Postgame 5: Flyers Burn Flames, 3-2

On Ed Snider Legacy Day at Wells Fargo Center, the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Calgary Flames, 3-2. Special teams made a huge difference in the game, as the Flyers tallied both power play and shorthanded goals to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead and eventual victory.

Both teams had several good scoring chances in a scoreless first period. In the second period, the Flames took a pair of one-goal leads but the Flyers pushed back each time to forge a 2-2 deadlock through 40 minutes. Overall, the Flyers had the better of the play in the middle period. Over the final 20 minutes, the Flyers pulled ahead and then staged a strong closeout.

Jonathan Huberdeau (6th goal of the season) broke a scoreless deadlock at 1:55 of the second  period with a goal off the rush. The lone assist went to Martin Pospisil.

Morgan Frost (6th goal of the season) drew the Flyers even at 4:15 of the second period, starting and finishing the goal sequence. At the start, Frost made a very crisp pass back to the point from down low and then went to the net. On the back end, Frost slam-dunked the rebound of a Sean Walker shot. The assists went to Walker and Owen Tippett.

Mackenzie Weegar restored a 2-1 lead for the Flames at 9:13 of the second period. The Flames forechecking work made it happen. Finally, Weegar (9th) potted a pass from Blake Coleman. Andrew Mangiapane earned the secondary assist.

Sean Couturier re-tied the game with a power play goal (10th) at 16:06 of the second period. A Frost shot from the top of the left circle bounced off the end boards and Couturier banked it in from below the goal line. The secondary assist went to Egor Zamula. Frost's primary assist was the 50th apple of his NHL career.

Scoring his fifth shorthanded goal and the Flyers' league leading 10th, Travis Konecny (21st goal of the season) burned the Flames to give the Flyers a 3-2 lead at 2:27 of the third period. Attacking with speed, Konecny scored glove-side. The assists went to Scott Laughton and Cam York. It was York who triggered the initial breakout.

Carter Hart earned the win with 22 saves on 24 shots. Jacob Markström denied 39 of 42 shots in a losing cause.

The Flyers went 1-for-6 on the power play. The Flames went 0-for-3. yielding several shorthanded chances to the Flyers, and ultimately getting burned on Konecny's game-winning goal.

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

86 Joel Farabee - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny

74 Owen Tippett - 21 Scott Laughton - 89 Cam Atkinson

71 Tyson Foerster - 48 Morgan Frost - 10 Bobby Brink

44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 25 Ryan Poehling - 19 Garnet Hathaway

6 Travis Sanheim - 8 Cam York

24 Nick Seeler - 26 Sean Walker

5 Egor Zamula - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen

79 Carter Hart

[33 Samuel Ersson]

TURNING POINT

The Flyers played with good pace all a game and got a slew of pucks and traffic the net. But it was the emotional lift of Farabee coming to York's defense, the ensuing multi-chance power play (although Philly didn't score on that one) and Philadelphia building off the momentum that helped the Flyers take over the game.

POSTGAME 5

1) Hart was tested almost right off the bat, robbing Yegor Sharangovich just 50 seconds after the opening faceoff. At the other end, York was stopped point blank by Markström. Then, after Zamula was beaten off the rush, Hart denied Martin Pospisil. Subsequently, Atkinson had a dangerous chance.

Play settled down in subsequent minutes. Through 7:34, shots on goal were 5-4 Calgary.

The Flames went on the game's first power play at 8:46 as Hathaway was called for tripping. The Flyers generated a 2-on-1 shorthanded rush for Konecny and Laughton. Puck carrier Konecny shot the puck from the left circle. Markström made the save. Later, Poehling blocked a shot over the middle.

At 12:59, Hart stopped a Rasmus Andersson blast for his seventh save of the first period. A TV timeout ensued.

The Flames went back to the power play at 15:49. Sean Walker was penalized for a marginal offensive zone trip of Nazem Kadri. York blocked a shot. Later, Laughton and Konecny had a shorthanded 2-on-1 that was always identical to the earlier one except that Laughton was the puck carrier and shooter. Again, Markström made the save.

The Flames won 11 of the game's first 13 faceoffs. At the 16:00 mark, Frost won a defensive left circle faceoff.  At the other end, Frost put a shot on net from the right circle that created a fat rebound. Tippett was unable to pot a followup try.

