Holy cow what a shaky start. Fresh off a convincing 6-0 win against the Ducks on Saturday the Flyers hosted one of the better teams in the NHL Monday night. The Florida Panthers (25-15-3) currently own 2nd place in the Atlantic Division. By the end of the 1st period it looked like it might be a long night for the Orange and Black.
It all started during a Flyers power-play 7:59 into the 1st period. Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky had just made a couple big saves on a rush by Sean Couturier and Olle Lycksell. Shortly thereafter the Flyers picked up the man advantage. Sam Reinhart gained control of the puck at center ice and went streaking into the Flyers zone.
Reinhart pushed his way through Travis Konecny then negated the outstretched stick of Jamie Drysdale before lifting the puck up and over Flyers netminder Samuel Ersson. With two men back Ersson seemed to put himself down and out way before he needed to leaving Reinhart plenty to shoot at. It was an unassisted short-handed goal.
Just 1:35 later Uvis Balinkskis fired a shot from the top of the circle. It was an innocent looking attempt that went through the legs of Cam York on its way to Ersson who did not get his pad down to the ice in time to stop it.
Ersson who recorded the shutout on Saturday was having a rough go at the beginning of this contest. Things were going better as the night went on and he was starting to solidify as the 1st period came to an end. There was no shortage of Panthers in the dangerous areas and they were moving the puck well. Also with Sergei Bobrovsky in the other net this was not the night for Ersson to be shaky with the puck.
Where there’s a will there’s a Hathaway
During the intermission Flyers head coach John Tortorella told his players they needed to get “involved” in this game. Garnet Hathaway must have taken his coach’s words to hart. The Flyers played a strong 2nd period outshooting Florida 14-6. Hathaway set the tone with a check he put on Niko Mikkola. Hathaway cleanly steamrolled Mikkola who went flying. It was like something out of a cartoon.
Then 7:51 into the period Hathaway scored an unassisted goal to put the Flyers on the board. He was storming up along the right side boards with the puck. He threw what looked like a pass to Ryan Poehling who was charging the net. The puck must have hit Bobrovsky and got behind him. Originally Poehling was credited with the goal but he never actually touched the puck.
The Flyers held their own for the rest of the middle period. They were within a goal trailing 2-1. Their goaltender had settled in. And the whole complexion of the game was starting to change.
Philadelphia tied the score at two early in the 3rd period. The Flyers were battling along the boards deep in the Florida zone. Bobby Brink came up with the puck and passed it to Rasmus Ristolainen at the point. Risto sent the puck cross ice to Travis Sanheim who fired a clapper. Bobrovsky made the save at the right post. The rebound went to Noah Cates on the doorstep. Cates fired the puck into the open side of the net. 2-2.
Give it back
Just 1:34 later Sam Reinhart scored his second goal of the night. It was a sharp wrist shot from the slot on the power-play. 3-2 Florida.
Moments later the Flyers would get their own power-play opportunity. With the man advantage Jamie Drysdale moved a shot, maybe a pass to the right hand side of the net. Matvei Michkov was there in his office at the right post. He was already behind the net so he tapped the puck to Morgan Frost in front who pushed it home tying the score at three.
With 5:51 left in regulation Noah Cates scored his second goal of the night and it was a real beauty. Egor Zamula sprung Cates through the neutral zone with a pass. Aleksander Barkov took a poke at the puck which caused it to become airborne. Cates kept charging ahead snagging the puck out of the air with his glove and pushing it forward without losing momentum. Bobby Brink skated right along with him keeping Florida’s defenders from catching Cates from behind. Cates put a back-hander over the glove of Bobrovsky to score what would prove to be the game winning goal.
The Panthers were not done. With their goaltender pulled they created a number of chances in the Flyers end. The Flyers could not clear the zone. Frost made a dangerous turnover that led to a cluster of saves by Ersson. He made four saves in a row at point blank range. The final one a diving blocker save at the side of the net that sent his stick flying. Ersson and the Flyers managed to hold onto the one goal lead and beat the mighty Panthers by the score of 4-3.
Next Up: The Flyers are right back at it again Tuesday night when they faceoff against the Blue Jackets in Columbus at 7:00 PM.
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