Photo Credits: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
The Flyers had the edge coming into Sunday afternoon’s matinee game against the Ottawa Senators. The Sens are holding down last place in the Atlantic Division at 16-24-1. Their recent record on the road has been abysmal. On the other hand the upstart Flyers came in to today 25-15-6 and only two points out of first place in the Metropolitan Division. Owen Tippett was not on the roster for today’s game. He left yesterday’s loss to the Avalanche with a lower body injury after going down awkwardly. He did skate Sunday morning which could be a good sign.
Philadelphia vs Ottawa
One of the most notable things about the tone of this game right from the get-go was the checking. Both teams seemed totally open to accepting the opportunities when they arose to line somebody up and follow through with the contact. Things were escalating quickly as Travis Konecny absolute creamed a Senator behind the net. Sean Couturier was taking a few extra digs at the puck after it was frozen by the Ottawa goaltender Mads Sogaard when the first pile-up of the match ensued.
On the rebound
Samuel Ersson got the start in net for the Flyers today. He was tested and looked sharp early on. A confident Ersson can be a huge asset to his team. He was making the key stops and his rebound control was precise. Speaking of rebounds… Egor Zamula scored the first goal of the game at 11:57 into the 1st period with the Flyers on the power play. Cam York dished the puck to Joel Farabee who took a shot from the right circle. Sens netminder Mads Sogaard seemed to think he had control of the puck somewhere in his equipment as did almost every other player on the ice. He was on his knees at the far right side of the net and was quickly being surrounded by both teams.
In actuality the puck went straight up in the air when Sogaard stopped the initial shot. It took quite some time for the puck to drop back down to the ice giving the impression that Sogaard had swallowed it up. The puck magically dropped out of the sky, Zamula seemed to be one of the only people in the building who realized the play was not dead, he fired the puck into the wide open net and the light went on. Egor pulled off his glove and saluted the crowd.
“Z”
Less than five minutes later it was Zamula again. Farabee hit Zamula with a pass in the slot. Zamula fired a blistering wrist that beat Sogaard glove side. The Flyers were up two to nothing going into the 1st intermission.
Former Flyer Zack MacEwen scored just over four minutes into the 2nd period. Ice hockey is a fast sport that can turn on you in a flash. Egor Zamula ended the 1st period looking for the hattrick and started the 3rd flubbing a pass to him at the point. As he was trying to find and control the puck MacEwen picked his pocket as he blew by him and went in on a breakaway on Ersson. Zack cleanly beat the Flyers goaltender high glove side cutting the Philadelphia lead in half.
Joel Farabee scored the team’s second power-play goal of the game at 10:50 of the 2nd to put the Flyers up 3-1. Farabee has been on a roll as of late. He is currently on a six game point streak. The primary assist went to none other than Egor Zamula.
Giving it right back
This is where the momentum started to slip away from the Flyers. If they could have sat on this lead for a bit or better yet added one more goal it could have solidified the afternoon for them. Instead under a minute later Tim Stutzle was given credit for a goal that came out of a scrum in front of the Flyers net on a delayed penalty call.
Any Flyers playing the puck would have called a whistle but the puck made its way through the mess and into the Flyers net. By the end of the 2nd period the Senators had taken the lead in shots on goal and were just one tally behind on the scoreboard.
“G”
Former Flyer Captain Claude Giroux scored just 3:19 into the 3rd period tying the score at three. Giroux and Sean Couturier were both going for a Brady Tkachuk rebound. Giroux came up with the puck and tucked it behind Ersson.
The Flyers did just play a game the afternoon before and that was starting to show. Ottawa was winning races to the puck and getting chances. Samuel Ersson made a number of highlight reel saves as the defense was wearing thin. Ersson was keeping them at bay until Vladimir Tarasenko finished up a 2-on-1 with Mathieu Joseph.
The Flyers had been swarming in the Ottawa zone just before the goal. Cam Atkinson was stoned on a breakaway and the Flyers kept the pressure on in the offensive zone. They mounted a number of chances before a Nick Seeler pass was picked off at the blue line leading to the successful Senators rush. Ottawa now had their first lead of the game 4-3.
Out of reach
In the final minutes Ottawa was not giving the Flyers an inch. Once the Flyers finally had the opportunity to pull Ersson in lieu of the extra attacker the Senators took quick advantage of the open net. Tim Stutzle beat Zamula to the puck and put this game away. Final score 5-3 Senators.
Ottawa played a good game. They did not get rattled when the Flyers had a two goal lead halfway through. They were deliberate and disciplined and kept the Flyers from pulling off their stretch style game that has been so successful for them this season.
A big part of the current Philly style game includes big breakout passes through the neutral zone. Moving the puck from blue line to blue line in an instant often catching their opponents off guard, This has lead to a lot of odd man rushes and short handed goals. The Senators did an efficient job of removing this element from the Flyers game almost entirely.
Next Up: Tuesday night Flyers in Tampa to faceoff against the Lightning at 7PM.
