The Philadelphia Flyers traveled up to Winnipeg, Manitoba, to take on the Jets in their final road game of the regular season. Dan Vladar got the start in net. Garnet Hathaway was inserted into the lineup with Carl Grundstrom becoming a healthy scratch. The Flyers had themselves a huge bounce-back game as they took flight on the Jets seven-to-three. They chased Connor Hellebuyck out of the game and picked up two huge points to keep their playoff hopes alive. The orange and black improved to 41-27-12 on the season.
Porter Martone gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead just 1:17 into the first period. Travis Konecny, from the slot, passed the puck to Martone down low, and he put a snapshot past the blocker of Hellebuyck from the left circle. Martone stripped Adam Lowry to help set the play up. Konecny received the lone assist.
The Jets tied the game up at one at the 6:57 mark of the first courtesy of Hadyn Fleury. Vladar made the initial save on Cole Koepke but allowed a rebound. Fleury got to the rebound and put a snapshot under Vladar’s blocker. Koepke and Jonathan Toews collected assists.
Matvei Michkov made the score 2-1 Flyers at the 8:24 mark of the first period. He took a side pass from Noah Cates and put a wrist shot past the glove of Hellebuyck from just inside the left circle. Cates and Denver Barkey picked up assists.
The scoring parade continued for the Flyers as Sean Couturier made it 3-1 25 seconds later. He took the puck away from Fleury and put a snapshot past the glove of Hellebuyck from the right circle. The goal was unassisted.
The Jets got the game’s first power play at the 14:08 mark of the first as Trevor Zegras was called for cross-checking. The Flyers were able to clear the puck down a few times, and Couturier had a chance while shorthanded, but Hellebuyck made the save.
Mark Scheifele got called for holding at the 16:56 mark of the first period, which gave the Flyers their first power play. Hellebuyck made a save on Tyson Foerster, and Christian Dvorak had a chance on a rebound but couldn’t put it home. Koepke also had a chance while shorthanded but missed the shot high.
The Flyers took a 5-1 lead at the 11:41 mark of the second period thanks to Travis Sanheim. His slapshot from the blue line went off Neal Pionk in front and past Hellebuyck. Rasmus Ristolainen and Couturier were given assists.
Nick Seeler was called for tripping at the 18:16 mark of the second. This gave the Jets their second man advantage. Vladar ended up making a save on Scheifele, and the Flyers did their job of clearing the puck down the ice to waste time.
Cates scored a shorthanded goal while on the Jets power play to give the Flyers a 5-1 lead. Ristolainen made a pass up to Cates, who then passed to Dvorak. Cates took a Dvorak pass and put a snapshot past the blocker of Hellebuyck. Assists went to Dvorak and Ristolainen.
Eric Comrie came in to replace Hellebuyck to start the third period. Hellebuyck made 15 saves on 20 shots.
The Jets got their third power play at the 2:45 mark of the third as Zegras got called for hooking. Vladar made a save on Namestikov, and the Flyers did a nice job of blocking shots. Brad Lambert missed on a shot wide as well.
Couturier scored his second goal of the game at the 6:23 mark of the third period to give the Flyers a 6-1 lead. A puck came loose from the corner, and Couturier popped a backhander into the net as Comrie was down. A few good dekes by Couturier got Comrie moving. The goal was unassisted.
The Flyers continued to pile on as Seeler made it 7-1 at the 13:32 mark of the third. He took a nice pass from Cates and put a snapshot under the blocker of Comrie from the left circle. Cates and Michkov collected assists.
Lambert was called for tripping at the 15:22 mark of the third period, which gave the Flyers their second power play. Couturier had a shot blocked by Fleury, and Martone missed on a shot wide. The Jets also did their job of clearing the puck when given the opportunity.
Flyers went zero for two on the power play and killed off all three of the Jets man advantages.
Vladar saved 27 of 28 shots, giving him a .964 save percentage.
Goal Summary
1st Period:
Martone (3) Assists: Konecny (41)
Fleury (2) Assists: Koepke (9), Toews (18)
Michkov (18) Assists: Cates (27), Barkey (11)
Couturier (11) Assists: none
2nd Period:
Sanheim (11) Assists: Ristolainen (12), Couturier (24)
Cates (18) (Shorthanded) Assists: Dvorak (33), Ristolainen (13)
3rd Period:
Couturier (12) Assists: none
Seeler (4) Assists: Cates (28), Michkov (29)
Flyers Next Game
Flyers next game is Monday, Apr. 13, in Philadelphia against the Carolina Hurricanes.
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