Postgame 5: Flyers Fall to Kraken, 4-1

The Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Seattle Kraken, 4-1, at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday afternoon. Seattle swept the two-game season series between the clubs.

Philly took a 1-0 lead to the first intermission. The puck took a favorable bounce in the last half-minute and the Flyers grabbed the lead after they had a couple of near-goals earlier in the frame.

The Flyers went to an early power play at 4:02 as Matty Beniers caught Owen Tippett with a careless high stick in the corner. Noah Cates drew iron on an excellent scoring chance. Shortly thereafter, Tyson Foerster tucked the puck just wide.

Philly went back to a 5-on-4 power play at 7:37 as Jamie Oleksiak was called for hooking Jakob Pelleiter. After the penalty expired, Brandon Montour fired a puck off the post on a 2-on-1 rush.

Philly headed back to the power play at 14:37 as Andrei Burakovsky slashed Travis Konecny. The Flyers were unable to generate any shots or chances as their third power play of the first period went by the wayside.

Philly made it 1-0 at 19:28 on a puck luck goal by Owen Tippett (19th) off the rush. As he attempted to curl around Ryker Evans, the puck was knocked away but squibbed past Philipp Grubauer into the net. The assists went to Michkov and Couturier.

The Tippett goal involved a lot of puck luck but there was no luck involved on the front end. The eventual goal scorer got a retrieval, generated speed moving up the ice and eventually got a reward as he moved against Evans. In the second period, Kartye's seeing-eye goal knotted the score.

At the buzzer, Olle Lycksell was called for a holding penalty on Burakovsky. The Kraken took a full two minute power play into the second period. First period shots on goal favored the Flyers, 11-7. Samuel Ersson stopped all seven pucks that came his way.

Seattle tied the game at 10:11 of the second period. Tye Kartye (4th goal of the season) swooped around behind the net and carried the puck up high. Goaltender Ersson was screened on the shot by John Hayden and Rodrigo Abols but it was a chance he'd want back. The assist went to defenseman Vince Dunn.

Flyers center Ryan Poehling briefly went to the locker room at 12:24. Seattle defenseman Adam Larsson's stick accidentally caught the back of Poehling's head, just below the helmet. He was slow to get up but eventually went off on his own power.

The Flyers had a short-lived power play on a Michael Eyssimont tripping penalty at 17:19. A Couturier hooking minor at 17:27 evened the sides at 4-on-4. Michkov had a scoring chance from the right side and then Seattle scored at the other end.

Beniers (15th) gave Seattle a 2-1 edge at 18:57. He cut near the goal line, moved across in front and his shot bounced in past Ersson. Evans earned the lone assist.

The Flyers coughed up a shorthanded goal at 19:38. With Montour (slashing at 19:10) in the box, the Flyers attempted to move up ice. An outlet pass went off Couturier's stick in the neutral zone and Rasmus Ristolainen was unable to throw on the brakes and reverse direction in time. On a breakaway, Stephenson (SHG, 11th) beat Ersson for an unassisted goal at 19:38.

Second period shots on goal heavily favored Seattle (17-9) as the Flyers were guilty of frequent sloppy play.

The Flyers started the third period on a carryover power play. They were unable to score. Seattle opened a 4-1 lead with a goal off the faceoff by Montour (13th). The lone assist went to Beniers for the right circle faceoff win back to the right point.

With a three-goal deficit, Flyers head coach John Tortorella shook up the line combinations. At 15:43, Couturier tripped Oleksiak near the Seattle blueline as the big defenseman skated past.

Ersson stopped 29 of 33 shots in a losing cause. Grubauer made 23 saves on 24 shots.

The Flyers went 0-for-5 on the power play with a shorthanded goal allowed. They were 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

74 Owen Tippett - 14 Sean Couturier - 39 Matvei Michkov

71 Tyson Foerster - 27 Noah Cates - 10 Bobby Brink

15 Olle Lycksell - 125 Ryan Poehling - 11 Travis Konecny

44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 18 Rodrigo Abols - 22 Jakob Pelletier

36 Emil Andrae - 6 Travis Sanheim

24 Nick Seeler - 9 Jamie Drysdale

5 Egor Zamula - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen

32 Samuel Ersson

[82 Ivan Fedotov]

Scratches: 8 Cam York (healthy), 19 Garnet Hathaway (upper body).

PP1: Ristolainen, Konecny, Cates. Foerster, Michkov

PP2: Drysdale, Tippett, Couturier, Lycksell, Brink

TURNING POINT

The Flyers managed to take a lead to the first intermission but were outplayed in the second period. The shorthanded goal by Stephenson was an exclamation point .

POSTGAME 5 ("RAV4 THINGS" REVISITED)

1. 1st game of Life after Laughton: "Sarge" was a vital player on the Flyers' penalty kill and a versatile presence in 5-on-5 deployment. On Saturday, with a reconstituted lineup following the trading of Laughton, Andrei Kuzmenko, and Eric Johnson, the Flyers did not execute after they had numerous early power plays. Through two periods, the Flyers only had nine shots on goal at 5-on-5.

2. Sean Couturier and Travis Sanheim: Flyers captain Couturier collected a helper on Tippett's fortunate goal late in the first period. Defenseman Sanheim attempted a few times to jump into the rush.

3. Flyers callups -- Abols, Lycksell, Andrae: Cam York was healthy scratched from the lineup against Seattle. Emil Andrae entered the starting lineup in his place after being recalled on Friday. Fellow callups Rodrigo Abols (fourth line center) and Olle Lycksell (third line left wing) also got into the lineup.

4. Between the pipes: Playing in his 100th NHL game, Flyers' netminder Ersson made back-to-back early saves with Chandler Stephenson and Jordan Eberle at the doorstep. Early in the second period, with Philly on the PK, Ersson stopped a prime chance for Shayne Wright. From that point on, it was tough sledding for the netminder.

5. New linemates for Konecny: The Flyers' leading scorer skated on a line with Poehling and Lycksell. Although teammates with Poehling the last two seasons and periodically with Lycksell, he has not played much on the same line with either forward. On Saturday, Konecny attempted four shots on goal.