Postgame 5: Flyers leave Las Vegas with a win

The Philadelphia Flyers edged the Vegas Golden Knights, 2-1, at T-Mobile Arena on Monday night. The Flyers ended a six-game losing streak. Vegas saw a seven-game winning streak end.

Two unassisted goals by Travis Konecny, generally stout penalty killing and a 23-save performance by Samuel Ersson led the way for the Flyers.

A breakaway goal by Konecny (16th goal of the season) gave the Flyers an early first period 1-0 lead. The Flyers were charged with eight giveaways and three minor penalties in the frame but took the one-goal lead to intermission.

Vegas tied the game in the final minute of the second period. Tomas Hertl (PPG, 20th) tallied on a nifty deflection. Until that point, the Flyers had played a pretty strong middle frame.

Another Konecny breakaway goal (17th), this one shorthanded, gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead in the third period.

Ersson played arguably his best game of the season in stopping 23 of 24 shots. Adin HIll faced 17 shots for Vegas, yielding only the two Konecny tallies.

FIRST PERIOD SYNOPSIS

A sharp-angle shot from Jack Eichel nearly snuck in the net on the game's first shift. Ersson picked up the puck just in time. As play resumed, the Flyers' goalie fought off a Shea Theodore shot through traffic.

A Denver Barkey turnover in the neutral zone nearly led to a Vegas goal. Ersson made a point-blank save on a re-direct. Moments later, the Flyers scored on their first shot of the game.

Tomas Hertl turned the puck over to Konecny. The Flyers' winger raced the other way on a breakaway. Konecny then beat Hill under the glove at 3:46. The goal was unassisted.

Former Flyers forward Tanner Laczynski drew a holding penalty on Christian Dvorak at 10:28. With 10 seconds left on the kill, Marner tripped Konecny on a shorthanded foray. Then, with 30 seconds remaining on the Flyers' power play, Barkey accidentally high-sticked Eichel as he attempted to lift his opponent's stick.

During the penalty kill, Sean Couturier had a 2-on-1 rush with Grundstrom. The pass was broken up. At the other end, Ersson denied Dorofeyev on a near tic-tac-toe connection with Eichel and Mark Stone.

With 18.9 seconds left in the period, Michkov brushed into goaltender Hill, who went down to the ice. The Russian winger was called for goaltender interference. Vegas took 1:41 of carryover power play time into the second period.

Shots: Flyers 4 - Golden Knights 11
Faceoffs: Flyers 6 - Golden Knights 6

SECOND PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Cam York and Travis Sanheim blocked shots during the carryover Michkov penalty. The Flyers killed off the remainder.

Reilly Smith and Sanheim traded off scoring chances. Shots through 14:15 were 5-3 Flyers. At 15:27, after a nice breakout pass from Andrae, Brink had a scoring chance as he took the puck to the net. The shot went over the net.

With 1:57 left in the period, Cates took a tripping penalty on Ben Hutton in the offensive right corner. At 19:28, with the Flyers unable to get fresh troops on the ice after failing to clear the puck, Vegas tied the game. Hertl made a between-the-legs deflection to score. The assists went to Eichel (nine-game point streak) and Stone (12-game point streak).

Shots: Flyers 6 (10 overall) - Golden Knights 7 (18 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 10 (16 overall) - Golden Knights 4 (10 overall)

THIRD PERIOD SYNOPSIS

In the opening minute of the period, Dvorak took the puck hard to the left circle. Hill made the save. At 2:20, Dorofeyev had a good look from the left circle. He fired a shot high and wide.

At 6:09, Sanheim went off for a cross-checking minor on Eichel. The Flyers bench barked because a very similar play by a Vegas player went uncalled about 15 seconds earlier at the other end of the ice as Brink was knocked down.

Ersson made a save on Eichel with Stone in front. At 7:22, Eichel turned the puck over to Konecny for another breakaway. This time, Konecny went low to the blocker side. At 7:22, he scored again.

At 8:13, Andrae handled the puck and had his stick slashed out of his hands by Laczynski. Now the Flyers went to the power play. Philly did not generate much pressure.

The Golden Knights hemmed the Flyers in their own zone. At 13:29, Drysdale was called for a high-sticking minor on Laczynski. Seeler made a clutch clearing play. Braeden Bowman narrowly missed a goal on an Eichel setup. As 5-on-5 play resumed, the Golden Knights continued to pressure. Finally, Dvorak cleared the zone without taking an icing.

With 1:49 left on the clock, the Flyers took an icing. Vegas pulled Hill for a 6-on-5. At 18:27, Tippett sent the puck over the glass from the defensive zone for an automatic delay of game penalty. Vegas now had a 6-on-4.

Seeler blocked a shot and Konecny cleared the puck. Ersson made a huge save on Eichel without allowing a rebound. Vegas called timeout with 22.3 seconds left. Sanheim cleared the puck. Vegas generated one last scramble. Time expired.

Shots: Flyers 7 (17 overall) - Golden Knights 6 (24 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 9 (25 overall) - Golden Knights 5 (15 overall)

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

Trevor Zegras – Christian Dvorak – Travis Konecny
Nikita Grebenkin -- Sean Couturier -- Owen Tippett
Matvei Michkov – Noah Cates – Bobby Brink
Carl Grundstrom – Lane Pederson – Garnet Hathaway

Cam York -- Travis Sanheim
Emil Andrae -- Jamie Drydale
Nick Seeler -- Noah Juulsen

Samuel Ersson
[Aleksei Kolosov]

Postgame RAV4 (RAV4 Things Revisited)

1. Reset the Process

Over the previous five games, the Flyers were outscored by a combined 29-9. The team's entire process -- offense and defense, 5-on-5, and both ends of special teams -- was in need of a reset.

On Monday night, the Flyers showed strong improvement in some areas (5-on-5 team defense, goaltending, faceoffs, PK). Other areas (avoiding turnovers in dangerous spots, crisp line changes, careless penalties) still needed work.

When all was said and done, the Flyers scored the lone 5-on-5 goal of the night. They drew even on special teams (6-for-7 on the penalty kill, shorthanded goal). They were 0-for-2 on the power play.

2. Between the pipes

Ersson did an outstanding job in building off his generally solid relief outing on Saturday. He delivered an excellent game in net, coming up with clutch saves and preventing rebounds. Now the task is to keep it going.

3. Brink is Back

After missing the last five games, Bobby Brink returned to the Flyers' lineup, On Monday night, he skated 13:28 with two blocked shots and one fine scoring chance.

4. Pederson's Flyers Debut

Called up from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms to replace the injured Rodrigo Abols. Lane Pederson skated 8:23.