Halfway through the season, the Philadelphia Flyers are 9th in the NHL in points, and 2nd in the Metropolitan Division.
Whether or not guys are overplaying their true talent level, this is an undisputedly fun hockey team to watch. Today, I wanted to take another look at our wins to breakdown why they’re impressive enough to visit this homestand.
There will be great teams coming to the Wells Fargo Center like the Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche, and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Now, I do not expect them to win every game. However, I do expect them to keep it close, and will likely squeeze a couple points on this stretch. Let’s go through each game of their current win streak to see why they would be worth your while.
I was at this game, and there could not have been a more infuriating way to start. Remember, they just got clobbered at home against the Penguins to a 4-1 final while news broke that Cutter Gauthier was traded for Jamie Drysdale. In the first minute and a half of the game, a weird shot finds its way to the back of the net. Now, sometimes you get lucky, and other times you get REALLY lucky. The Canadiens must have had a four-leaf clover in their pocket because their second shot of the night went in as well halfway through the period. This was not great. The Flyers just got spanked by their rival foes, and now they are outshooting the opponent 6-2, down two goals. It seemed like it was going to be one of those nights.
Despite all of that, the Flyers never gave up. Before the period ended, the Flyers would cut the lead in half, off a nice cross pass from Sean Couturier to Owen Tippett, who had a wide open net.
And after this the building was buzzing, but not as loud as when that second goal came in. Halfway through the second period, the Flyers were put on the powerplay. This was exciting because Flyers fans would get their first close look at the newly acquired right handed shot defensemen, Jamie Drysdale. Dishing up a soft puck to Morgan Frost, Frost faked his shot and then ripped one high glove from the top of the left circle. It was a picture perfect moment, and a great way for Drysdale to introduce himself to the city.
The game would continue tied through the 3rd period and an electric overtime, but it would be Samuel Ersson and Sean Couturier who had the last laugh. “Coots” scored 5-hole, and Ersson stopped all three shooters, including this last one to seal the victory.
A lot of back and forth, and a lot of goals. After going down one in the first period again, the Flyers connected on a beautiful passing sequence between Cam York, Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny, and the goal scorer Joel Farabee.
The boys were buzzing that night, and they would get contributions from their younger players like Tyson Foerster and Egor Zamula, but we will get to ” Big Z” later. Check out this one-timer from the kid.
Owen Tippett would snipe another goal to bring the score even at 3-3. If you haven’t already noticed, there is a pattern here between Tippett and “scoring goals”.
Lastly, but certainly not least (or small), it was Egor Zamula who put the icing on the cake. A subtle wrist shot from the point gets deflected by Farabee, another W in the win column for Philadelphia.
The ultimate grit win is right here. So it gets reported that Drysdale (illness) and Couturier (undisclosed minor injury) are going to be out. At the time, it felt like a scheduled loss. You are without your first line center and you know it is going to hurt. While Drysdale needs time to figure out the Flyers system, you’ve seen the immediate impact he brings to the team. The Winnipeg Jets entering this game are first in the Central and are ranked 1st in the league by points.
Despite all of this, Ersson collects his third shutout of the year, and Cam Atkinson breaks a 26-game goalless drought with two goals on the night.
I noted that this one may get testy in my game preview for Monday night’s contest. Unlike some Philadelphia sports teams, the Flyers showed up to this game prepared. Things started strong with Scott Laughton slamming one home.
Despite the Blues tying things up, Ryan Poehling tapped into his baseball skills with seconds left on the clock, restoring the lead to 2-1 heading into the third period.
Entering the 3rd period with the lead, the Flyers were 14-1-2 in games they left after two periods, and were leading before claiming the victory on the night. For a brief moment, the Blues did not catch the memo, tying things up at 2-2. Thing is, Owen Tippett had other plans, would undress Justin Faulk, pocket his jockstrap, and slip a backhander through Joel Hofer’s armpit.
It was one of the plays where you go,” Ya know, Chuck Fletcher may have been real bad at his job. At least, in the end, he did make the most out of the trade for Claude Giroux“.
If this was not enough to convince you this team has been a ball to watch, then fine, more for us. Just remember there’s still time to hop on the bandwagon. CHOO CHOO!
2024 Stadium Series Trip
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