Date Published: 10-16-2022
Photo Credit: Laurence Kesterson, Associated Press
Saturday evening, while the Phillies punched their ticket to the NLCS for the first time since 2010, the Flyers had a game of their own. Understandably, the arena was not packed, but the lack of fan support for this team will be one of the constants throughout the season. Ultimately, however, the Flyers took care of business at home against the Canucks.
Tony DeAngelo opened the scoring for the Flyers, after they were already in a 2-0 deficit. His goal came on the Power Play. Scott Laughton followed suit on a shorthanded breakaway to tie the game, and Travis Konecny literally “tucked” the game away with his goal late in the third.
Carter Hart started in net for the Flyers. He stopped 27/29 shots and was not sharp during the first period. On Thursday, Hart was solid in net. Throughout the season, the Flyers are going to need him to be someone they can really rely on because they won’t be lighting up the scoreboard.
In the first period, the Flyers were 0/3 on the powerplay. They were ¼ overall, thanks to DeAngelo’s shot from the point.
DeAngelo scored his first goal as a Flyer on the team’s fifth powerplay of the game. It looked like it might have been deflected in front as James van Riemsdyk and Konecny both had their sticks out looking for a redirection, but it was credited to DeAngelo.
Hart was also better in the second period. He started with a fantastic save on a two-on-none opportunity for the Canucks. The puck was turned over right in front of him and he held his ground at the post, denying a 3-0 deficit.
With under two minutes remaining in the second period, Travis Konecny banked a pass out to Scott Laughton who capitalized on the shorthanded breakaway to tie the game at two. Konecny said postgame that he thought about trying to spring Laughton with a stretch pass but instead opted to bank it off the board. He also said Laughton made a great play to stay onside by circling into the zone and picking up the puck.
Despite being bottom-tier units in the league, the power play and penalty kill were able to not only get the Flyers on the board but also tie the game.
The Flyers went into the third period looking to pull ahead and make it a sweep for Philadelphia sports on the day. The comeback win made the city of Philadelphia 4-0 since Thursday night. The Eagles will try to make it 5-0 tonight against Dallas.
With a tick over six minutes remaining in regulation, Travis Konecny found himself in the right place at the right time as a blocked shot bounced right to him that he wrapped around Thatcher Demko. Provorov and DeAngelo got assists on the goal as that pair has looked very good together two games into the season.
A late penalty from Laughton and the Canucks having the goalie out resulted in a rocky ending, but Carter Hart and the Flyers held on. Overall, this team has looked solid through two games, but have a very tough test coming up with two games in Florida. They have a back to back beginning Tuesday in Tampa Bay to face the Lightning and then a quick turnaround for a game with the new-look Florida Panthers on Wednesday.
