Photo Credit: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
As the puck dropped for the opening faceoff at the Wells Fargo Center in Philly the crowd erupted into a frenzy that seemed wildly out of place. Until you realized Nick Deslauriers and Patrick Maroon were squared off and going toe to toe. D-Low ended up on top much to the approval of the fans. Both he and Maroon got five for fighting. Time of the penalties 0:02. …Off to a good start.
Good Hockey
The Flyers took on the Minnesota Wild tonight and the game was full of surprises. The Flyers in general are full of surprises so far. Much has been made of the dreadful rebuild year that was to come and so far it has been nothing of the sort. The rebuilding Philadelphia Flyers are actually interesting and for the most part really fun to watch. Tonight was no exception.
They move the puck well, their passes are crisp, and they are playing like a team. The top line of Owen Tippet, Sean Couturier, and Cam Atkinson seem to instinctively find each other on the ice. It is not dump and chase hockey. They are finding creative ways to enter the zone with the puck and get high percentage shots on the net. Coach John Tortorella has to get credit for the way his team has been playing. It is a different approach than we’ve become accustomed to and it is good hockey.
Pleasant surprises
Travis Konecny opened the scoring for the night with a quick wrister from the top of the circle that beat Wild goalie Filip Fustavsson high over the shoulder far side. Konecny evolved into a prolific scorer last year and he is continuing the trend. This was his sixth goal of the season.
The biggest surprise tonight was the Flyers starting the 2nd period with two power-play goals in a matter of minutes. Sean Couturier put in the extra effort to work one in down low. Then Coots had the primary assist on Bobby Brink’s first NHL goal. Couturier attempted a pass from behind the net that hit the referee in the skate and the puck went right to Brink who put it in. Brink earned a spot on the team straight out of camp and has been proving that it was not a mistake to give him that spot on the roster.
The Flyers rode their 2-0 lead through the 2nd period. They were outshooting Minnesota 25-13, The Flyers did a great job of keeping Minnesota shooting from the perimeter or at bad angles with Carter Hart already in position to make the save. The few dangerous chances they did get were snuffed out by Hart who again looked sharp in the Flyers net.
The Wild make a push
The Wild seemed to switch up their game plan a bit in the 3rd. They were making shorter more direct passes in the Flyers end and stunned with back to back goals to open the period. That old sinking feeling came creeping back that this game was about to slip away. We’ve seen it happen way too many times.
Owen Tippett scored his first goal of the season on a break-away 6:34 into the 3rd. It was a much bigger goal than the final score might lead you to believe. The Wild were swarming and their attacks were successful. Tippett’s goal put an end to the momentum shift.
Bobby Brink scored his second NHL goal at 11:02 making it 5-2. Travis Sanheim scored moments later giving the Flyers a four goal cushion and a big win.
On the Brink
The Flyers went on a power play with just a few minutes left in the game. Brink who has been spending a lot of time on the power play was on the ice looking for the hat-trick. At one point he skated to the bench to end his shift and the bench waived him away. He got a couple chances but tonight he had to settle for two goals and I am pretty sure he is pretty happy with that. He sure looked happy.
The crowd was on its feet as time ran out and the Rick Flair “woo”s could be heard echoing through the parking lot as the Flyers Fans filed out. Everyone was leaving in a good mood. It is very early in the season but so far the Flyers are proving a whole lot of people wrong.
Question: Wouldn’t you think it might be difficult to sneak a ventriloquist dummy into the arena and sit right behind the Flyers coach with it all night? Remember letting security check under your hat on the way in? The dummy had his own top hat on for crying out loud! Too funny.
