Photo Credits: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
I wish I could skip right to the 3rd period but that’s not how it works so here’s the set up. The Flyers and Columbus are pretty evenly matched teams. As soon as the puck dropped tonight the Flyers looked like the better team. The first few minutes were all in the Columbus end. Morgan Frost took an unnecessary interference penalty in the offensive zone and that put a pause in the momentum.
A few minutes later the Flyers went on the power-play and that did more damage to the momentum than the short-handed situation did. The power-play has been looking worse than ever as of late. It’s been so dreadful that it is starting to take a toll on the team’s 5-on-5 game. It’s a confidence killer. They play worse afterwards.
Columbus scored a goal in each of the first two periods. The Flyers looked flat. It was one of those games where they were reaching for the puck instead of moving their feet. Even their line changes were sluggish and risky. There was no magic in their sticks and no jump in their skates. Samuel Ersson was not himself. He misplayed a puck behind the net that led to the second goal. Even when he was making saves he was looking behind himself to make sure it wasn’t in the net.
Lets go Flyers
It’s a shame too because Flyers Fans were more than ready to go. There was a beautiful ceremony before the game in honor of the Gaudreau brothers. The Gaudreau family stood at center ice as Matthew and Johnny’s father Guy dropped the ceremonial first puck.
It was the last Flyers home game of the year. They don’t play in Philly again until they host the Maple Leafs on January 7th. This was the “Holiday Spectacular” game. The arena was all decked out. Gritty was lowered from the rafters dressed as Santa. It was Saturday night and the crowd was pumped and so ready to go. By the end of the 2nd period the chants had switched from “shoot” to just plain old “Boo”.
…and then
The 3rd period started with the Flyers down 2-0. Owen Tippett, who had a monster game, battled his way through the slot in the the Columbus zone. Forging his way through traffic and taking the puck to the right hand side of the net everyone followed him including goaltender Elvis Merzlinkins. Tippett slid the puck across the crease to Morgan Frost who fired the puck into the yawning net.
Frost’s goal immediately brought the crowd back to life 6:53 into the 3rd period. Just under two minutes later Cam York walked the blue line with the puck and fired a wrist shot towards the Columbus net. Tyson Foerster got a piece of it, so did Merzlinkins. The rebound went to Noah Cates who had an open net to shoot at with the Blue Jackets netminder still way out of position from the initial stop. The score was now tied at two 8:48 into the 3rd. The building was rockin’.
The renewed energy lasted all of one minute thirteen seconds before the Blue Jackets regained the lead. With Seeler and Drysdale floundering in front of the Flyers net Kirill Marchenko fired a shot past a sprawling Samuel Ersson. Things sagged just a bit but at least the Flyers and their fans were now fully engaged in this game.
Less than two minutes later Owen Tippett broke into the Columbus zone and fired the puck to the far corner. The puck came off the dasher out to Morgan Frost who loaded the puck from his skate to his stick and popped as quick shot from the dot and blazed over the shoulder of Elvis Merzlinkins into the top far side corner of the net. The place exploded.
Elvis gobbled up a Cam York breakaway with a fine glove save. Ersson made a huge pad stop on Aston-Reese when he looked like he had him dead to rights. Things were back and forth with the score tied at three and time running down. The excitement was through the roof.
Not again
Philly has seen more than its share of home ice disappointments so far this season. The Flyers are 8-9-1 at home as opposed to 7-6-3 on the road. When Jake Christiansen scored on an innocent looking shot from the point with just 4:11 left in regulation it felt all too familiar.
With just two minutes left the Flyers pulled Sam Ersson from the net to skate with the extra attacker. Time was getting short when Travis Konecny patiently skated with the puck around the top of the circle. He fired a shot that was deflected by Tyson Foerster past the goaltender and into the Columbus net. Pandemonium.
This game was headed to overtime. Noah Cates played a good portion of the overtime period. He had a strong night tonight finishing with a goal and an assist. Travis Konecny had three assists. Morgan Frost had two goals. Tyson Foerster had one of each. Rasmus Ristolainen had a strong night at both ends of the ice. The man of the hour though was Owen Tippett. He ended the night with four points. His final was the biggest point of the evening.
Flyers Fans were on the edge of their seats as the puck dropped in overtime. It would be a great send off to win this final home game of 2024 with the holidays right around the corner. 3:30 into the overtime session Noah Cates and Owen Tippett broke into the Columbus zone on a 2-on-1. Cates passed the puck to Tippett who used his speed to turn it into a breakaway. He skated in on net holding onto the puck and at the last second switching from forehand to backhand and slipping the present under the tree. And everyone got what they wanted for Christmas.
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