Photo Credits: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
The Flyers officially ended the holiday break when they faced the Ducks in Anaheim on Saturday afternoon. This game kicks off a five game road trip which will extends into next week. Their first home game of 2025 will not take place until they host the Leafs on January 7th.
Hype
Luckily Cutter Gauthier had some things to say before the game about “circling the date on his calendar” and some other things that John Tortorella didn’t “give and excrement about”. On the ice where actions speak much louder than words young William did not give us much of anything to write home about beyond a few giveaways and a hooking penalty.
Congratulations
There were some milestones taking place today. Bobby Brink played his 100th NHL game in a Flyers uniform. Travis Konecny played his 600th NHL game. Konecny has also played all of his NHL games donning the orange and black and becomes the 23rd player in franchise history to reach that mark.
Depth
Brink had a fantastic bright spot in Saturday’s game setting up Noah Cates for his 5th goal in the past 5 games. Brink carried the puck down the right hand side of the Anaheim zone. Making one move after another he made his way down low behind the Ducks net. Brink stayed with the puck until he found Cates who was out front playing in traffic. The pass was tape to tape. The shot was undeniable. The goal put the Flyers up one to nothing.
Seeing the line of Brink, Cates, and Tyson Foerster producing as of late is another sign of the Flyers depth starting to come together. Just as we’ve seen Frost, Tippett, and Michkov coming into their own and making an impact. Tortorella often says the Flyers need to “score by committee”. They need everyone chipping in and they are starting to show signs of heading in that direction. Morgan Frost scored the second Flyers goal of the game.
Goaltending
Samuel Ersson put in a real solid performance between the pipes today. Ersson looked much more like the netminder we have become accustomed to. He stopped 32 of 33 shots some of which were very challenging. He looked confident, his positioning was on point, and he gave his team the opportunity to win this game.
Farabee
Joel Farabee put the cherry on top of the afternoon scoring the Flyers final goal into the empty net to give them the 3-1 victory. The goal was more than just your typical empty net tally. Farabee was in the penalty box serving a “too many men” minor. The Ducks were setting up their attack in the Flyers end. Olen Zellweger had the puck at the point as the penalty expired and Farabee exited the box. Zellweger was totally taken by surprise as Farabee picked his pocket and skated the length of the ice on a breakaway with an empty net in front of him. The steal by Farabee is the type of highlight you can enjoy watching over and over again.
Up Next: Flyers vs Kings in LA Sunday night 9:00 PM
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