Photo Credit: Ricky Brown
The Philadelphia Flyers returned to action last night after an offseason filled with lots of moves aimed to restore the team’s playoff hopes. The New York Islanders were in town for a preseason game that saw a few of the new arrivals debut in orange and black. While some Covid-19 protocols are still in place at the Wells Fargo Center, some signs of pre-pandemic life were evident such as Gritty making his rounds and the Giroux Crew box being used for honoring fan groups. The game itself was a bit messy as expected for the first preseason game but there were a few positive signs to build on for the upcoming season.
Derick Brassard, Cam Atkinson, Keith Yandle, and Ryan Ellis were heavily featured in this matchup, their first with the Flyers. All four were notable on the ice and brought energy to the lineup. Brassard’s play has placed him as an early favorite for the third center role with his solid faceoff performance and help in clearing pucks away from Carter Hart and Samuel Ersson. Atkinson was paired with Brassard and Oskar Lindblom, bringing flashes of speed and looking to consistently get pucks on net. Ellis showed why the Flyers made him a priority acquisition and pairing with Ivan Provorov. He does not panic in getting the puck out of the zone and should bring a calming presence to the first pair. Yandle was paired with Justin Braun and the two veterans will be a big influence in the locker room and provide a solid third pair for the team.
All eyes were on Carter Hart as he made his return to the net after his year was cut short due to injury. At the end of the season it appeared as if the Flyers netminder was returning to form with a string of solid performances and last night had him on the same trajectory. Hart tracked the puck well, moved laterally with ease, and did not surrender any bad rebounds. The lone goal came on a screened point shot on the power play, Hart finished the game having stopped 17 of the 18 shots he faced.
The game also featured some lesser known players trying to make a name for themselves in camp. Nick Seeler made a strong push for the seventh defenseman role left open due to the injury to Sam Morin. He was a presence in front of the net both blocking shots and clearing Islanders away from his netminders. Carter Hart called him a warrior in his postgame press conference for his efforts. The Flyers goals were scored by Egor Zamula and Maxim Sushko, two players who are slated to start with the Phantoms. Zamula displayed a nice point shot on his power play goal, aided by a screen from Oskar Lindblom, and Sushko showed hustle to chase down a pass off the board and tuck in a wrap-around. Zamula should stay with Lehigh Valley to play major minutes with Cam York and develop his game. Sushko could be in consideration if there are any injuries to the Flyers forwards but seems a long shot to crack the lineup out of camp.
With the probable starting roster divided between two preseason squads it’s hard to judge the team performance fairly. The first period was not the Flyers’ best performance but Hart was able to limit the damage to only one goal. There are signs of improvement that the team will need to build on and hopefully the second half of the lineup can show that in their upcoming game against the Bruins.
