Training Camp Report: Scrimmage Day

The Flyers Training Center was packed with fans on Day 4 of training camp as the team held a 45-minute intrasquad scrimmage on Sunday. Before the scrimmage, the team conducted a special-teams focused practice.

The scrimmage saw Team Orange defeat Team Black, 4-3. Prior to the scrimmage, the Flyers held their first special teams based practice during camp.
Practice Notes:
During the special teams portion of practice on the Flyers' rink, players combined from Groups A and B. Simultaneously, a concurrent "regular" practice took place on the Phantoms' rink.
PP1: Giroux, Couturier, JVR, Konecny, Yandle.
PP2: Farabee, Brassard/Frost, Atkinson, Provorov, Ellis.
PKers: Thompson and Laughton, Lindblom and Aube-Kubel, Bunnaman and Rubtsov. D pairs were Sanheim with Braun and Clendening with Ristolainen
* On the first unit, Claude Giroux rotated reps on the left/right side, switching off with Sean Couturier. James van Riemsdyk was stationed at net-front. Travis Konecny was in the slot. Yandle was at the point.
* On the second unit, the Flyers featured a two-defensemen (Provorov and Ellis) look at the points with three forwards up front. Brassard and Frost alternated reps. Frost scored a goal on one of his reps as he fired home a shot from the left slot.
* With power play personnel separated between the two sides playing in the scrimmage, some additional players saw time during power plays, including Oskar Lindblom, Tyson Foerster and Isaac Ratcliffe for Team Orange and Rasmus Ristolainen, Scott Laughton and Cam York for Team Black.
SCRIMMAGE NOTES
Maksim Sushko, Tyson Foerster (power play), Ivan Provorov (power play), Elliot Desnoyers tallied for the winning Team Orange side. Team Black's Max Willman opened the scoring in the game while goals by German Rubtsov and Cam York cut a three-goal deficit to a single goal in the second half. Team Black pressed heavily for a tying goal late in the scrimmage but couldn't quite find an equalizer.
Starting lines were as follows:
TEAM ORANGE
Claude Giroux - Sean Couturier - Travis Konecny
Oskar Lindblom - Derick Brassard - Cam Atkinson
Isaac Ratcliffe - Cal O'Reilly - Tyson Foerster
Matthew Strome - Elliot Desnoyers - Gerry Mayhew
Ivan Provorov - Ryan Ellis
Keith Yandle - Justin Braun
Egor Zamula - Nick Seeler
Quinn Schmiemann - Logan Day
Carter Hart/ Samuel Ersson
TEAM BLACK
James van Riemsdyk - Morgan Frost - Joel Farabee
Nate Thompson - Scott Laughton - Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Connor Bunnaman - German Rubtsov - Linus Sandin
Garrett Wilson - Jackson Cates - Max Willman
Travis Sanheim - Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York - Adam Clendening
Mason Millman - Wyatte Wylie
Brian Zanetti - Ethan Samson
Martin Jones / Felix Sandström
* Team Orange starter Carter Hart probably would have liked to have Willman's goal back. He was beaten on a low shot from the center slot.
* Team Orange rallied for each of the next three goals in the first half. An Ellis point shot changed direction -- possibly even double-deflected -- with Sushko being the last one to touch the puck as the score was tied at 1-1.
* Team Black did not do much with a designated power play segment. When it was Team Orange's turn to play on a 5-on-4, they cashed in twice against Martin Jones to open a 3-1 lead. First, on a somewhat broken play, a loose puck went to the dangerous Foerster in the slot and he deposited it in the back of the net. Shortly thereafter, Provorov snuck in from the point to take a centering pass from Brassard and fired it into the open side of the net.
* Early in the second half, Rubtsov scored a goal against Hart that cut the gap to 3-2. The shot seemed to surprise the goaltender.
* Although he is only 18 years old, Flyers 2021 fourth-round pick Brian Zanetti looked smooth and poised with the puck on his stick in the scrimmage just as it has during practice sessions. The young defenseman sometimes gets outmuscled defensively but he has good feet and a quick stick. It will be interesting to track his progress in the Ontario Hockey League during the 2021-22 season.
* Overall, the scrimmage was not an especially physical contest. The exception was when Ristolainen and Isaac Ratcliffe came together. Two of the biggest and strongest players repeatedly bumped and jostled with one another.
* Desnoyers' goal was one for which the top line for Team Black would like a do-over, especially Frost. At the beginning of the sequence, Frost put the puck around the boards from near the left corner. The right wing, however, was vacated by Farabee and Team Orange had an easy keep. Shortly thereafter, Frost got outworked on the boards by the 19-year-old Desnoyers. The puck went back up high again and across the ice. In the meantime, Frost was beaten off the wall and to the net by eventual goal-scorer Desnoyers. Both Farabee and especially Frost were upset with themselves as they skated off the ice.

