POSTGAME 5: Seattle "Kracked" and Crushed

In their first-ever game against the brand-new expansion team, the Philadelphia Flyers thumped the Seattle Kraken, 6-1, at the Wells Fargo Center on Monday evening. The Flyers kept up the pressure most of the game and also answered the bell physically when challenged.

The Flyers took a 3-0 lead to the first intermission. Claude Giroux (2nd goal of the season), Travis Konecny (2nd) and Derick Brassard (1st as a Flyer) all tallied even strength goals. Flyers defensemen Ryan Ellis (1st as a Flyer) and Justin Braun (1st of the season) added to the lead in the second period before Seattle defenseman Carson Soucy (1st) got one back. .
Carter Hart earned the win in goal. He was tested a few times early before the Flyers got their game cranked up. Hart finished with 24 saves on 25 shots.
Phillip Grubauer lasted just 28:49 before he was chased from the game. The Flyers beat him five times on 20 shots. Chris Driedger, seeing his first action with Seattle, took over in relief. He stopped 6 of 7 shots.
The Flyers went 0-for-2 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.
TURNING POINT
Hart's save on Jordan Eberle's backhanded from the goal-mouth prevented what looked like a probable Seattle goal and was quickly followed by Giroux's tally that opened the scored -- and the floodgates -- for the Flyers.

MELTZER'S TAKE
1) Hart came up big twice in the opening period. First, he stopped Joonas Donskoi on a breakaway after an up-ice turnover by Keith Yandle. Later, Hart made a point-blank save on what looked like a sure goal for Jordan Eberle. On the next shift, Giroux gained entry on a rush, exchanged passes with Konecny and fired the puck home at 9:18. Less than three minutes later, the Flyers' top line struck again. Seattle turned the puck over at the Flyers line. Yandle sent an outstanding lead pass up to Konecny. Grubauer made an initial save but Konecny fired home his own rebound at 12:12. The Flyers went back to the attack after getting their forecheck set up. Philly then had some self-created good puck luck. Travis Sanheim passed D-to-D to Justin Braun, who rotated the puck to Brassard. From outside the right dot, Brassard's shot deflected off the skate of Seattle defenseman Colton Soucy and into the net. Late in the period, Adam Larsson took a cross checking penalty. The Flyers took 1:45 of carryover power play time into the second period.

2) Seattle had four of the game's first five shots on goal, and the Flyers had some issues with needing multiple cracks at breakouts due to errant passing. Philly then settled in and took over the period to build a 16-8 shot on goal edge, 66.67 percent share of 5-on-5 shot attempts, a 14-5 scoring chance edge and 6-3 high-danger chance advantage. Philadelphia was credited with 10 first-period hits, led by three from Nate Thompson. The Flyers also dominated the faceoff circle, winning 12 of 17 draws (led by Giroux going a perfect 7-for-7).
3) The Flyers kept their foot on the gas pedal until they'd built a 5-0 lead. At 7:10, Ellis made a beeline for the net when he saw a wide open lane as his team was about to win a board battle. Brassard fired a tape-to-tape pass to the veteran defenseman and Grubauer had no chance. Joel Farabee picked up the secondary assist. At 8:49, veteran defensive D-man Braun scored a rare goal. He fired from the bottom of the right circle and Grubauer had it leak through; assists to van Riemsdyk and Oskar Lindblom earned the assists. That goal ended Grubauer's night.

4) Things got testy right off the next center ice faceoff. At the 12:00 mark, Nicolas Aube-Kubel took a needless cross-checking penalty deep in Seattle territory. As the animosity escalated, Nick Seeler gamely fought the gargantuan Jamie Oleksiak. Seeler received a flurry of punches (mostly to the helmet) but did not back up an inch. The Flyers penalty kill had to go to work three times in the period but did a much improved job of getting sticks and bodies in the lane to disrupt and pressure Seattle. At 5-on-5, Soucy got a goal back for his team, following up his own shot. The assists went to Jared McCann and Donskoi at 17:14. Second period shots ended up 8-5 in Seattle's favor (21-16 Flyers through two periods) after a late push by the Kraken.

5) The Flyers made it 6-1 when Joel Farabee potted the juicy rebound of at Atkinson shot from the right wing. The secondary assist at 5:25 went to Brassard. The Flyers continued to stifle the Kraken. With 10:49 left, Bastian went at Thompson for a second time (they'd gotten matching misconducts during the earlier Seeler vs. Oleksiak scrap), This one turned in a one-sided beatdown of Bastian. The Flyers held Seattle to just one shot through the first 10-plus minutes of the period. During garbage time, with the outcome long decided, Hart got tested a few times.