A new season of Philadelphia Flyers hockey is here. They’d start on the road against the reigning Stanley Cup champions in the Florida Panthers Thursday night. While it was a close one, the Flyers would ultimately come up short with a 2-1 loss. Noah Cates would score the only goal and newcomer Dan Vladar put on quite a performance in his Flyers debut. The Flyers start their season 0-1.
44 seconds into the first period, Matvei Michkov got called for tripping. This gave the Panthers their first powerplay of the game. Mackie Samoskevich put a snapshot on goal, but Vladar came up with the save early.
The powerplay didn’t last long, however, as Evan Rodrigues was called for slashing at the one-minute mark of the first. This made it four-on-four. Nick Seeler got a slapshot on goal and the Panthers had a few good chances in tight down the other end. No goals were scored on the short Flyers powerplay afterward.
The Flyers got their second powerplay of the game at the 7:54 mark of the first as Luke Kunin got called for tripping. They struggled to get set up in the zone and didn’t put any shots on net.
The Panthers received their second powerplay at the 16:55 mark of the first as Christian Dvorak tripped up Rodrigues. They had a few good looks in the zone and a shot by Carter Verhaeghe knocked off Vladar’s mask.
Trevor Zegras continued the Flyers struggles to stay out of the box as he was called for interference just 3:37 into the second period. This penalty gave the Panthers their third man advantage of the night. With only eight seconds left, Rodrigues fed Anton Lundell with a pass to the top of the left circle, and he put a wrist shot under the blocker of Vladar and in. This made it 1-0 Panthers. Rodrigues and Jeff Petry were given assists.
At the 5:57 mark of the second, Dvorak got called for hooking. This gave the Panthers their fourth powerplay of the game and was his second penalty of the night. The Panthers didn’t capitalize on this one as the Flyers did a nice job blocking shots and clearing the puck. Sam Reinhart did record a shot on goal, however, but Vladar made the glove save.
Noah Cates scored the first goal of the season for the Flyers at the 17:48 mark of the second. Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made the initial save on Tyson Foerster but allowed a rebound. Cates got to the rebound and popped it over Bobrovsky’s blocker. This tied the game up at one. Foerster received the only assist.
Brad Marchand gave the Panthers a 2-1 just 2:19 into the third period. His wrist shot from the wall went over the left shoulder of Vladar and in. A.J. Greer provided a screen as he skated by in front. Kunin and Greer were awarded assists.
The Flyers would pull Vladar with only 2:04 left in the third in favor of the extra attacker. They couldn’t set up in the zone and Reinhart had a chance at the empty net as he batted it all the way down but missed it just wide.
Foerster was called for tripping at the 18:44 mark of the third which gave the Panthers their fifth powerplay of the night. With only down one, the Flyers pulled Vladar with 26 seconds remaining but couldn’t tie it up. The Panthers held on for a 2-1 victory.
Vladar saved 32 of 34 shots, giving him a .941 save percentage.
Flyers went 0 for 2 on the Powerplay but killed off four of the five Panthers man advantages.
Goal Summary
1st Period:
No goals
2nd Period:
Lundell (1) (Power Play) Assists: Rodrigues (2), Petry (1)
Cates (1) Assists: Foerster: (1)
3rd Period:
Marchand (1) Assists: Kunin (1), Greer (1)
Key Points
- Flyers couldn’t stay out of the box
- Vladar looked solid in his Flyers debut
- Defense broke down a few times early
- Flyers had quite a few missed chances
Flyers Next Game
Flyers next game is Saturday, Oct. 11 in Raleigh against the Hurricanes.
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