* After York narrowed the deficit to 4-3, Team Black tried to make a late push and very nearly scored on a 6-on-5 before time expired. A great save denied the potential buzzer-beater.
QUOTEBOOK
* Alain Vigneault on the scrimmage: "It was great to see a jam-packed place here today. I thought the pace was good. The execution was what is expected at this time of the year. There wasn't, obviously, an over amount of physicality, which is normal for guys playing against one another. There were a lot of good stick position, good plays, and a couple of real good saves. For our first real scrimmage there, we worked a little bit on our specialty teams before. We also worked on it during the scrimmage. It was a first overall pretty good day for that."
* Vigneault on the special teams portion of practice: "We had two real good meetings prior to coming on the ice, one power play, one penalty killing. We threw a lot of things at the players there. I expect this to be a learning process. We're going to touch on specialty teams again on Wednesday. This is a big part of team success. You have to be good penalty killers and you have to be good on the power play. Power play has to give you momentum. We've got some good elements. It's up to us here to make it work."
* Vigneault on the JVR-Frost-Farabee line through four days: "I'm very happy with what I'm seeing from Frosty. Didn't know what to expect since he didn't play last year. I liked him in rookie camp. He's come here and he's continued. You see, physically that he's confident and he's skating well. We worked on the power play prior to the scrimmage. I liked a lot of his decisions on the ice with the puck. Joel and JvR played together last year, quite a few games with different centerman. There's some chemistry there. We'll see moving forward how those guys can do together."
* Vigneault on Nicolas Aube-Kubel seeing PK duty in practice and the scrimmage: "I would like to have that in my repertoire. Great skater. Hard on the puck. Came to camp in phenomenal shape. He's one of our best conditioned athletes, so there's no doubt that he took this summer very seriously for himself and for his career. In Kubes' case, I think he's in that bottom six forwards. If you can find a couple of extra minutes by either playing the power play or killing, they're huge for your ice distribution. Staying fresh and making sure that everybody's got a roll. If we could do that with Kube, it's something that I would definitely be happy about."
* Vigneault on Cam Atkinson playing with Brassard: "The things that we're trying to see right now is who does have chemistry with one another and who's going to make this team, the best possible team. I know those guys go way back. I've liked both of them. Both the energy that they've brought and the enthusiasm they've brought so far. "
* Vigneault on the progress made by Tysor Foerster over the past year: "I was telling Chuck. I don't want to say surprise because surprise is not the right word. I remember him from last year when he came around Christmas with our group and I saw him skate. I'm looking at him now and there's a definite improvement in his skating, definite improvement in his puck protection. He loves to shoot the puck. That's a great quality to have, especially when you have that release. He's a young player, but we're going to give him a look. He's definitely going to get out there in the exhibition there. See what he can prove and show what he can do for us."
* Lindblom on whether he feels stronger physically and more energetic than at any time during the 2020-21 season: "A hundred percent. Last year, I had problems just getting myself around. It's just a battle. I can do what I want to without thinking about how tired I'm going to be the next shift so it feels good to be that way."
* Lindblom on the big crowd in attendance: "It was most fun to see all the fans here. I don't think I've ever seen that many fans in here ever, since I first got here. That was crazy. It's still tough, first game of the year. It's tough to get in the timing and all that, but I think overall, we played a pretty good game."
* Ellis on his pairing with Ivan Provorov and building a relationship on and off the ice: "It's been great. We're trying to get to know each other on and off the ice as much as possible. Honestly, I'm kind of just following him around. We're working out together, riding the bike together and obviously, skating together. I just want to get to know him as a person and a player as much as possible and before game one. I think that chemistry goes a long way when you're friends and buddies off the ice. I think it promotes good things on the ice.

"Provy is a beast in the gym, so I kind of just follow him around. I just want to get as big as Provy and do my thing with him [laughs]. He loves the game. I didn't think that anyone loved it more than I did, but he's right up there. He's always here early. We always get here at the same time. Like I said, we just follow each other around and try to do our best to get to know each other."
* Aube-Kubel on the opportunity to earn a shot to become part of the Flyers' PK rotation: "It's a role I really want to have this year. I had a few touches last year but nothing crazy. I really want to have that role this year and get better every day."