Postgame RAV4: Flyers Breeze Past Blackhawks

The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Chicago Blackhawks, 5-1, at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Thursday evening. Philly got balanced scoring with contributions from youngsters and veterans alike.

The Flyers got the fast start they needed. Alex Bump (3rd goal of the season) gave the Flyers a lead in the opening minute of the game. Philly doubled the lead shortly thereafter on a goal by captain Sean Couturier (9th).

Dever Barkey extended the lead to 3-0 at 5:14 of the second period. Connor Bedard (30th) cut into the Philly edge but Noah Cates (16th) quickly restored it. Christian Dvorak (15th) added additional insurance in the final minute.

No further scoring ensued in the third period.

Samuel Ersson earned the win in goal with 25 saves on 26 shots. Spencer Knight took the loss in net with five goals allowed on 41 shots.

The Flyers went 0-for-4 on the power play. They were 3-for-3 on the PK.

FIRST PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Bump wasted no time putting the Flyers in the lead. Knight turned the puck over behind the net to Christian Dvorak. Bump had an open net and scored at the 48-second mark.

Chicago paid dearly for another turnover at 2:33. Luke Glendening intercepted an Andre Burakovsky turnover. Couturier re-directed the puck into the net, making it two goals on two shots.

Owen Tippett had a breakaway. His shot missed the net but he tried to follow up on a carom off the end boards.

At 11:11, Cam York had a nice shot block on a Tyler Bertuzzi attempt from the left hash marks. 

The Flyers went to the power play at 11:40 on a Louis Crevier interference penalty. During the delayed call, a Tippett shot knocked off Knight's mask. A gaffe by Matvei Michkov produced a shorthanded 2-on-1 for Chicago. Ersson made the save on Ilya Mikheyev.

The Flyers narrowly escaped trouble with a loose puck in the blue paint. Nick Seeler swept the puck to safety with help from Trevor Zegras and Emil Andrae. 

At 17:42, the Flyers went back to the power play on a Sacha Boisvert high sticking minor. Rasmus Ristolainen snapped a point shot on net. At 18:49, Michkov took a hooking penalty, evening up the sides. 

With 17.9 seconds left in the period, Dvorak took a high stick in the face from Artyom Levshunov. Four-on-four play carried over for the first 49 seconds of the second period.

Shots: Flyers 9 - Blackhawks 9
Faceoffs: Flyers 8 - Blackhawks 8 

SECOND PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Rasmus Ristolainen was called for a marginal neutral zone boarding minor at the 38-second mark.  With play at 4-on-4, Tippett took the puck to the net The Flyers killed off the brief Chicago power play.

Travis Sanheim rode his check off the puck behind the net. Jamie Drysdale outleted the puck to Tippett. In the attack zone after entry, Barkey went to the net and it paid it off. The rookie quickly potted a Trevor Zegras rebound for a 3-0 lead at 5:14.

On the next shift, Zegras visited the sin bin for a slashing minor at 6:36. With play back at 5-on-5, Noah Cates made a nice initial entry and then snapped a shot on goal. Knight made his 11th save of the night. The Zegras line followed up with a strong shift of their own.

The Blackhawks got their first line out against the Flyers' fourth line, and scored. Anton Frondell made a nice backhand feed to Bedard, who  wired home a shot to get Chicago on the board at 11:11. The assists went to Frondell and Crevier.

The Flyers struck back quickly. Michkov won a board battle against Wyatt Kaiser and found Cates moving along through the middle. Cates finished it off on the backhand at 12:41. The assists went to Michkov and Bump.

Cates had another prime chance with play ticking down near the 2:00 mark.

Ristolainen landed a clean hit on Bedard. Couturier wasn't quite able to finish off a 1-on-1 opportunity against Knight.

The Chicago netminder was hung out to dry again at 19:35. Dvorak was wide open and tapped in a deflected Tippett shot. Cates earned the secondary helper.

Shots: Flyers 15 (24 overall)  - Blackhawks 10 (19 overall)
Faceoffs; Flyers 14 (22 overall) - Blackhawks 5 (13 overall)

THIRD PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Tippett hustled to beat out an icing. Zegras ripped the puck on net at 2:18.

Through four minutes, shots on goal were 4-2 in Philly's favor. On the next shift, Bump made a strong play off the wall and cut to the inside.

Glendening tipped a point shot just wide from the slot as the period passed the nine-minute mark.

The Flyers went to their fourth power play at 10:49. Frondell went off for hooking. Drysdale ripped a center point shot on net with traffic in front. Zegras had a 40-footer with 31 seconds left in the 5-on-4.

Zegras was denied on a good scoring chance at one end. Ersson made an excellent save on the doorstep at the other.

Shots: Flyers 17 (41 overall)  - Blackhawks  7 (26 overall)
Faceoffs; Flyers 11  (33 overall) - Blackhawks 7 (20 overall)

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

Alex Bump – Christian Dvorak – Travis Konecny
Denver Barkey – Trevor Zegras – Owen Tippett
Carl Grundstrom – Noah Cates – Matvei Michkov
Sean Couturier - Luke Glendening -- Garnet Hathaway

Travis Sanheim – Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York – Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler – Emil Andrae

Samuel Ersson
[Dan Vladar]

Postgame RAV4 (RAV4 Things Revisited)

1. Noah Cates

The Flyers' center, who leads the team in scoring since the Olympic break, asserted himself in a major way as Philly bounced back quickly from a Chicago goal and started to pull away.

2. Puck possession and management

Chicago is a team that often struggles with turnovers in dangerous areas of the ice. The Flyers took full advantage to build a two-goal lead before the game was three minutes old.

3. Bear down on scoring chances

Philly converted each of their first two opportunities into goals and nearly scored again  Overall, the first period was sloppy for both teams but the Flyers emerged from it well set up for the game. They remained opportunistic in the middle stanza -- getting to the middle of the ice and attacking the net.

4. Contain Bedard

The Blackhawks' leading scorer  wired home his 30th goal to briefly narrow Philly's edge. Through two periods, he had three shots on goal.