Postgame RAV4: Flyers Stumble in Detroit

The Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Detroit Red Wings, 6-3, at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday night. A bad night on special teams negated Philadelphia's edge at 5-on-5.

The Flyers went  1-for-6 on the power play and yielded a killer shorthanded goal. Meanwhile, the Detroit power play went 3-for-4. The Red Wings also scored a 4-on-4 goal for good measure.

Scoring his fourth goal in three games against the Flyers, Alex Debrincat (PPG, 40th) gave Detroit an early first period lead. Christan Dvorak (18th) got it back in the middle stages of the period. Porter Martone set it up.

Detroit opened the second period with 5-on-3 and 5-on-4 power play goals by Moritz Seider (10th) and Dylan Larkin (32nd). Detroit grabbed a 3-1 lead. The Red Wings made it 4-1 on a Larkin shorthanded goal Martone (PPG, 2nd) narrowed the deficit back to two goals.

A Red Wings line rush goal by Patrick Kane (16th) made it 5-2 in the third period. Larkin finished off the hat trick (34th) to open a four-goal advantage. Luke Glendening (2nd) scored a late goal.

Dan Vladar allowed four goals on eight shots, exiting at 4:54 of the second period. In relief, Samuel Ersson stopped 13 of 15 shots. John Gibson started the game for Detroit, allowing two goals on 15 shots. Due to injury, he was replaced in the second period by Cam Talbot (10 saves on 11 shots).

The Columbus Blue Jacket lost in regulation to the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday. The New York Islanders breezed past the Toronto Maple Leafs. Philadelphia still holds third place in the Metropolitan Division but only by one point over New York and two points over Columbus.

FIRST PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Vladar had to make a skate save on the game's first shift. At the other end of the ice, Christian Dvorak had a shot. Two shifts later, Gibson made a pad save on Foerster.

At 2;07, Matvei Michkov took a roughing minor. DeBrincat, on his second scoring chance of the 5-on-4, backhanded a shot past Vladar for a 1-0 lead at 2:28. Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider earned the assists.

The Flyers went to the power play on a Justin Faulk interference penalty at 2:45. Philadelphia had a couple of good looks but they weren't quite able to connect.

Zegras attempted a "Michigan" lacrosse-style shot. He hit the post.

The Flyers' fourth line had a good forechecking shift as the period neared the halfway mark. On the next shift, Jamie Drysdale nearly connected on a potential home run stretch pass to Foerster.

Detroit went back to the power play at 9:57 as Foester was called for a holding the stick penalty behind the net. Patrick Kane created a scramble near the net early in the 5-on-4. Sean Couturier had a clearing pass down the ice 50 seconds into the kill. Philly killed the penalty.

With Foerster exiting the box, Travis Sanheim joined the play as a trailer. An attempted back-door play did not connect.

Philly drew even at 13:24. With traffic in front, Martone put the puck at the net. Dvorak redirected it home to tie the score at 1-1. The secondary assist went to Travis Konecny (40th assist of the season).

Larkin fired a shot off the post and it got a piece of Vladar's mask. The goaltender was fine. 

Ben Chiarot grabbed hold of Owen TIppett for a minor penalty at 18:26. The Flyers second unit started the 5-on-4. The penalties: a cross-checking minor on Martone and roughing penalties on Rasmus Ristolainen and Raymond.

Shots: Flyers 11 - Red Wings 4 (Shot attempts were 24-8 Philadelphia)
Faceoffs; Flyers 11 - Red Wings 6

SECOND PERIOD SYNOPSIS

The period opened with 26 seconds of 4-on-4 time, followed by Detroit's third power play of the game. Unfortunately, at the 0:15 mark, Tippett ran into Gibson, creating a 4-on-3 then 5-on-3 power play for Detroit.

Kane got the puck on the half wall and passed to Seider for a one-timer that found the net at 0:31. The second assist went to Dylan Larkin.

The Red Wings remained on the power play, now a 5-on-4. They struck again at 1:48 as Kane fed Larkin for a shot over the blocker at 1:48. The secondary helper went to Seider.

Seider grabbed hold of Martone for a holding penalty at 2:43. Faulk tripped Tippett at 4:15 to give Philly a 5-on-3 for 28 seconds. With play at 5-on-4, Larkin scored shorthanded for a 4-1 lead. The sequence started with a blocked pass by Albert Johansson.

Vladar exited the game. Ersson came in.

The Flyers went back to the power play at 8:58. Faulk returned to the penalty box for hooking. Scoring his second career power play goal in as many games, Martone set up at the back post and slid home a goal at 9:25. The assists went to Zegras and Jamie Drysdale.

Talbot came in to replace Gibson in goal at 10:40. 

Shots: Flyers 8 (19 overall)  - Red Wings 12 (16 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 8 (19 overall) - Red Wings 14 (20 overall)

THIRD PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Through three minutes, shots on goal were 2-0 Flyers.

Ristolainen was not quite able to connect on a back door pass intended for Tippett, who wiped out and fell. At the other end, Luke Glendening broke up a potential scoring chance.

Talbot came out to deny a potential chance for Sanheim. Shots were 3-0 Philly.

Kane made it 5-2 off the rush on the final part of a tic-tac-toe sequence at 7:01. The assists went to Edvinsson and Seider.

Zegras (elbowing) and Johansson (roughing) went off for coincidental minors at 10:20. Two minutes of 4-on-4 play ensued.

On another transition rush, Detroit had a 2-on-1. At 11:39, Larkin finished off the hat trick on a pass from Seider.

Edvinsson took a high sticking penalty at 13:15. Philly didn't score.

On a Sean Couturier entry, Denver Barkey set up a chance that Glendening fished off at 18:09. Barkey and Couturier had the assists.

Shots: Flyers 9 (28 overall)  - Red Wings 7 (23 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 7 (26 overall) - Red Wings 8 (28 overall)

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

Tyson Foerster – Trevor Zegras – Owen Tippett
Travis Konecny – Christian Dvorak – Porter Martone
Alex Bump– Noah Cates – Matvei Michkov 

Denver Barkey – Sean Couturier --  Luke Glendening

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

Dan Vladar
[Samuel Ersson]

Postgame RAV4 (RAV4 Things Revisited)

1. Play from ahead

The Flyers outplayed Detroit in the first period. However, a bad penalty put Philly in an early 1-0 deficit. They were able to equalize the score by the end of the period. Unfortunately, continued discipline lapses and then a power play turnover proved very costly in the second period.

2. Flyers scoring leaderboard

Travis Konecny entered Thursday's game one point ahead of Trevor Zegras (66 to 65) for the Flyers' overall scoring lead. Both players had an assist in the game. Konency (67 points) retains a one-point lead on Zegras (66).

3. Between the pipes

Vladar could not be blamed for any of the four goals he allowed but he situationally needed a save on the Larkin shorthanded goal.

4. Contain Kane and company

The Flyers came into the game knowing which four players they needed to contain: Kane, Debrincat, Larkin, Raymond and Seider. It wasn't to be. Seider  (1g, 4a) racked up a five-point night. Larkin (3g, 1a) had four points. Kane (1g, 2a) posted three points. Debrincat scored a goal. Raymond notched a pair of assists.