Postgame RAV4: Flyers Fall to Detroit, 4-2

The Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Detroit Red Wings, 4-2, at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Thursday evening. Philly never led in the game but controlled the play for long stretches.

The first period was rather evenly played. The big difference was that Detroit received two power plays. On the second, Alex Debrincat (PPG, 38th) gave Detroit a 1-0 lead in the latter stages of the frame.

For the first time since suffering an upper body injury on December 1, winger Tyson Foerster was back in the Flyers' lineup. Porter Martone made his home debut.

Early in the second period, Foerster turned a broken play into the tying goal (11th). Late in the frame, Lucas Raymond (25th) restored the lead for the Red Wings.

The Flyers dominated the first half of the third period. However, midway through the frame, Patrick Kane (14th) made it a 3-1 game. Martone assisted on a Travis Konecny goal (27th) to bring Philly back within a goal but Alex Debrincat (39th) scored his second of the game on the next shift.

Samuel Ersson stopped 15 of 19 shots. John Gibson made 32 saves on 34 shots.

The Flyers went 0-for-1 on the power play. They were 1-for-2 on the PK.

FIRST PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Foerster registered a shot on goal from the right circle on the game's first shift. At 2:30, Luke Glenending had a scoring chance in transition. Martone missed the net on his first shot attempt and was knocked down by Gibson.

The Flyers did a very good job early at bottling up Detroit in the neutral zone and forcing dump-ins without much puck pursuit. At 5:30, Sean Couturier landed a big hit on Emmit Finnie at the offensive blueline.

There were scrums after each of the game's first two whistles. On the second at 6:23, Martone was called for a cross checking penalty.  At 7:13, Ersson denied  Dylan Larkin and froze the puck. Ersson later made a point blank save on Larkin.

Martone had an impressive forechecking shift, working out from behind the net. At the other end, after Rasmus Ristolainen fell down, Ersson made a save on a Patrick Kane wrist shot from long range.

Travis Konecny and Christian Dvorak had a 2-on-1 opportunity. The pass didn't quite connect and Philly did not get a shot on net from it.'

Moritz Seider delivered a shoulder check to Emil Andrae as the Flyers' defenseman skated the puck into the offensive zone. The main impact to to the diminutive Andrae's head. No penalty was called.

Detroit went back to the power play at 18:32 on a questionable tripping penalty called on Couturier in the offensive zone. Detroit won the faceoff and cashed in for a Debrincat power play goal at 18:49 from above the hash marks. The assists went to Kane and Seider.

The Flyers were credited with 12 first-period hits. Detroit also had 12.

Shots: Flyers 7 - Red Wings 7 
Faceoffs; Flyers 7 - Red Wings 9

SECOND PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Just 31 seconds into the period, the Flyers got some puck luck. Owen Tippett  flubbed a one-timer off a pass from Trevor Zegras. The puck went to Foerster, who rifled a wrister home.

Detroit responded by controlling puck possession on four of the next six shots. At 5:54, the Flyers had a 4-on-2 when two Detroit players bumped in the neutral zone. Matvei Michkov got a shot out of it.

Foerster ripped another shot on net as he stepped off the bench and took a drop pass from Zegras. At 8:20, Detroit iced the puck. Shots on goal were 6-2 Flyers.

Ersson lost his mask for a stoppage. As play resumed, he made a tough save on Finnie from the slot. At 12:32, York made a nice play behind the net and attempted a wraparound.

The Flyers' fourth line had an excellent shift with Carl Grundstrom winning a battle in the corner. For the second time in the game, Glendening had an excellent scoring chance. GIbson made the save at 15:22.

Ersson made a critical save on Debrincat off a Detroit 2-on-1. The chance came at the end of the Dvorak line pressing in the offensive zone. At 17:32, Tippett had a fine entry into the attack zone and slipped a pass to Zegras. Gibson made the stop.

At 18:29, Raymond got open in the left side as Detroit worked the puck out of the corner to the middle and then to the goal scorer. It was a rough shift for Jamie Drysdale. The assists went to J.T. Compher and Simon Edvinsson.

Through two periods, the Flyers had the better of puck possession but Detroit held the lead. Martone led the Flyers with four shots on goal. Three of Philly's four lines were generating good shifts. The Noah Cates line with Denver Barkey and Matvei Michkov struggled.

Shots: Flyers 12 (19 overall)  - Red Wings 8 (15 overall)

Faceoffs: Flyers 10 (17 overall) - Red Wings 7 (16 overall)

THIRD PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Forty-nine seconds into the period, Konecny fed an open Martone for a chance from the left hash marks. Gibson made the save. At 1:49, Raymond hooked York behind the Philly net. The Flyers went to their first power play. On the 5-on-4, a Ristolainen shot produced a rebound. Konecny later found Martone for a very heavy shot.

Martone moved between the circles for yet another chance. His seventh shot of the game went off Gibson's mask. At 17:19, Martone missed by a whisker again off a feed from Konecny. Michkov had a look from the side of the net at 8:44. Shots were 12-1 Philly.

Detroit made 3-1 off a center ice turnover that led to a 2-on-1. Kane buried the shot at 9:37. The assists went to Andrew Copp and Albert Johansson.

At 10:29, a would-be Flyers goal got waved off as Martone threw the puck at the net. Jacob-Bernard Docker appeared to push Konecny into contact with Gibson. The Flyers' bench challenged the ruling. On reply it was ruled that the puck went into the net before the contact even happened. The goal was credited to Konecny, assisted by Martone and Dvorak.

Unfortunately, Debrincat got the goal right back on a bounce out of the corner. The shot went off Ristolainen into the net at 10:43. The assists went to Copp and Kane at 10:44. 

The Flyers pulled Ersson with 2:20 left.

Shots: Flyers 15  (34 overall)  - Red Wings 4  (19 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 8 (25 overall) - Red Wings 9  (25 overall)

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

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

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

Dan Vladar

[Samuel Ersson]

Postgame RAV4 (RAV4 Things Revisited)

1. Home crowd energy

As expected, the Xfinity Mobile Arena crowd was rocking even before the drop of the game's opening faceoff. Philly dominated long stretches of the game but didn't get the result.

2. Between the pipes

Ersson played fine most of the night. A couple turnovers proved fatal.

3. Sanheim and Ristolainen

The Flyers top pair was minus-one on the night.

4. Young guns

Martone was a force most of the night. That was a bright spot.