Photo Credits: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
The Flyers looked primed and ready to go last night against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Philadelphia came into this game with a better record and also having beat the Pens the first two times they met this season. The Wells Fargo Center has slowly been getting back to normal, the seats are filling up, and the Flyers Fans seem to be enjoying this new era of orange. Last night looked like a great night for the team to build on their victory over Calgary this past Saturday. Looks can be deceiving sometimes.
Philly vs Pittsburgh
Twenty-eight seconds in Sean Couturier was called for a tripping penalty. The Penguins pulled off a tic tac toe right in front of the Flyers net. Evgeni Malkin with the back-hand pass across the Flyers crease to Richard Rakell who tapped it into the gaping net. The Flyers were down by a goal forty-five seconds into the contest.
Breaking News
Neither team was really putting on a clinic in disciplined hockey. There was sloppy play at both ends of the ice but Pittsburgh was showing flashes of sharpness. Their passing plays were cutting right through the Flyers defense. There were a few times when the Pens had Carter Hart all but hung out to dry only to flub the finish. Then a buzz started running through the Press Box.
At first I thought maybe a major tragedy had taken place. You are expected to keep quiet and not react to things in the box but you could tell something big was going down. A colleague showed me his phone. The Flyers had just traded Cutter Gauthier. It seemed like a gag or a post from a parody site. This is pretty big news to break so late in the evening in the middle of a game. Quickly confirmation started rolling in.
The Flyers had traded Cutter Gauthier to the Ducks for defenseman Jamie Drysdale and a 2nd round pick in 2025. Many were expecting Gauthier to be a key component in the Flyers rebuild so the news was pretty shocking.
Game on
The game went on despite the distraction and things were not getting much better on the ice. The Flyers were taking penalties and playing a disconnected game. Erik Karlsson scored the Penguins second goal of the game. He threw a lazy wrist shot through a ton of traffic that eluded Carter Hart.
Owen Tippett scored a power-play goal with just over five minutes left in the 1st period and it looked like the Flyers may be climbing back. Again, looks can be deceiving.
Danny Briere
In between periods Flyers General Manager Danny Briere addressed the press about the Gauthier situation. It was an impromptu session by the lounge area in the press level between the elevators and the coffee machines.
Briere said of Gauthier, “He looked at us at the draft and told us that he was built to be a Flyer, wanted to be a Flyer. A few months later, he told us that he didn’t want to be a Flyer,” The night was full of talk and speculation. Kevin Hayes’s name kept coming up since him and Gauthier are tight. Hayes later referred to those bringing up that connection as “clowns”. Hayes’s exit from the Flyers was not under ideal circumstances and it doesn’t seem like a stretch to imagine that may have come up in conversation.
The event had taken the main stage. The Flyers were floundering against the Penguins and the focus shifted to the big picture and the future of the team. Flyers President Keith Jones had this to say. “He told us he didn’t want to be a Flyer. If you don’t want to be a Flyer, then you’re not going to be a Flyer,” And lastly from Head Coach John Tortorella, ““I don’t know Cutter from a hole in the wall, so I’m not so interested in talking about him.”
Penalties
Back on the ice the game kept devolving. Many penalties were being called and overlooked with no rhyme or reason which lead to bouts of mayhem breaking out. Everything was a bit out of sorts the entire game. Carter Hart was making some saves he absolutely should not have been able to make. At one point he made two incredible saves against Drew O’Connor. Stopping the initial drive and then a rebound that had goal written all over it.
The shots that did go in the net seemed less challenging than the ones that didn’t. Chad Ruhwedel scored one in the 2nd and Malkin capped off the scoring in the 3rd. The Penguins had the Flyers chasing the puck all night long. The Flyers had a scramble to their game that they just couldn’t shake off. It was not a great example of hockey excellence for either team or the officials. The calls on the ice did not dictate the outcome of the game but they did add to the frustration and ensuing chippiness for both squads.
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Penguins win 4-1. Next up the Montreal Canadiens come to Philadelphia Wednesday night 7pm. Perhaps we will get a look at the Flyers newest defensemen Jamie Drysdale.
Extra Credit: In my humble opinion, I was already uncomfortable when Cutter Gauthier did not take part in Camp this year. We were told not to read into it but how could you not? Second: every time I would see polished production videos of his college highlights or his photo shoots I questioned how this was all going to fit together. The Flyers are building a team. Every member of the team is held to the same standard. To get with the system and work it. The more I saw of Gauthier the more it looked like the combination may become a train wreck. As it turned out the train never even got to leave the station.
