Photo Credit: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
These Florida Panthers are nothing to sneeze at, in fact they came into this game with the best record in the NHL 43-16-4. They came straight at the Flyers right from the opening faceoff. One Flyers line after another came out to deal with the onslaught until things settled in a bit.
A few firsts tonight: Both Ronnie Attard and Adam Ginning were making their first appearance with the Flyers this season. Nick Seeler is out due to injury. Seeler took a shot to what seemed to be the foot or ankle during the Tampa game and is listed “week to week” with a lower body injury. Of course both Jamie Drysdale and Rasmus Ristolainen are still on the list of injured Flyers defensemen. Lastly, Sean Walker was traded to Colorado before trade deadline. So you could say the Flyers defense is a bit dinged up at the moment. Also this was Travis Konecny’s first game back since missing six with an upper body injury.
Philly vs Florida
At the far ends of the ice in goal was Samuel Ersson for the Flyers and our old friend Sergei Bobrovsky for the hosting Panthers. Ersson looked sharp early including a huge save on Tarasenko point blank. Nicolas Deslauriers gave “Bob” his first real test on a nice passing play from Sean Couturier. Nick had a couple whacks at it but Bobrovsky held tight.
Konecny returns
One thing that the Flyers had been missing the last half dozen games was the speed of Travis Konecny. Halfway through the 1st T.K. took control of a puck in the neutral zone and he was off to the races going in on a break away which was stopped by the Panthers netminder. The Flyers stretch game really comes to life when Konecny is on the ice and that’s because of his blasts of speed. The Flyers have made real strides since John Tortorella took over the bench. They play as a team with a system and many interchangeable parts.
That being said, Konecny seems to be an exception to the rule. The Flyers play a slightly different game when he is not available, they don’t have a choice. Their penalty kill becomes more conservative and less dangerous offensively. And their stretch game clearly sags a bit. There are a lot of things about Konecny’s game that makes him dangerous and effective, but it is his acceleration and speed that really sets him apart.
The Panthers ramped up a bit of a shooting gallery on Ersson in the final minutes of the 1st period including a breakaway chance by Sam Reinhart. Florida outshot the Flyers 12-5 in the period but the teams remained scoreless going into the first intermission.
2nd Period
Ryan Poehling started the second stanza with a bang, winning the opening faceoff back to Cam York. York skated the puck through the neutral zone and dished it back to Poehling who stormed up the left hand side cutting towards the net. He got Bobrovsky moving left to right and put the puck in short side to give the Flyers a one goal lead just ten seconds into the period.
Seven minutes in the Panthers were taking advantage of a prolonged possession in the Flyers end, easily moving the puck around until Gustav Forsling fired a shot through traffic that beat Ersson glove-side tying the game at one. The Panthers almost took the lead on the power play moments later. Aleksander Barkov seemed to have a done deal slam dunk at the side of the net but Ersson made a remarkable pad save to keep the score knotted at one.
This game was a good test for the Flyers who do not have an easy schedule coming their way for the duration of the season. Going into the final period they were right there with the best. Florida had the better of the chances but on the scoreboard where it counts it was even.
3rd Period
The 3rd period started much like the 1st. Florida was spending a lot of time maintaining possession in the Flyers end. Tortorella did not shy away from using his young defensemen throughout the game. Halfway through the 3rd period in a tied game against the best team in the league Tortz had Attard and Ginning on the ice against Florida’s top line. And much to their credit they were getting the job done. Ginning had arguably the best hit of the game against Sam Reinhart. He totally leveled him coming up the boards and left him flat.
Late in the 3rd period Cam York blocked a shot that sent him directly up the tunnel putting even more strain on the Flyers defensive core. York did return to action before the end of the game but remember Seeler returned to the Tampa game as well.
Next goal wins
During the final five minutes of regulation both teams passionately battled for the go ahead goal. Both Ersson and Bobrovsky faced a number of challenging chances. The Panthers end of the ice was littered with abandoned sticks as the Flyers attempted again and again to break the tie. Things were a bit chaotic at both ends of the ice. With 21.3 seconds left in the game Marc Staal took a shot from the point. Bobrovsky made the initial save. The rebound went to Garnet Hathaway at the side of the net. Hathaway moved the puck around Bobrovsky and passed a diving Brandon Montour to score the game winning goal. Flyers beat Panthers, final score 2-1.
Extra Credit: This goal was huge. This game was huge. The Panthers are not missing a single player from their line-up. The Flyers are filling out their roster anyway they need to, including utilizing two defensemen who had not played a single NHL game yet this season. The Flyers under John Tortorella are a really good hockey team. Good teams can be full of surprises.
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