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Photo credit: NHL.com
The Flyers (21-20-6) welcomed the Detroit Red Wings (21-21-4) to the Wells Fargo Center for the second time this season. It’s their third and final matchup with Detroit this season with each team splitting the first two games of the season series. The rubber match included the NHL debut of 29-year-old Flyers forward Rodrigo Ābols, who was in the lineup for Scott Laughton. Laughton was ruled out earlier in the day due to a personal matter. Ersson got the start in net for the Flyers and Alex Lyon got the nod for the Red Wings.
First Period
The first period flew by as both teams played a clean period with multiple scoring chances. Ersson and Lyon both played well and negated any scoring from either side. For the Flyers, Matvei Michkov played a solid first period and had two scoring chances that were turned away. Despite no scoring, it was a positive period for the Flyers as they played well on both ends of the ice.
Second Period
With 14:39 left in the period, Joel Farabee put the Flyers on the board with his 7th goal of the season. Farabee took a pass from Sean Couturier and backhanded the puck up and over the goaltender giving the Flyers a 1-0 lead. For Farabee it’s his first goal since being a healthy scratch last week.
With 5:55 left the Flyers got their first power play opportunity of the game. The power play would generate a couple of chances but resulted in no goals for the Flyers.
The Red Wings played well in the second period, trapping the Flyers in their zone a couple of times. Ersson made saves when he needed to, keeping the 1-0 lead as we headed into the third period.
Third Period
30 seconds into the third period the Flyers 1-0 lead was erased. Ben Chariot scored his second goal of the season tying the game up at 1-1. A missed slashing call on the Red Wings helped set up the goal. Nonetheless, we had a 1-1 game with nearly a whole period left to play.
The rest of the period included a flurry of offensive chances but yielded no goals. Both teams had chances to break the tie but great goaltending from both sides kept the game tied. After 60 minutes of play, the score remained 1-1 as we headed to overtime.
Overtime
With 30 seconds left in the overtime period, Morgan Frost found Owen Tippett who deflected the puck on net. Rasmus Ristolainen would end up pushing the puck completely over the line giving him his second goal of the season and the Flyers a 2-1 victory. It is Ristolainen’s fifth career overtime winner and would help the Flyers extend their point streak to six games.
Flyers Stay Hot
The Flyers improved to 5-0-1 over their last six games bringing their point total to 50 with 48 games played. That puts them two points out of a wildcard spot with nearly the entire eastern conference still in the mix. The race for the final two spots will be closer than we have ever seen. It should be interesting to see who sells at the deadline and who the buyers will be considering how many teams are still fighting for those last playoffs spots.
Overall the Flyers played a solid game on both ends. Sam Ersson was great stopping 27/28 shots and making some crucial saves in the third period to help the Flyers keep it tied. It was nice to see Joel Farabee put one in the back of the net and remain hot since his benching a few games ago. This Flyers team has been playing their best hockey of the season at a time when their schedule gave them a January filled with Metropolitan division opponents.
The Flyers will look to keep the momentum going against the Rangers in New York on Thursday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
