Postgame RAV4: Six Flyers Tally in Win over Utah

The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Utah Mammoth, 6-3, at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Sunday. Philly snapped a three-game winless skid.

The Flyers took a brief first-period lead on Matvei Michkov's 10th goal of the season. Utah got it back quickly as Dmitriy Simashev (3rd) turned a favorable bounce into a goal.

Exiting the Injured Reserve list, Travis Konecny (1st) restored a lead to the Flyers early in the second period. Noah Cates (2nd) soon extended the Philly lead to two goals. 

In the third period, goals by Christian Dvorak (3rd) and Oliver Bonk (1st) opened up a four-goal edge in the first 5:35. Mikhail Sergachev (PPG, 5th) got a goal back for the Mammoth. Logan Cooley (8th) got another power-play goal at 17:07.

Capping off the scoring, Cole Knuble (3rd) bagged an empty-net goal.

Dan Vladar earned the win with 19 saves on 22 shots. Countryman Karel Vejmelka stopped 16 of 20 shots.

1ST PERIOD

The first minute of the game was spent in the Flyers' end of the ice. Vladar made a glove save on Barrett Hayton and held for a stoppage.

Travis Konecny had a good forechecking shift his first time on the ice after missing 10 games. At 4:12, Sean Couturier's forechecking work opened up a chance for Noel Acciari. Noah Cates won the next faceoff cleanly for a shot from the point.

Utah went to the game's first power play at 5:15. Jamie Drysdale was called for holding behind the net. After multiple failed clearing chances for Philly, Nick Schmaltz fired a shot on net from the center slot. The Flyers killed off the remainder, playing aggressively along the boards.

Vladar stopped a chance from the slot at 8:03. Shots were 5-3 Mammoth. At 10:20, he gloved down a Dmitriy Simashev point shot. 

Utah paid the price for a Nate Schmidt turnover under pressure as the Flyers took a 1-0 lead at 12:49. got the puck to Porter Martone. Michkov went to the net. The puck came to him via Cates. Michkov sniped a shot upstairs.

The Mammoth capitalized on a weird bounce and tied the score at 14:24. The primary assist went to Vincent Trocheck, who flipped the puck into the Philly zone. Logan Cooley got the secondary assist.

Martone went off for hooking at 15:28; Utah went to its second power play. The Flyers killed it off.

The two teams combined for 20 charged turnovers in the first period: 11 giveaways by Utah and 9 charged to the Flyers.

Shots: Flyers 7 -- Mammoth 9
Faceoffs: Flyers 10 -- Mammoth 13

2ND PERIOD

Christian Dvorak rang a shot off the post, but the Flyers stayed with it and scored. Konecny made a backhand pass near the net, intended for Dvorak. The puck went off a defender and into the net at 1:06. The assists went to Drysdale and Dvorak.

Trevor Zegras got dropped in the offensive corner. While he was still down, Konecny knocked Artem Duda on top of Zegras. Meanwhile, a moment later, Cates scored for a 3-1 lead. The assists went to Travis Sanheim and Drysdale. Zegras was OK afterwards.

Through 8:30, shots for the period were 4-3 Flyers. On the next shift, Konecny tangled with Mackenzie Weegar on the side boards. Four penalties were called: Zegras (roughing), Konecny (unsportsmanlike conduct), Cooley (roughing) andSergachev (roughing). Play stayed at 5-on-5. 

At 9:18, Tyson Foerster stepped out from behind the net for a bang-bang scoring chance. Vejmelka made the save.

Knuble created the first power play at 10:53. Andrew Peeke interfered with his forechecking effort. The Flyers nearly got a lucky bounce off a Utah skate. Vejmelka froze the puck.

Shots: Flyers 9 (16 overall) - Mammoth 5 (14 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 12 (19 overall) - Mammoth 7 (20 overall)

3RD PERIOD

The Flyers got the puck in deep. Dvorak was alone in the slot to take a Konecny pass and score. The secondary assist went to Sanheim at 1:02.

Taking advantage of a screen created by Foerster, Bonk ripped home his first goal of the season and 2nd career NHL tally at 5:35. Assists went to Cam York and Sean Couturier.

Vladar made a point-blank save on Lawson Crouse. Utah went to the power play at 8:22 on a Simon Benoit tripping minor. Vladar stopped a one-time blast from the right side.

Benoit landed a big hit on Cooley. Moments later, he fought Crouse. The Flyers received a power play as Cooley was tagged with an extra roughing minor.

Vladar made a tough stop on Clayton Keller. Time ticked down to 5:05.

Couturier was called for hooking at 14:59. Sergachev ripped home a point blast off a Schmaltz feed at 16:00. The other assist went to Keller.

Cates received a neutral-zone tripping penalty at 16:26. Cooley turned it into a goal. The assists went to Schmaltz and Keller again.

The Mammoth pulled Vejmelka for a 6-on-5 attack. Acciari chipped the puck ahead to Knuble, who finished the play into an empty net. Drysdale got the other assist.

Shots: Flyers 5 (21 overall) - Mammoth 8 (22 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 9 (28 overall) - Mammoth 6 (26 overall)

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

Trevor Zegras - Christian Dvorak - Travis Konecny 
Tyson Foerster - Denver Barkey - Owen Tippett 
Porter Martone - Noah Cates - Matvei Michkov 
Cole Knuble - Sean Couturier - Noel Acciari  

Travis Sanheim - Jamie Drysdale 
Cam York - Oliver Bonk 
Nick Seeler - Simon Benoit

Dan Vladar

[Joseph Woll]

POSTGAME RAV4 (RAV4 Things Revisited)

1. Play from ahead

The Flyers scored first for just the sixth time so far this season. The edge was short-lived. The game went to the second period tied at 1-1. In the second period, the Flyers forged ahead and were able to build on it.

2. Balanced scoring

The Flyers got goals from six different sources as they built a lead. That was greatly needed. Meanwhile, the team was able to roll all four lines at even strength.

3. Special teams

The Flyers went 0-for-3 on the power play. They were 3-for-5 on the penalty kill against the team that entered the game with the NHL's top-ranked power play. 

4. Between the pipes

In the battle of two Czech netminders, defending Bobby Clarke Trophy winner Vladar came out on top. Vladar's stat line got pulled down a bit by the two late Utah power-play goals. Nevertheless, he played a strong game.