This was a major step for the Philadelphia Flyers. This team never stopped believing in themselves. Better yet they never stopped believing in each other. They listened to so much nay saying and trash talking and they absolutely refused to buy into it. They remained focused on the challenge at hand and took things one game at a time.
They didn’t care if they were scoffed at or talked down, they repeated over and over, “we believe in this group we believe in this room”. This team always believed that they could be the first Flyers line-up to make it to the post season since 2020, and guess what? They were right the entire time.
The Flyers came into Monday night’s game against against the Carolina Hurricanes needing just two points over the next two games to hang onto 3rd place in the Metropolitan Division qualifying them for a playoff berth.
The Flyers will play the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night so they had a built in mulligan just in case tonight didn’t work out. They could have lost both games in the shootout and still accomplished their mission.
Fortunately it was much more exciting than that. In dramatic fashion the Flyers defeated the 1st place Hurricanes in the shootout much to the delight of their fans. The celebration as Dan Vladar made the final save was epic on both sides of the glass.
Philly vs Carolina
To be honest this game started out with the Flyers not looking incredibly sure of themselves. They seemed tentative and a bit jittery. Their passes weren’t crisp, there were giveaways and missteps. Soft passes traveled slowly through dangerous areas on the ice. It was uncomfortable to watch at times. Everyone in the building knew just how important this game was.
Carolina having already clinched the #1 seed in the East sat many of their key players. Rod Brind’Amour’s team plays a tight system. The Hurricanes looked just fine without their stars. They still functioned as a well oiled machine. While doing so they took a two goal lead in the 1st period.
The Flyers weren’t doing an effective job of clearing the area in front of their own net. Nikolaj Ehlers threw a pass from behind the net to Bradly Nadeau who was all alone on the doorstep. Nadeau fired a wrist shot past Dan Vladar to get the Canes on the board 8:41 into the opening period.
The Flyers gave up a power-play goal with 4:30 remaining in the period. Logan Stankoven sent a pass across the slot to Nikolaj Ehlers who fired it home from the side of the net. The Flyers went up the tunnel for the 1st intermission to a chorus of boos.
Comeback
Denver Barkey had a noticeably strong game. He was relentless with the puck making good decisions in tight spaces. Barkey made a beautiful precision pass cross ice through traffic to Matvei Michkov. Michkov fired a wrister from the left circle that beat Brandon Bussi cutting the Canes lead in half 7:57 into the 2nd period.
That goal woke the building up and blew the roof off the place. The arena has not been that loud in years, and it kept swelling and getting louder. Michkov has 8 points in his last 6 games.
Moments later 10:30 into the middle period Tyson Foerster moved the puck off the side boards to Porter Martone. Martone sent a pass to Trevor Zegras at the side of the net. It appeared that Zegras may have already had an angle on the netminder. He held the puck and skated to a more centered position and snapped the puck into the net tying the game at two.
Martone now has 8 points in his first 8 NHL games. Zegras has 13 points in his last 13 games. The secondary assist was Foerster’s 100th NHL point.
The Flyers went up the tunnel for the 2nd intermission to a huge round of applause.
Holding on
There was no more scoring for the rest of regulation. The Flyers were holding a decisive lead in faceoffs and hits but Carolina was controlling much of the play. The Hurricanes coverage was impressive. They were everywhere. On more than one occasion I found myself quickly counting light and dark jerseys to make sure it was even strength.
The Flyers were getting bottled up in their own end and many breakouts were nothing more than an opportunity to dump the puck and get a line change. The Flyers and Dan Vladar hung in there keeping the Canes at bay with the score tied at two.
When time ran out the Flyers earned one point which eliminated the Columbus Blue Jackets from post season contention.
The overtime was also not enough to settle the score. After 65 minutes this contest was going to be settled with a shootout.
Shootout
The Flyers started with the big three, Zegras, Michkov, and Konecny. Brandon Bussi held tight. Tyson Foerster finally put a puck behind him. Dan Vladar was perfect in the shootout. Every shooter was a challenge, Vladar was spectacular. His final save eliminated the Washington Capitals from playoff contention.
After making the game winning save he raised his arms in the crease and the party came to him. Flyers Fans were roaring as the scoreboard flashed “Flyers Clinch”. Fans were still in the parking lots enjoying the experience long after the game had ended.
There are so many great life lessons hidden inside the great sport of ice hockey. This Flyers team just reenforced several of them. They believed in each other, worked hard, never gave up, and totally beat the odds.
How will they do in the Stanly Cup Playoffs? If we’ve learned anything from the regular season we’ll just watch the games and see how it all plays out.
Check out our Flyers Nitty Gritty Store
Cool Matvei Michkov merchandise
About Author
