You keep waiting for the Flyers to pull 60 minutes together and skate out of their own building with a win. It has to happen eventually right? Tonight they lost the 5th straight game of their 7 game homestand. And guess what? This is where the schedule starts to get tougher.
Twenty-Four seconds into this game Claude Giroux did what he does so well. He gets himself wide open in the slot. Accepts the puck, convincingly fakes the shot, and puts a perfect pass onto the stick of Brady Tkachuk who slams it home from the side of the net. That quick the Flyers are playing from behind yet again.
Giving it Back
This Flyers squad, even when it wasn’t so bare bones, has a bad habit of sagging right after clutch plays. Just over three minutes into the 2nd period Jamie Drysdale tied the game at one. Travis Konecny tapped the puck to Drysdale in the slot. Drysdale moved to the backhand and beat Ottawa goaltender Anton Forsberg with a shot that twisted and bounced into the net just out of reach.
This was a real shot in the arm for the Flyers and a chance to restart the game so to speak. That renewed energy lasted for all of one minute and nine seconds before Tyler Kleven beat Ivan Fedotov with a wrist shot from all the way back at the blue line.
The Flyers were mounting some really strong pressure during the 2nd period. Eventually Rodrigo Abols scored his 2nd goal of the season to tie the game at two. Again immediately after scoring the Flyers allowed Tkachuk to storm the net on a breakaway. Fedotov was able to make the save.
Ivan Fedotov
Fedotov had a strange night in net. He made several saves when you didn’t think he had a chance. And let a couple goals in that he really should have been able to handle. You can’t hang the blame on him though. Without the big saves this game would not have even been close.
The Flyers were sustaining pressure in the Ottawa zone pushing, pushing, and pushing until the Senators finally took a tripping penalty. The Flyers power-play got off and running with Matthew Highmore going in on a clean breakaway against Fedotov. Again Fedotov came up with the big save.
Later in the period Jamie Drysdale who was without his stick was forced to mug Tim Stutzle from behind as he took his turn in the breakaway derby. He still managed to get the shot off but Fedotov again made the stop.
The Flyers put forth a valiant effort killing the Drysdale penalty. But that sag kicked back in right after the penalty expired. Michael Amadio skated into the circle and just kind of threw a wrist shot into the net. The Flyers were leaving the 2nd period down by a goal. Just for good measure, before the period ended Ivan Fedotov stopped Dylan Cozens on yet another breakaway.
The Flyers were giving up pucks in the most dangerous areas all night long. Even Fedotov took a couple turns. A terrible turnover in the slot turned into Ottawa’s 4th goal. You can blame the 5th goal on the empty net. Final score Flyers 2 Senators 5.
Quick Hits
This was probably the best outing for the Flyers so far this homestand. They showed some real signs of life during this contest. Owen Tippett played a solid game. Nicolas Deslauriers was keeping things moving in front of the Senators net. D-low also had the best check of the night totally demolishing Artem Zub. We got to see another failed Michigan attempt. Tyson Forester created a number of solid chances and provided Anton Forsberg with his best save of the night when he robbed him with a glove save point blank.
Matthew Highmore may have had the 1# save of the game for Ottawa. It was a beautiful tic-tac-toe passing play by Philadelphia. Tippett was the tic. Michkov was the tac. And Highmore’s stick denied Coots on the toe. It looked like a done deal. The play was executed perfectly it just wasn’t meant to be.
Extra Credit: The Flyers are in a unique situation where the trade deadline has left them with a number of key subtractions and no additions coming before the end of the season. It just may be a bumpy road from here on out. Hopefully there will be a few surprises along the way.
Check out our Flyers Nitty Gritty Stor
I just hope they continue to lose. What a mess. We are 5 years away from 5 years away. To be fair, db is not exactly a pillar of strength as he screwed up his first 2 years. Let me remind everyone that the average gm tenure is 4.5 years now.
Personally, I am firing everyone and trading 20 players on this team.
Db you better get this draft right. Oh it’s a bad draft this year. Good luck!