The Philadelphia Flyers (35-24-12) wasted no time getting to work, as the offense came alive early in a much-needed bounce-back 5-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks (27-32-13).
First Period
It took just 48 seconds for the Flyers to open the scoring. Alex Bump got the Flyers on the board after Spencer Knight left his crease to play the puck, but Christian Dvorak intercepted his attempted pass and quickly set up Bump, who capitalized with Knight still scrambling back to the net.
The Flyers kept their foot on the gas, and just under two minutes later, Sean Couturier made it 2-0. Luke Glendening forced a turnover and set up Couturier, who buried his 9th goal of the season.
Those two goals came on the Flyers’ first two shots of the night, an unusually fast start for a team that has struggled to generate early offense at times this season.
The Flyers earned the game’s first power play at 11:40 after Louis Crevier was called for interference, but it was Chicago that nearly struck shorthanded. Sam Ersson turned aside a breakaway attempt from the Blackhawks, making a big save on a shot from Ilya Mikheyev. The Flyers managed just one shot on the man advantage from Dvorak.
Late in the period, penalties began to stack up. Sacha Boisvert, making his NHL debut, was called for hooking at 17:42, but the Flyers’ power play was cut short when Matvei Michkov was sent off for hooking, leading to 4-on-4 play. Moments later, Artyom Levshunov was whistled for high-sticking, continuing a chaotic stretch, though the score remained 2-0 heading into intermission.
Second Period
The second period opened with more penalty carryover, resulting in a brief stretch of 4-on-4, followed by a short Flyers power play, and even a brief 4-on-3 sequence after Rasmus Ristolainen was called for boarding. Despite the unusual flow, neither team capitalized.
At 5:14, the Flyers broke through again. Trevor Zegras and Owen Tippett worked the puck up ice, with Zegras getting a shot off before Denver Barkey cleaned up the rebound to extend the lead to 3-0.
Chicago got one back at 11:11, and it was no surprise who provided it. Connor Bedard finished off a slick behind-the-back pass from Anton Frondell to cut the deficit to 3-1.
The Flyers responded quickly. Just over a minute later, Noah Cates restored the three-goal lead, finishing off a beautiful setup from Michkov, who delivered a behind-the-back pass of his own, with Bump picking up the secondary assist.
Philadelphia kept pushing late in the period, and at 19:35, Christian Dvorak added to the lead. Tippett and Cates picked up the assists as the Flyers took a commanding 5-1 advantage into the second intermission.
Despite the scoreline, Knight made several key stops to keep things from getting further out of hand, but the Flyers controlled the period from start to finish, earning a strong ovation from the home crowd.
Third Period
The third period was much quieter by comparison. Both teams generated chances, but Ersson and Knight held firm, turning it into more of a goaltending battle.
The Flyers had another opportunity on the power play at 10:49 after Frondell was called for hooking, with Jamie Drysdale and Zegras each registering shots, but Knight stood tall once again.
From there, Philadelphia comfortably saw the game out to secure the 5-1 win.
Knight finished with 37 saves on 42 shots, including 17 in the third period, while Ersson stopped 25 of 26 shots and was named the game’s first star.
Dvorak earned the second star of the game with a goal and an assist while going 7-for-9 at the faceoff dot, and Drysdale was named the third star of the game with a +3 performance.
Up Next
The Flyers hit the road to take on the Detroit Red Wings (38-25-8) on Saturday, March 28 in their first meeting of the season. Puck drop is set for 8pm/ET.
