Photo Credit: Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images
The Philadelphia Flyers enter a historic game as this is the first game between one of the oldest teams in the league and the most recent addition of the Seattle Kraken.
The first period started off strong for the Flyers, with a slight caveat. They got an early jump again in this one, but suddenly took their foot off the peddle and Seattle’s forecheck was really keeping the Flyers in their own zone. The top line was still pushing the play and it was difficult to say the Flyers were playing poorly, but they just weren’t driving play. A critical breakaway stop by Hart kept things even early on and then another two on one save in tight. Carter Hart was quietly settling into this game. At this point the Flyers were getting outshot, but Max Willman, who looked much more comfortable in his second game, sparked the Flyers first chance after a quiet five minute stretch. The Flyers then proceeded to turn it on and had a flurry of scoring opportunities. However, with a mix up in their own end Carter Hart had to come up big. A show stealing save by Hart at the side of the net, closing down a wide open net, changed the fate of the game. Moments later Travis Konecny and Claude Giroux teamed up for a beautiful one time slap shot goal by the captain to make it 1-0 Flyers. A goal that probably would have never happened if Hart didn’t steal on on the other end. Giroux made the goal look easy and with eight shots and one goal in game one, he’s clearly continuing where he left off. Giroux hasn’t aged a bit. From there the Flyers took over the period. Travis Konecny, looking reborn and a man on a mission, scored another goal off of his own shot rebound, to make it two nothing Flyers. The Flyers were getting all of the bounces early in this one, as Derrik Brassard made it three nothing on a fluky angle. However, the second line had already looked strong throughout the game and it was only about time. To put the icing on the cake, in the last minute of the game Seattle took a bad penalty on a Giroux who drew a call late. The Flyers would start the second period with a powerplay and a commanding three to nothing lead. An excellent start to a historic game.
The period started off with the Flyers on the powerplay and the scoring chances continued, but no scoring. Nick Seeler took a two minute interference minor at the sixteen minute mark, but the Flyers had one of their better penalty kills of the season, a topic of issue since the last season. After killing the Kraken power play, the Flyers continued to get chances early and often. Derrik Brassard continued his strong game and set up a beautiful pass from the corner to Ryan Ellis at the side of the net for his first goal as a Flyer. They were now up four to nothing. The Flyers continued to control the game at this point at almost ever facet of the game. Only a minute later, the Flyers continued to outshine Seattle as, Justin Braun received a beautiful entry pass from James van Riemsdyk entering the offensive zone and beat Grubauer on a close one on one shot. At this point, the Flyers had the game well under control. From then on, the game started getting chippy as small skirmishes were breaking out all over the ice. Flyers Fans began taunting, former Flyers coach, Dave Hakstol just to rub it in. Eventually, Nick Seeler ended up dropping the gloves with, mammoth defenseman, Jamie Oleksiak, which was exciting but maybe benefitted Seattle more than Philadelphia. After the fight, the Kraken seemed to wake up a bit. A late rebound goal by Carson Soucy off a difficult save by Hart ended up in the back of the net to make the game five to one. The Flyers ended the period killing a penalty on a bad luck trip by Konecny, in which he was checked and subsequently tripped a Seattle player. The Flyers would have to regroup and pickup where they started and end the game with determination. They would take a five to one lead into the third period.
With the third period under way the Flyers knew they had to come out and close this one cleanly. They’ve had recent history of letting up when holding a lead and they must of discussed closing the game out the way they wanted. Goals weren’t a necessity, but strong defense would definitely be.
Early in the third period Travis Konecny made up for his late penalty and forced Seattle into a tripping penalty of their own. The Flyers had good opportunities, but were unable to produce a goal. However, minutes later Cam Atkinson sent a knuckle-puck shot at the net that left a juicy rebound for Joel Farabee, who made no mistake. Another goal for the future budding star player, Farabee. The Flyers were well in control of this game and it wasn’t much of a question. At the eleven minute mark suddenly, Nate Thompson decided he had enough and dropped the groves and put a beating on Nathan Bastian. From there, the game felt over. Carter Hart had to make a few nice saves in between, but he never let up and never looked rattled at any point during the game. This is the Hart we all remembered. A late penalty by Max Willman left the team killing off another powerplay to end the game, but that was all she wrote. The team can be proud of their second game performance.
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