Photo Credits: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
Less than a week ago the Flyers got clobbered 6-2 at home by the Maple Leafs. The Philadelphia hockey club seems to have hit a rough patch just when the playoff race is heating up. They have dropped three of their last four games and have given up 21 goals over that span. The Flyers 35-26-8 are still hanging onto 3rd place in the Metro. The Caps have passed the Islanders and are now just three points behind the Flyers.
Coach John Tortorella has healthy scratched some veterans for this game. Cam Atkinson, Marc Staal, and most surprisingly new captain Sean Couturier. The Flyers need to turn things around and this shake-up is a real attention getter. It doesn’t matter who you are, produce or sit. Samuel Ersson gets the start after getting rocked by these same Leafs in their last match up.
Philly vs Toronto
Everyone can agree the Flyers needed to come out strong and strike quick. They certainly did both of those things. Cam York passed the puck off to Owen Tippet along the side boards. Tippet skated to the top of the circle and let go of a shot that went through traffic and passed Toronto goaltender Ilya Samsonov. Morgan Frost set up the screen and 0:19 into the game the Flyers were up 1-0.
The Flyers looked much more disciplined tonight. They had a good solid pace going as well. Bobby Brink in particular went through his first shift like he had been shot out of a cannon. The Flyers were sending a clear message to the Leafs very early into this game. Nick Deslauriers and Ryan Reaves squared off less than five minutes in. This was not going to be a repeat of last week’s game where the Flyers looked out of synch and somewhat disengaged.
Samuel Ersson also entered this contest looking a whole lot more like his regular self. He made a confident glove save on Tyler Bertuzzi followed by a save on a blistering shot from Simon Benoit. Both teams were enjoying the physical aspect of the game. The Flyers were standing up the Leafs at the blue line and making clean entries difficult. The home team was proving their point and headed into the first intermission up 1-0.
Early and often
The 2nd period started in a similar fashion to the 1st. Garnet Hathaway made a cross ice pass to Travis Sanheim. Sanheim hung onto the puck waiting for traffic to materialize then fired a wrist shot past Samsonov 0.56 into the 2nd period.
Moments later Cam York broke up a dangerous 2 on 1 rush by Auston Matthews and Max Domi. Both teams were getting their share of chances at both ends of the ice. The Flyers again were making it difficult for the Leafs. During the 1st period they were breaking the Leafs up at the blue line before they entered the Flyers zone. They were breaking them up all the way back at the red line during the 2nd period.
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Ersson made a huge save on Bobby McMann on a breakaway. A Leafs goal at that juncture could have really changed the personality of this game. Instead the next goal again belonged to the Flyers. Ryan Poehling was stuck in the right corner of the the Leafs zone. The puck would not lay down and behave so that he could control it. It was a struggle that ended with the Puck bouncing back to Ronnie Attard at the point. Attard dished it off to Morgan Frost who carried it to the middle and fired a wrister from the high slot that found the back of the net. The Flyers were two periods in against a team that dominated them just days ago and up 3-0.
20 minutes to go
The Flyers had the lead and one period left to burn but the Leafs were not going to go quietly. William Nylander scored on a shot from the dot on the power-play at 1:11 of the 3rd period. The Flyers were playing hard disciplined hockey but the Leafs kept coming at them. Matthews hit a post at 12:13, then two minutes later Bertuzzi cut the lead to one goal.
After that goal the Leafs saw blood in the water and they were swarming at times in the Flyers end. Toronto had multiple chances on a power-play but Ersson held tight.
Scott Laughton scored a huge goal with seven minutes left in regulation. Laughton was powering the puck into the Toronto zone but he was about to run out of room. He spun around on the defender still approaching the net skating backwards. He backhanded a pass to Owen Tippett. Tippett fired the puck Samsonov made the save. Tippett picked up his own rebound behind the net. He fed the puck back out front to Laughton who fired it past Samsonov who was still trying to recover from the initial shot. It was a beautiful goal fueled by pure determination and skill.
Final push
With about two and a half minutes left and the Flyers now up 4-2 Toronto pulled the goalie to put an extra attacker on the ice. The move paid off when after a number of attempts John Tavares put the Leafs back to within one with 2:10 left to play. The Leafs kept pressure on in the Flyers zone up until the very end. The crowd voiced its approval as the Flyers cleared the zone with just seconds on the clock. Owen Tippett chased the puck the length of the ice and attempted a stuffer that went wide as the final buzzer sounded. Final score, Philadelphia 4 Toronto 3.
This was an important win for the Flyers. Their upcoming schedule is demanding and they needed a win against a quality team to set the tone and build the confidence. It’s officially Springtime and every point counts.
Next Up: The Flyers will play the Hurricanes in Carolina Thursday night 7pm.
