The Flyers played a solid road game for the second game in a row. It just so happened that the road game mentality took place at Wells Fargo Center. The result was a 2-1 victory Thursday night, highlighted by a Matvei Michkov mini-benching and a bevy of blocked shots.
The basics
First period: 11:12 – Garnet Hathaway (Ryan Poehling, Nick Seeler)
Second period: No scoring
Third period: 9:58 – Nathan Walker (Philip Broberg, Zack Bolduc), 16:57 – Bobby Brink (Joel Farabee, Scott Laughton
SOG: 21 (PHI) – 21 (STL)
Some takeaways
Michkov mishaps, minor benching
Matvei Michkov kicked the game off looking a bit out of sorts on his first shift. And it was clear that Michkov wasn’t the only one that noticed a few basic flubs. John Tortorella sat the Mad Russian for a while in the first, getting his second five-on-five shift with around five minutes left in the first. He did get power play time but this was the initial missive to Michkov that Tortorella was not happy with the defensive work and effort. It’s doubtful anything more becomes of it, and Michkov might be the first person to say that shift sucked, but seeing the message sent was interesting. The forward ended up with 3:49 of ice time (2:52 of that five-on-five) during the opening 20 minutes.
The rookie didn’t miss a shift in the second but could’ve been called on a misconduct penalty after uttering something in English (we think it rhymes with duck) towards the officials after looking like his stick was slashed out of his hands. The third period saw a bit more of his magic, faking out one Blues player on the Flyers’ power play but not finishing it off with an insurance goal. Not his best outing but fortunately Tortorella didn’t make him this year’s Joel Farabee with an almost game-long benching.
Ersson gets the nod
With the three goaltenders at the ready, Tortorella decided to go with the hot (well, based on the last 60 minutes) goalie in Sam Ersson. Ersson was perfect against the Bruins and tested early with three shots in the opening three minutes against St. Louis. While he still gave up a few huge rebounds off long shots, fortunately the Blues weren’t in position to capitalize. And like goaltenders who are playing a little better, Ersson was the beneficiary of seeing the Blues nail the post twice early in the second period. He also sealed the post on a Blues power play nicely, something Aleksei Kolosov was guilty of not doing against Montreal.
Unfortunately, later on the Flyers were again a bit erratic in their own end. In the third another giveaway burned them as Nathan Walker tied things up at one apiece with just over half a period left to play. But Ersson saved his best for last. With the Blues down one and the net empty, the Flyers keeper made a huge stop on Brayden Schenn with 20 seconds to go.
Brain cramp
Erik Johnson should be one of the veterans who knows that dumb penalties are just not needed. But taking an interference penalty on what looked like a nothing play for St. Louis was irksome. The Flyers avoided disaster seconds later when Travis Sanheim took a puck off his visor but was not injured. They killed the penalty but the foolish penalties need to start diminishing.
Couturier took a tripping minor midway through the second but the only highlight for those two minutes was a rush up ice by Rasmus Makar, I mean Rasmus Ristolainen, who got a sneaky shot on Binnington.
Power plays
After a hooking call drawn by Owen Tippett early in the first, the Flyers (not last in the league on the power play) went to work with a unit featuring Morgan Frost, Michkov and Drysdale being the main cogs. It didn’t quite gel but they were buzzing with a unit including Tyson Foerster, Emil Andrae, Bobby Brink and Joel Farabee. It wasn’t successful but there seemed to be far more synergy or chemistry with that group.
A second opportunity in the second was just as unimpressive with Frost and Michkov working with their wires crossed. The second unit again had more zone time and opportunities but nothing outside of a Bobby Brink shot and a wraparound attempt looked dangerous. So nothing on this night but they are not last in the league!
Fourth-line fever
The fourth line picked up the pace midway through the first on a great rush up ice by Ryan Poehling. Poehling skated briskly down the ice and broke through before sending a fine pass to Garnet Hathaway who beat Blues faux pugilist/goaltender Jordan Binnington cleanly. Hathway looked quite pleased with Poehling’s work judging by the celebration afterwards. A nice boost from the bottom line to get the Flyers on top.
Seeler’s screed
The Flyers had an awful shift in the first which saw Nick Seeler block a shot before a much needed clear. Seeler was doubled over heading to the bench but let someone know on the bench the failed clears were not appreciated. With three blcoked shots in the first, Seeler is looking like the guy we saw most of last season. And that’s a great thing.
Seeler wasn’t the only one who was blocking shots this game. Michkov took one off the leg in the first but it was almost everybody but the coaching staff putting their body in front of the puck. The Flyers had 12 blocked shots after 40 minutes and 16 in total 45 minutes into play. The blocks were taking a bite out of everyone as Couturier and Ristolainen looked to be in pain after putting their body on the line. At the end of the evening the team amassed 21 blocked shots, including a half dozen from Seeler.
Finally, hockey breaks out
For most of the game the Flyers looked perfectly happy to play essentially a road game before the paying customers at Wells Fargo Center. And for much of the game it was working with the one-goal lead. After St. Louis tied it the Flyers appeared to trade a few more chances and weren’t content to merely play for the regulation point. This was proven when the Flyers capitalized on a bad giveaway by Jordan Kyrou. Scott Laughton took the puck away and fed it to Joel Farabee who put a pretty pass on Brink’s stick for an equally pretty goal with just over three minutes left.
