game was far from over. Philly has been struggling in the final 20 minutes and this game was no exception.
After out-shooting the Canucks 15-6 in the first two periods the Flyers ended up being outshot 13-1 in the final period. The Flyers sticks went from quite to silent as Vancouver made a game of it. On top of that, while barely hanging on to begin with the Flyers took three penalties in the second half of the period.
Jonathan Lekkerimaki scored a Vancouver power-play goal with 7:16 remaining in regulation to make it a one goal game. The Canucks were swarming and Joseph Woll was being tested over and over again. Woll stopped 18 of 19 to keep this game from slipping away.
Play was tilted towards the Flyers end of the ice for the entire 3rd period. With just 2:49 remaining Joseph Woll was given a penalty for “removing his own mask” during play.
With their goalie pulled on the power-play Vancouver skated 6-on-4 and continued to attack until Travis Sanheim put the puck in the empty net to set the final score at 3-1 in favor of the Flyers.
It had been 25 minutes and 20 seconds since the Flyers last shot on goal. It was their one and only shot in the final period. They held onto this one but just barely and this was the “easy” game. Next stop Edmonton.
Extra Credit: At one point Michkov and Nick Seeler got into an extended argument on the Flyers bench. It went on for quite some time before and after Porter Martone attempted to step in and calm things down. Michkov was animated, voice raised, throwing his water bottle at the boards, showing some passion Seeler was engaged as well. …good.
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