The Philadelphia Flyers were shut out by the Utah Mammoth, 3-0, at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Thursday night.
The low-event first period went to intermission in a scoreless tie. Early in the second period, Nick Schmaltz (PPG, 22nd) gave the Mammoth a 1-0 lead. In the middle stages of the period, Clayton Keller (19th) extended the lead to 2-0. Michael Carcone (12th) added a third period empty net goal.
Dan Vladar made 21 saves on 23 shots. Vitek Vanecek denied all 16 shots he faced.
The Flyers went 0-for-3 on the power play. They were 1-for-2 on the PK.
FIRST PERIOD SYNOPSIS
The teams traded off one shot on goal apiece through 2:22.
Rasmus Ristolainen blocked a JJ Peterka shot. Vladar stopped a point shot through traffic. Shots were now 3-1 Utah.
After a lengthy delayed call, the Flyers went to the game's first power play on a John Marino slashing minor at 14:33. Philly was unable to generate pressure.
At 18:07, Bobby Brink was robbed at the doorstep by Vanecek. It was the game's first high-danger chance for either team.
Shots: Flyers 4 - Utah 4
Faceoffs: Flyers 7- Utah 7
SECOND PERIOD SYNOPSIS
Utah went to the power play at 1:30. Noah Cates was called for a holding the stick minor along the boards. Utah controlled the faceoff and scored eight second later. From the left side of the goal line, Schmaltz fired a shot home to break the deadlock. The asists went to Dylan Guenther and Sean Durzi.
Cates had a prime scoring chance with time and space but was unable to finish a setup from Jamie Drysdale.
Denver Barkey gave away the puck to Lawson Crouse in the slot. Vladar made the save at 5:51. On the next shift, Michael Carcone had a partial breakaway. Vladar made his 10th save of the game.
Utah opened a 2-0 lead at 8:03. Moving down the ice, Utah chipped the puck past Ristolainen. Keller moved and beat Vladar on the backhand. Guenther drew the lone assist. Matvei Michkov compounded the issue by not helping in applying back pressure.
Owen Tippett very nearly scored a pretty goal off the rush from a Trevor Zegras pass. He tucked the puck wide.
Shots: Flyers 7 (11 overall) - Utah 14 (18 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 11 (18 overall) - Utah 6 (13 overall)
THIRD PERIOD SYNOPSIS
The Flyers went back to the power play at 4:02 when Durzi grabbed hold of Zegras behind the net. Philly never got organized on the attack.
Philly went right back to the man advantage at 6:38 as Keller went off for high sticking. Vladar ventured way out of the net, and it didn't work out as hoped. Zegras took a hooking penalty at 7:25 to slow down Schmaltz.
Carl Grundstrom had a scoring chance at one end of the ice. Keller hit the post at the other.
The Flyers pulled Vladar for a 6-on-5 attack. Utah iced the puck at 17:35. Finally, at 18:12, Carcone beat out an icing and had an empty net tap in. Kevin Stelund and John Marino had the assists.
Shots: Flyers 5 (16 overall) - Utah 5 (23 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 13 (24 overall) - Utah 10 (23 overall)
FLYERS STARTING LINEUP
Trevor Zegras — Christian Dvorak — Owen Tippett
Matvei Michkov — Noah Cates — Bobby Brink
Denver Barkey — Sean Couturier — Nikita Grebenkin
Nikita Grebenkin — Carl Grundstrom — Garnet Hathaway
Travis Sanheim — Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York — Jamie Drydale
Emil Andrae -- Noah Juulsen
Dan Vladar
[Samuel Ersson]
Postgame RAV4 (RAV4 Things Revisited)
1. Patience and structure
The first period was nothing if not patient and structured. The Flyers blocked seven shots, Utah five. There was only one bonafide scoring chance (Brink) the entire frame. In the second period, Utah was the more opportunistic team, scoring a power goal and in transition.
2. All hands on deck
With leading scorer Travis Konecny and regular starting defenseman Nick Seeler missing from the lineup, the Flyers came in looking to grind out a low-event win. That went out on the window in the middle stanza.
3.Between the pipes: Czech vs. Czech
Team Czechia Olympians Vladar faced fellow Czech Vanece. On this night, the Utah backup netminder pitched a shutout.
4. Cates vs. Schmaltz
Noah Cates, playing excellent all-around hockey since the Olympic break, saw significant head-to-head ice time matched up against the Nick Schmaltz or Logan Cooley lines. In the second period, with Cates in the penalty box, Schmaltz opened the scoring for Utah.
