The mighty Winnipeg Jets came to town with a 42-16-4 record. The Flyers started this game at hockey 500 with 27 wins. Philadelphia had just upset the Jets 2-1 last Saturday night in Winnipeg. It was a very tight and disciplined game. Quite impressive to say the least.
On this trade-deadline eve both teams looked more like they truly owned the records they bought with them to the rink. In other words, tonight was not a great night for the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Box
It was apparent very early on that the Flyers were facing a much superior hockey team that was totally ready for them tonight. When you are in an uphill battle like this the last thing you want to do is start taking penalties.
Matvei Michkov picked up a goaltender interference penalty at 7:47. Mark Scheifele scored a power play goal at 8:32.
Tyson Foerster picked up a tripping call at 14:30. Nikolaj Ehlers slam dunked the puck into the net at 15:13.
The Jets were moving the puck from side to side freely until they had Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson right where they wanted him. The Flyers were chasing the game and making costly mistakes.
The 2nd period was more of the same. Winnipeg was building a lead and looking confident and comfortable in doing so.
5:28 into the second Kyle Connor walked into the Flyers zone stopped on the dot and fired a shot. It was perfectly placed under the arm of Samuel Ersson blocker side.
Adam Lowry fired a wrist shot into the Flyers hungry net 9:03 into the 2nd period and the Flyers were down 4-0 with half a hockey game to go.
The Flyers attempted to shake things up a bit by adding some physicality to the mix. Travis Konecny got things started but Scott Laughton stole the show with a crushing hit on Dylan Demelo along the boards. The renewed intensity proved to be short lived. Winnipeg was slowly strangling the life out of the Flyers.
The entire second half of the game was played with all the passion of pure formality. The Flyers could not get anything going and the Jets seemed way more than satisfied with their four goal lead.
A phrase that Flyers head coach John Tortorella has used in the past came to mind. It was like boys against men.
Winnipeg was actually holding back. The Jets were making the extra pass when they already had a clear shot to take. At one point a Jet circled back to make a pass on a breakaway. Perhaps if they were playing at home they would have piled on and run up the score but they didn’t need to here. Just collect the two points and move on.
Michkov spoiled Eric Comrie’s shutout with 2:52 left in the game. It was the rookie’s 20th goal of the season. It was a rare bright spot in a game without any surprises. The Flyers have started out this extended home-stand with two really sour performances. They still have a shot at the wildcard race but that will change if this current trend continues.
Next Up: The NHL trade deadline is tomorrow afternoon. I guess we’ll have a clearer picture of what’s next after that takes place.
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