Photo Credits: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
Spoiler Alert: On a night when the Panthers power-play is running at 80% there comes a point where staying out of the box has to become a huge priority, right?
There were a lot of strange things that happened during the course of this entertaining but disappointing hockey game. It opened and closed with a pair of bookend plays where it almost seemed as if there was a Flyers magnet under the ice in the left circle of their own end.
Philly vs Florida
Things were just starting to settle in when usually surefooted Tyson Foerster lost his footing unprovoked in the left circle in front of his own net. He could not recover and was left reaching as Evan Rodrigues scooped up the puck, made a quick move, and put it in the net behind Ivan Fedotov 2:36 into the match. It was a slow motion train wreck of a turnover that caught everyone but Rodrigues by surprise.
The Flyers early hole got deeper when Niko Mikkola scored on a lazy looking wrist shot through traffic at 6:57. The Flyers had the period’s only man advantage but failed to create anything substantial. They ended up outshooting the Panthers in the 1st period 10-7 but Florida made their chances count.
As the 2nd period was about to get underway netminder Alexsei Kolosov came down the tunnel with his mask on and jumped into the Flyers net. Ivan Fedotov who did not appear to be injured took a spot on the Flyers bench.
Strange Night
Joel Farabee took a tripping penalty 1:32 into the 2nd. The Panthers came incredibly close to scoring on their own net during the delayed call. Their point man missed a pass at the Flyers blue line and the puck just missed the empty net at the other end of the ice.
Carter Verhaeghe appeared to score a power-play goal that led to a Philadelphia time out and then a coach’s challenge. The goal was called back due to goaltender interference but the Panthers still had the man advantage. Aleksander Barkov scored from point blank range after receiving a beautiful behind the back pass from Sam Reinhart. Three minutes into the second and the Flyers were down 3-0.
Tyson Foerster took the opportunity to make up for his earlier misstep by scoring the Flyers first goal of the night 7:13 into the period. Matvei Michkov moved the puck to the crease through traffic, it hit off Farabee and Foerster was able to pull it out of the mess and put it in the net.
Nick on a mission
Next at 9:31 defenseman Nick Seeler took a risk and totally committed to a huge pinch along the boards in the Florida zone. It looked like it could have gone either way the timing was so close. With his defensive positioning completely abandoned Nick stormed in after the puck and came away with it. He blew right past his own teammate and commanded the puck into the back of the net unassisted. It was an impressive individual effort.
The goal breathed new life into the Orange and Black. The ice became lopsided as they created chance after chance. They were outshooting the Panthers 20-13 at that point and they were only down by one goal.
Florida’s prolific power play put a damper on things when Verhaeghe pulled the puck off the post and roofed it from the doorstep at 13:35. …stay out of the box.
Owen Owen Tippett Tippett
At 17:41 Michkov fed the puck to Owen Tippett in the Panthers zone. Tippett unleashed an undeniable slap shot from a sharp angle at the bottom of the circle that blew past Panthers goaltender Spencer Knight. The Flyers were within a goal.
The ensuing play saw Kolosov stoning Tomas Nosek on a break and the puck heading down the other end of the ice. Matvei Michkov passed to Owen Tippett. Tippett attempted a pass that hit a skate and came right back to him. He took a shot from almost the same spot as his last one and got the same result. Tippett had scored two goals within 23 seconds to tie the game at four with just under two minutes left in the 2nd period.
Flyers Fans stood and delivered a standing ovation as time was running out on the period. The 2nd period has often been cursed for this team so far this season, but not tonight. Tonight they used that time to mount a comeback that had the home town crowd boisterously showing their approval.
Stop right there
Early in the 3rd period Garnet Hathaway had a great chance due to pure hustle and hard work that was denied by Spencer Knight. The very next play Hathaway again was right in front of the net whacking away until the puck was in, the light was on, and the Flyers had taken the lead on this wild ride 5-4.
If you could stop everything right there it would have been the perfect night. Unfortunately there was fifteen minutes of hockey yet to play and the Flyers were running out of gas.
With just over five minutes left in the game Gustav Forsling scored on an innocent looking shot from the point to tie the game at five. It was deflating to say the least.
With just under two minutes left and the Panthers yet again on the power-play Sam Reinhart finished a pretty passing play by putting the puck into the gaping side of the net. The Panthers now had the lead 6-5.
The Flyers pulled their goalie to skate the extra attacker with 1:39 left in regulation. Emil Andrae was bringing the puck up from behind the Flyers net. When he reached right about the spot where Foerster had stumbled at the beginning of the game his legs went out from under him. He didn’t trip. His legs just crumbled on him like they were suddenly made of glass.
With no goaltender in the net and Matthew Tkachuk sweeping in to scoop up the puck Andrae had no choice but to pull Tkachuks skates out from under him and take the penalty to prevent the goal. Or at least postpone it.
The Panthers, again with the man advantage, scored their 4th power-play goal of the game into the empty net with 11 seconds left on the clock to win the game 7-5.
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