The Flyers went to the power play for the first time at 16:35 as Noah Hanifin cross-checked Frost in the Calgary zone. Couturier had a chance at the doorstep. A shot from up high by Tippett missed the net. A Zamula shot hit Couturier and dropped to the ice.

Philly went right back to the man advantage. Calgary was called for too many men on the ice at 18:50. The Flyers took 50 seconds of PP time into the second period. 

2) First period shots on goal were 9-8 in the Flyers' favor. Shot attempts were 25-24 Flyers. Scoring chances were 11-8 Flyers. High-danger chances were 5-4 Flyers. Faceoffs were 11-6 Calgary. After being scratched in the last game, Frost was flying all period. Frost used his feet effectively, registering two hits and generating a pair of chances.

3) During the carryover power play time at the start of the second period, Konecny had a chance from the right slot that was set up by Tippett. The Flames' Huberdeau scored at 1:55. Frost replied at 4:15.

Tippett had a good scoring chance near the right post on the next shift after the Frost goal. At 5:31 immediately after a defensive zone faceoff in the Flyers' zone, Calgary's A.J. Greer boarded Travis Sanheim near the left corner. The Flyers generated a flurry of looks and shots on the power play but couldn't score.

The Flames' Weeger scored against the Flyers' fourth line and the pairing of Zamula and Ristolainen at 9:13.

Standing up for York after he received a late hit from Elias Lindholm at 9:19, Farabee went right after the Calgary player. The penalties: Lindholm received two minutes for elbowing, two for roughing and five for fighting. Farabee received two for instigating, five for fighting and an automatic 10-minute misconduct.

Philly went to their fourth power play. With Farabee unavailable, Frost stepped on the top PP unit. Tippett, Frost, Zamula, Ristolainen and Foerster generated shots on goal but nothing got past Markström.

With play back at 5-on-5, Couturier was stopped by Markström in close. At the other end, Nazem Kadri was stopped by Hart near the net at 5:52.

Philly went back to the power play yet again at 15:45. Atkinson was home free and one-on-one with Markström. The goalie made the save but Weegar took a desperation hooking penalty in the process. This time, Philly cashed in on Couturier's goal.

4)  Second period shots on goal were 24-10 in the Flyers' favor (33-18 Flyers overall). Shot attempts were 41-18 Flyers (67-42 Flyers overall). Scoring chances were 19-8 Flyers (31-16 Flyers overall). High-danger chances were 8-3 Flyers (14-7 Flyers overall). Faceoffs were 14-10 Flyers (21-20 Flames overall).

5)  At 1:01 of the third period, Coleman uncharacteristically turned the puck over to Couturier in the slot. Markström made the save. At 1:54, a Frost shot from up high produced a rebound on the doorstep. Hathaway was unable to score. A scrum broke out at the whistle. Several players were pushing and shoving, but the lone penalty went to Hathaway. Konecny scored shorthanded to give Philly the lead.

Philly continued to aggressively attack the net.  Through 7:18, third period shots on goal were 4-1 Flyers. Notably, Bobby Brink had not skated a shift in the third period. Poehling and Deslauriers were also on the bench throughout as Tortorella went with three forward lines. Hathaway moved up to Frost's line.

At 12:49, Hart made a good save on Mangiapane. At 13:22, an interference penalty committed by Connor Zary on Seeler in front of the net wiped out a would-be goal for Calgary. The Flyes went back to the power play. Philly didn't get anything going on this man advantage.

With 2:24 remaining in regulation, the Flames pulled Markström for a 6-on-5 attack. York blocked a shot. Couturier canceled out a potential icing. The slots were completely sealed. Finally, with 3.8 seconds on the clock, the Flyers took an icing. Calgary called timeout.

Couturier won the final faceoff. A multi-player scrum broke out after the final buzzer,

Third period shots on goal were 9-6 in Phily's favor (42-24 Flyers overall). Shot attempts were 20-20 in the final 20 minutes (87-62 Flyes overall). Scoring chances were 10-7 Flames (38-26 Flyers overall). High-danger chances were 2-2 (16-9 Flyers overall). Faceoffs were 13-11 Flames (33-31 Flames overall).