Date Published: 11-6-2022
Photo Credit Our very own Rob Windfelder
The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Ottawa Senators last night by the score of 2-1. Former Flyers’ Captain Claude Giroux played his first game against the organization that he represented for the first 1,000 games of his career. It took him all of two minutes and 44 seconds to net his 300th NHL goal…just to remind us of who he is, incase you forgot. Giroux looked good especially on the power play threading passes and creating chances just like you would expect him to. Wade Allison was the first Flyer to give Claude a reminder that he is on the other team now and no longer welcome in the Flyers crease. Life goes on, as it must.
This game was really fun to watch. It took the Flyers a little bit to catch up to the pace during the first period. The Senators took an early shot advantage and the lead but like everything else in this game the Flyers stepped up to match the pace and the scoring to eventually surpass Ottawa leaving them scrambling at times. Kevin Hayes had a nice deflection of a Tony DeAngelo shot on the power play tying the score at one. The 2nd period had a nice back and forth to it until the final moments when the Flyers just took over. They were swarming in the Ottawa end, the Flyers puck movement was fast and relentless leaving the Senators looking confused. Zack MacEwen scored a beautiful top shelf goal stick side to put the Flyers ahead 2-1 going into the third. MacEwen has been putting in the hard work and it is paying off for him. He has been seeing ice time during key situations including the power play. The final period started with continued momentum in favor of the Flyers, although the scoring was over for the night. Carter Hart played a huge game especially down the stretch. Strong goaltending and a number of blocked shots kept the Senators at bay. Hart is undefeated in regulation so far this year. He has been a major factor in the overall teams’ success.
The Flyers under Head Coach John Tortorella are a work in progress. They sometimes remind me of my dog when he was a pup. That is not an insult I think the world of my dog (stick with me for a minute). My dog had growth spurts where it seemed like all his parts were growing at a different rate of speed. He had clumsy episodes adjusting to his new size and strength until things eventually evened out. His tiny teeth fell out and the new ones looked like he was wearing someone else’s dentures…you get the picture. A hockey team is made up of thousands of different moving parts. Getting them all moving together at a high rate of speed in a productive manner is a herculean task. I do not believe Tortorella is bluffing or biding his time. We’ve all seen coaches go game to game making little adjustments to get through the night and eventually in the big picture it gets you nowhere. I believe Tortorella has a vision for this team and a plan of how to get there. Plans take a bit of time and a lot of hard work to come to fruition. I think it is an easy argument to make that this team is headed in the right direction.
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Fortunately, the Flyers are exceeding expectations so far this season. Some of it has not been real pretty, but they are getting it done on more nights than they are not. Their last win against the Florida Panthers they allowed 51 shots on goal, but came away with the most important two points. There are times where they go from looking like a solid defensive team to allowing odd man rushes that seem to materialize out of nowhere. Sometimes the whole thing just temporarily falls apart. Tortorella is looking at the big picture, keeping things in perspective, and always pulling it back together and moving forward. The team looks committed to the system and to each other. The Flyers are drilling at an accelerated rate of speed, at the end of the second period last night that high speed puck movement was put into play and it was something to watch. Tortorella often speaks of “scoring by committee” everything the Flyers have to do to be successful this season is going to have to be done by committee. They are not a team that has been assembled around a couple big stars who are expected to do all the heavy lifting. They are a team. Out of necessity they are learning to play like a team, and a really good team can go pretty far.
