Columbus Blue Jackets' Michael Hutchinson, left, unable to stop a goal by Philadelphia Flyers' Owen Tippett, right, during the second period an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, April 11, 2023, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
Photo Credit: Chris Szagola / Associated Press
It was the final home stance of the Philadelphia Flyers’ up and down season. While the majority of the attention is already on the offseason, the team on the ice still needed to take care of business. The Columbus Blue Jackets have come into town after a disappointing season, filled with injuries and underachievement. Tonight was also a special night because it was Adam Ginning’s NHL debut. Ginning has impressed this season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and has shown to be a solid and sturdy defensive defenseman at the AHL level.
In first period the Flyers were going back and forth with a few chances, but consistently give up the shooting opportunity to get an opportunity closer in tight or a backdoor goal. It’s one thing that is frustrating about this team, they hesitate to shoot early. It’s almost like they don’t feel they can score until someone breaks the seal. This is an area that should be addressed as the team’s future core matures. An uneventful early start to the period lead to a Blue Jacket’s goal on just their 5th shot of the game. Some sloppy defensive coverage lead to a goal in tight by Liam Foudy. However, the tone of the game didn’t change much as the teams exchanged some minor scoring chances back and forth, until the Blue Jackets’ forward Fix-Wolansky broke through again on a accurate shot in tight, taking advantage of poor coverage in the Flyers defensive zone. It seemed like it was going to be a long and embarrassing night, but the Flyers struck back quickly on a nice forecheck by Morgan Frost, which lead to a nice pass by Travis Konecny to Joel Farabee for a goal from the slot. This was a big goal that energized the team. Only moments later the Flyers were able to strike again on a shot from the wide angle by James Van Riemsdyk. The two teams traded chances back and forth a few more times until Joel Farabee was able to draw a powerplay off of a nice semi-breakaway opportunity. The Flyers were able to carry the second half of the powerplay into the second period and hope to start off with a goal.
And start with a goal they did as Owen Tippet turned an early opportunity into a lead as he lifted a shot over Blue Jacket’s goalie, Michael Hutchinson’s shoulder. At this point the Flyers were up 18-9 in shots and 3-2 on the scoreboard and the bad start was but a memory. The period itself was relatively uneventful as the Flyers carried majority of the pressure, but never able to break away from the Blue Jackets. The Flyers finished the period almost doubling up the Blue Jackets in shots with 31 to the Jackets 17. The score looked close, but in this period it never felt like Columbus was in control and it was the Flyers game to lose.
The Flyers started off the third period battling against the Blue Jackets powerplay as Konecny had taken a minor penalty to end the second period. Additionally, Adam Ginning making his NHL debut, ended up taking a holding penalty just a couple minutes into the period. This is not the same hot start the team displayed to start the second period. However, The powerplay was cut short as Travis Sanheim drew a call driving the net in an short handed rush. At this point, the building was rocking and looking for a goal, but they did not get it. In fact a break the other way for the Blue Jackets lead to Cam York taking a desperate hooking penalty and allowing the Jackets back on the powerplay. They wasted no time and scored early on a deflection by Sean Kuraly that deflated all of the Flyers’ momentum. The Flyers were gifted another powerplay with just under 7 minutes left in the game. They had several good opportunities, but no luck taking the lead. This period had overtime written all over it and that’s exactly where it went.
In the three-on-three overtime, the game was a back and forth effort that ended in the Flyers favor. After some grueling shifts locked in the Flyers zone, Ivan Provorov was able to create an offensive play driving up the middle of the ice, that set up Own Tippet for a beautiful goal walking in and deking out Michael Hutchinson. The game ended with this year’s Flyers team saluting the fans for the finality of the season. A perfect way to end a last home stand victory.
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