Photo Credit: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
Early goal
Bobby Brink had an excellent first shift. Right from the opening faceoff he was on the puck relentlessly in the Vegas zone. Staying with it and on it he battled along the right side boards until he moved the puck to to Noah Cates at the side of the Knights net. With Vegas goaltender Ilya Samsonov hugging the short side Cates artfully found a razor thin route through traffic passing the puck to Tyson Foerster who had the whole left hand side of the net to shoot at. Foerster scored his 11th goal of the season to put the Flyers on the board 21 seconds into the game.
The Flyers took the lead before the game even found it’s rhythm. Both teams were moving the puck well and feeling each other out. There was no whistle for the next five minutes while things settled in. Vegas (25-9-3) won the last meeting between these two teams in the shootout. The Flyers were skating right there with them at the start of this one.
Flyers goaltender Aleksei Kolosov looked sharp keeping the Knights at bay even though shots in the opening period were few and far between. Ivan Fedotov was dressed and on the bench. Samuel Ersson is unavailable for now. He left his last start after the 2nd period with a lower body injury and is currently listed as day-to-day. Fedotov has not seen ice time during a game in almost a month.
P.K.
Ryan Poehling was called for a collision with the Vegas goaltender with three minutes left in the opening period. The Flyers penalty kill was all over the Golden boys. Vegas was having trouble just entering and staying in the Flyers zone. By the end of the period the Knights had just four shots on goal and the Flyers had maintained their one goal lead.
Early goals
The Golden Knights did not register a shot on goal for almost the last nine minutes of the 1st period. That changed very quickly at the top of the 2nd, and so did the score.
Just 51 seconds into the period Jack Eichel intercepted a pass in his own zone and carried the puck the length of the ice. He fired a backhander from the slot. Mark Stone deflected it past Kolosov.
On the very next shot 1:22 later Nicolas Hague wrapped the puck around behind the Flyers net. Kolosov hesitated getting to the far post as Hague quickly tucked it in. Two shots and 2:13 into the period Vegas had overturned the 1st period and taken the lead 2-1. Whatever was said in the Knights locker room between periods must have been very inspirational …or totally humiliating.
Hathaway
Garnet Hathaway is pesky and unrelenting. He has to be so annoying to play against. He gets himself right into the play keeps the opponent from organizing. He hits everything that moves. He had some real standout shifts in this game. He shows up every night and isn’t afraid to put in the hard work. He leads the NHL in hits over the last three seasons. You may not notice him all the time but I can guarantee you the other team does.
The Flyers starting looking penetrable by the end of the period. Vegas was entering and swarming as the Flyers looked a step behind, chasing the play and not quite able to catch up. With just under two minutes to go Pavel Dorofeyev smacked one off the post from the left circle. The Flyers were scrambling and the Knights came up with the puck and fed it back to Dorofeyev. This time in the right circle where he snapped it past Kolosov to send this game into the second intermission with the Knights holding a two goal lead 3-1.
Early goal
In keeping with the theme of the night the Knights scored again just 2:46 into the 3rd period. Alexander Holtz fired the puck around Jamie Drysdale in the slot and past Kolosov high glove side. 4-1.
Tyson Foerster was mugged on the way to the net giving the Flyers their first man advantage of the night. Travis Konecny scored on power-play. Tippett to Frost to Konecny who wristed it past the Vegas netminder from the circle 4:56 into the 3rd period. 4-2
Running on empty
The Flyers were not able to match the energy of the Golden Knights during the second half of the final period. Perhaps the schedule is catching up to them but they lacked the fuel to mount a comeback. At 2:52 they pulled Kolosov for the extra attacker and were playing dump and chase with the empty net behind them.
Tanner Pearson put the weary Flyers to bed by scoring on the empty net. Jamie Drysdale watched like a spectator as Pearson beat him to the puck and fired it home with 34 seconds left in regulation. 5-2 Vegas.
Finish line
The Flyers have one more game left in their five game annual holiday road trip. Getting closer to home they have a couple days to rest up in Toronto before facing the Leafs on Sunday night at 7:00 PM. The Flyers next home game is this coming Tuesday against the same Toronto Maple Leafs. So it is a little home-and-home series that could build up to become some fun hockey to watch. Hopefully what happened in Vegas can stay in Vegas.
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