Date Published: 10-14-2022
Photo Credit: Steven M. Falk | Philadelphia Inquirer
The big night was finally here. John Tortorella’s Philadelphia Flyers era has begun and after a rigorous training camp, he finally had his opening night roster set in place. With the exception of some key injuries and some surprising cuts, the majority of the roster was set to go for game one and seemed to be younger than most expected. The fans showed up for this one, but not in the same numbers and enthusiasm of teams of the recent past. Understandably, fans are skeptical that this current Flyers leadership could turn around the product of last season so quickly. However, it’s clear to see with Tortorella’s loud ovation from the fanbase, they are desperate to buy what he was selling. And to be honest, it’s not a bad sell. The crowd was skeptical, but the team as clearly on a mission to change that in a hurry,
Overall, the first period actually went better than most first games of the past. The Flyers did not come out slow and even though they gave up a the first goal and a slew of bad penalties. They responded aggressively to every mistake they made. Never once allowing the weight of the past hold them back from pushing forward. If fans are being honest, by the end of that period, the building was buzzing with an energy level that no one expect. There was a semblance of hope, of glory, and a whisper of, maybe Tortorella can pull this off. The Flyers fell into some bad habits, but again never broke. They made some good plays offensively, but gave up way too many breaks going the other way that could have been avoided. Discipline has always been an issue and this period was no different. However, un-like last season the penalty killing held up decently well and managed to only give up one savable goal leading up to this point. A goal that Hart probably would have liked to have back. However, the team consistently responded and where they would have felt the weight of their mistakes last season, this time they attacked them.
The second period started off slow, but not that was not a bad thing considering the Flyers had a sloppy first period. Things escalated quickly as the Flyers were able to score back to back goals by Travis Konecny and Moran Frost just seconds apart to suddenly break out of the game and take a 3-1 lead. The Flyers let the Devils know that they weren’t making out of this one without fighting for every inch. At this point, Carter Hart found his mojo and proceeded to stop a bevy of opportunities. The New Jersey Devils persistently attacked the net as the Flyers looked to keep their opponent to the outside and clear the crease of secondary opportunities. When a hole opened up, Hart stood tall with no rebounds. That frustration carried the Flyers into the third period, where they did not fair well in the recent past.
The third period started off with a bang as Travis Konecny took over the early Power Play burying a clean shot from inside the slot to give the Flyers a 4-1 lead. After that, the Devils knew that they had to give it everything they had to crawl back into the game. And everything it was. The Devils proceeded to throw any shot within range at Hart. However, it didn’t do much to phase him and it seemed that every save he made, made him stronger. Another open net goal by Morgan Frost, for his second of the night, and the Flyers wrapped up one of their most successful home opener in recent history with a 5-2 win over their neighboring rivals. Funny considering the team had eight days off and no final roster in preseason, fans might have expected rust, but there wasn’t much. If this is a taste of what’s to come, then John Tortorella has already started winning this city over.
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Flyers Update:
Hayden Hodgson was placed on waivers with the intent of sending him back to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Torts said he had an okay camp, and expected more out of him. Hence the reason he didn’t get much playing time yesterday.
Linus Sandin cleared waivers, and went back to Sweden for personal reasons
