Photo Credit: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
The Flyers late night show continued as they faced the Kings in Los Angeles on Saturday night. This was the second game of a back-to-back. The Flyers handily defeated the Ducks in Anaheim by the score of 6-3 on Friday. It was reported earlier in the day that Carter Hart was feeling up to the start but that situation had changed by ice time. Samuel Ersson was coming off a fine game the night before so it was Cal Petersen who got the start for the Flyers in net. Petersen was rocked by his former team for five goals in his last start exactly one week ago in Philadelphia.
Other roster shake-ups put Ryan Poehling and Victor Mete in the lineup and left Bobby Brink and Egor Zamula sitting this one out. Morgan Frost was also in the line-up for the second night in a row.
Flyers vs Kings
The contest opened with the Kings successfully keeping the Flyers at bay. The Kings were breaking up plays at both ends of the ice and keeping the Flyers from putting anything together without interruption. In the meantime the Kings were getting plenty of chances in the Flyers zone. Cal Petersen was making the saves that he needed to make. Some of his rebound control was totally hetchy-sketchy but the puck stayed out of the net.
Tippett heats up
Towards the end of the period the Flyers started putting some pucks on Cam Talbot who came up with the big saves. The Flyers got on the board when Sean Walker blocked a shot in the Flyers end and hit a streaking Owen Tippet with a stretch pass sending him in on a breakaway. Tippet went from forehand to backhand and lifted the puck up and over the blocker of Cam Talbot. It was Tippett’s 3rd goal in the past two nights.
Walker has really turned it on as of late and has been gaining some attention. In fact he was called for a totally invisible penalty towards the end of the 1st period. The Kings would be starting the 2nd with 1:38 of power-play time.
Morgan Frost
The Flyers came out in the 2nd period with a lot more energy which was leading to a lot more chances in the Kings end. Morgan Frost put the Flyers ahead by two with his first goal of the season. Frost entered the Kings zone. Running out of room he swung behind the Kings net and looked to pass the puck out front. The puck hit a King skate and found its way behind the Los Angeles goaltender. After a solid second half of last season Frost has been tasked with proving that he deserves a regular spot on the roster this year. His first goal of the season although not highlight reel material was certainly a step in the right direction.
Power play?
The Flyers got their first power-play opportunity 12:25 into the period. They used it to extended their current streak to 0 for 23 with the man advantage. The power-play looked just as sour as usual. I am sure they must be working on it but they still look more offensively dangerous short handed than they do with the advantage.
Morgan Frost put the Flyers up by three with his second goal of the game. Travis Konecny to Nick Seeler at the point. Seeler took the shot which was deflected nicely by Frost past Cam Talbut. Seconds later Carl Grundstrom threw a total biscuit of a shot at the Flyers net from the high slot. It blooped under Petersen’s arm and into the net. The Flyers headed into the second intermission up by the score of 3-1.
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Philly was showing great puck control in the 3rd period, sustaining pressure, and getting some nice chances. Luis Belpedio up-ended Adrian Kempe with a beautiful old school hip check up along the boards in the Flyers end. And some jack-hole in the stands kept blowing a whistle every time the Flyers crossed the blueline trying to disrupt the game.
Cam Atkinson made it 4-1 just over seven minutes into the final period. Tyson Foerster made a crafty steal at the side of the Kings net. He went for the short side shot. Sean Couturier ended up with the puck on the other side of the crease. Coots slid the puck to Atkinson alone in front who tapped it home.
Moments later Kempe scored the Kings second goal on a pretty passing play from Quinton Byfield. This goal energized the Kings who followed up with a flurry of shots on Petersen who held tight.
Put it to bed
LA took a four minute penalty with 4:45 left in regulation and things started to wind down from there. The Flyers failed to capitalize on the double minor and the game ended 4-2. The Flyers ended up winning both games of the back-to-back out West and that is just the type of shot in the arm this team needs after a bit of a rough stretch. The boys are off till Wednesday when they will play a game at a reasonable hour in Carolina.
Extra Credit:
This was a bit of a redemption game for both Morgan Frost, scoring two goals, and Cal Petersen who stopped 35 of 37 shots to earn his first win as a Flyer. After giving the Sharks their 1st win of the season this turned out to be a pretty good trip out West for the Orange and Black.
Nice pic of the bridge! Yes! Start putting it to bed!