The Philadelphia Flyers started a seven-game homestand tonight against the Calgary Flames. Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee returned to the Wells Fargo Center to take on their former team. The Flyers looked to continue their five-game point streak and rack up points to stay in the wildcard race. They’d fail to do both as they would lose 6-3. A comeback came up two goals short, and Ersson was pulled in the first period after giving up three goals. The Flyers fall back to hockey .500 at 27-27-8 on the season.
The Flames got the game’s first power play at the 2:22 mark of the first period as Egor Zamula got called for high-sticking. They had a few good scoring chances, but their shots missed the net. The Flyers did a nice job clearing the puck when given the opportunity.
The Flyers got their first power play at the 5:05 mark of the first period as MacKenzie Weegar was called for cross-checking. They got three shots on net, but a majority of their passes were intercepted. The Flames did a decent job clearing the puck after intercepting.
Connor Zary gave the Flames a 1-0 lead at the 7:40 mark of the first period. He redirected Brayden Pachal’s shot from the blue line past Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson. Pachal and Jonathan Huberdeau collected assists.
33 seconds later, Nazem Kadri gave the Flames a 2-0 lead off the rush at the 8:13 mark of the first period. He put a wrist shot past the glove of Ersson. Joel Hanley set him up with a great pass to speed ahead. Hanley picked up the only assist.
Zary scored his second of the game to give the Flames a 3-0 lead at the 9:32 mark of the first period. He put a wrist shot short-side on Ersson. Ersson was in position, but it went off his arm and into the net. Ryan Lomberg and Kevin Rooney tallied assists.
Ivan Fedotov would come in for Ersson after the second Zary goal. He allowed three goals on five shots.
Noah Cates got the Flyers on the board at the 9:54 mark of the first goal. Tyson Foerster was tripped and lost the puck. However, the puck found its way to Cates behind him, and he put a snapshot past the blocker of Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf. This made the score 3-1 Flames. Foerster and Bobby Brink were given assists.
The Flyers got within one at the 17:11 mark of the first period courtesy of Andrei Kuzmenko. He stripped Kadri of the puck and went on offense. He managed to get a snapshot past the glove of Wolf. This made it 3-2 Flames. The goal was unassisted. He scores against his former team.
The Flames went back up by two at the 17:29 mark of the first period thanks to Yegor Sharangovich. Fedotov made the initial save on Martin Pospisil but allowed a rebound. Sharangovich capitalized on that rebound as he put a wrist shot through the legs of Fedotov. The score would now be 4-2 Flames. Pospisil and Frost collected assists.
The Flyers got their second power play at the 7:31 mark of the second period as the Flames got caught with too many men on the ice. Zary served the penalty. The Flyers snapped the puck around quickly and got three shots on net. Travis Konecny rang one off the crossbar. It went off of Wolf and then the bar.
Nick Seeler got called for roughing at the 16:07 mark of the second period, which gave the Flames their second power play. They capitalized on this opportunity as Weegar put a wrist shot past the blocker of Fedotov. Fedotov made the initial save on Frost but allowed a rebound. Frost collected that rebound and passed to Weegar, who then scored. This made the score 5-2 Flames. Frost and Huberdeau tallied assists.
Kevin Bahl was called for tripping at the 18:36 mark of the second period, which gave the Flyers their third power play. The Flyers had a few good looks but, yet again, failed to capitalize.
Sean Couturier got the Flyers within two at the 10:43 mark of the third period. Matvei Michkov was able to whack the puck free in a scrum and then put a wrist shot that sat on the goal line. Couturier then put it in the net. It would now be 5-3 Flames. Michkov and Kuzmenko were given assists.
The Flyers got their fourth power play at the 16:29 mark of the third period as Huberdeau was called for hooking. They’d pull Fedotov with 58 seconds remaining, but it didn’t pay off. Wolf had to make a few big saves to keep the Flames up two. Blake Coleman had a great chance on the breakaway while shorthanded as well.
Matt Coronato put the game away with an empty-net goal at the 18:59 mark of the third period to give the Flames a 6-3 lead. He went on a two-on-one with Kadri, and he managed to put a wrist shot into the empty net. Kadri and Weegar picked up assists.
The Flyers went 0 for 4 on the power play and killed one of two Flames man advantages.
Ersson was pulled in the first period after allowing three goals on five shots. Fedotov finished the game and saved 25 of 27 shots, giving him a .926 save percentage.
Goal Summary
1st Period:
Zary (11) Assists: Pachal (5), Huberdeau (23)
Kadri (22) Assists: Hanley (4)
Zary (12) Assists: Lomberg (7), Rooney (2)
Cates (14) Assists: Foerster (13), Brink (21)
Kuzmenko (6) Assists: none
Sharangovich (12) Assists: Pospisil (17), Frost (16)
2nd Period:
Weegar (7) (Power Play) Assists: Frost (17), Huberdeau (24)
3rd Period:
Michkov (20) Assists: Kuzmenko (14), Sanheim (22)
Coronato (16) (Empty Net) Assists: Kadri (24), Weegar (28)
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Flyers next game is Thursday, Mar 6. in Philadelphia against the Winnipeg Jets.
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