The Philadelphia Flyers started up a three-game road trip Monday night as they traveled to Vegas to take on the Golden Knights. Sam Ersson got the start in net. Bobby Brink returned from injury and was inserted into the lineup. Nicolas Deslauriers and Nikita Grebenkin became healthy scratches. Lane Pederson made his Flyers debut as well. The Flyers six-game losing streak ended as they took down the Golden Knights in regulation by a final score of two-to-one. Travis Konecny scored both goals, and Ersson had the best game of the season. The orange and black improved to 23-17-8 on the season.
Konecny gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead at the 3:46 mark of the first period. Tomas Hertl turned the puck over to Konecny, which sent him on a breakaway. He finished with a wrist shot past the glove of Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill. The goal was unassisted.
The Golden Knights got the game’s first power play at the 10:28 mark of the first as Christian Dvorak got called for holding. Ersson made a big save on Hertl, and the Flyers were able to clear the puck down the ice a few times. However, with 10 seconds remaining, Hill was called for tripping. This resulted in the game switching to four-on-four, and then the Flyers would draw a power play. Pavel Dorofeyev served the penalty.
Hill came up with a big save on Dvorak, and Trevor Zegras just missed on a shot as it rang off the post. Brink also missed a shot wide. With 30 seconds remaining on the power play, Denver Barkey got called for high-sticking. The game resumed as a four-on-four, and then the Golden Knights were awarded an abbreviated power play. Mitch Marner rang a shot off the post, and Ersson came up with saves on Dorofeyev and Shea Theodore.
Matvei Michkov was called for goaltender interference at the 19:41 mark of the first period. This gave the Golden Knights their third power play. The Flyers did a great job of blocking shots and clearing the puck down. No shots were recorded on net.
The Golden Knights received their fourth power play at the 18:03 mark of the second period as Noah Cates got called for tripping. They capitalized on this opportunity courtesy of Hertl. He redirected Jack Eichel’s shot past the glove of Ersson. Eichel and Mark Stone tallied assists.
Travis Sanheim was called for cross-checking at the 6:09 mark of the third period, which gave the Golden Knights their fifth power play. Ersson made a huge save on Stone, and that was pretty much it. However, Konecny scored a shorthanded goal at the 7:22 mark to give the Flyers a 2-0 lead. He put a wrist shot under the blocker of Hill on a breakaway. The goal was unassisted.
The Flyers went on their second power play at the 8:13 mark of the third as Tanner Laczynski was called for holding. The Golden Knights were able to clear the puck down the ice multiple times, and Keegan Kolesar had a chance while shorthanded, but Ersson made the save.
The Golden Knights went on their sixth power play at the 13:29 mark of the third period as Jamie Drysdale got called for high-sticking. Braeden Bowen missed a tip-in try just wide, and the Flyers did their job of clearing the puck down the ice. Hill also made a save on Nick Seeler while shorthanded.
Hill was pulled with 1:48 left in the game in favor of the extra attacker, with the Golden Knights down by one. They got a huge opportunity to tie the game at the 18:27 mark of the third as Owen Tippett was called for delay of game (puck over glass). Ersson came up with a huge save on Eichel, and Seeler helped out with a big shot block. The Flyers held on for the two-one victory.
Flyers went zero for two on the power play and killed off six of the seven Golden Knights’ man advantages.
Ersson saved 24 of 25 shots, giving him a .960 save percentage.
Goal Summary
1st Period:
Konecny (16) Assists: none
2nd Period:
Hertl (20) (Power Play) Assists: Eichel (40), Stone (30)
3rd Period:
Konecny (17) (Shorthanded) Assists: none
Flyers Next Game
Flyers next game is Wednesday, Jan. 21, in Utah against the Mammoth.
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