Through a dominant first period and timely saves from Ivan Fedotov, the Flyers moved into a tie for fourth in the Metro in points with a 2-1 win over the Rangers. The win was the Flyers’ first home win over the Rangers since March 2021, as the Flyers quieted the large number of Rangers fans that infiltrated the Wells Fargo Center with their seventh win in their past 11.
The Basics
First period: 3:14 – Bobby Brink (Foerster), 4:24 – Travis Konecny (Couturier, Ristolainen)
Second period: 10:20 – Vincent Trocheck (Cuylle, Schneider)
Third period: 19:32 – Travis Konecny (EN)
SOG: 35 (PHI) – 23 (NYR)
Some Takeaways
Red-hot start
Unquestionably, this might have been the Flyers’ best start to a hockey game all year, racing out to a two-goal lead courtesy of goals from Bobby Brink and Travis Konecny. It wasn’t just the fact that the Flyers lit the lamp twice, though. It was complete domination from the opening faceoff, earning the game’s first nine shots on goal before Vincent Trocheck earned the first Rangers shot at the 11:11 mark. The shot counter was 15-3 Flyers at the end of the first period, and digging into some underlying metrics, the Flyers were leading the high-danger chances count 10-2. The Flyers didn’t just control possession in the first, they peppered Igor Shesterkin with quality. Shesterkin’s numerous high difficulty saves kept the Rangers within striking distance after the first 20, when it could have been considerably worse.
A return to form for Tyson Foerster?
One of the bigger disappointments thus far has been the middling play of Tyson Foerster, who has looked like a shell of the 2023-24 version of himself. Coming into the Black Friday game with only 6 points in 22 games, and posting considerably worse underlying statistics than last season, it’s really been looking as if Foerster is headed for a sophomore slump kind of season.
The Foerster that showed up today, though? Now, that’s a version of Foerster that is considerably closer to rookie year Foerster than any iteration of the player we’ve seen this year. Take the first period Bobby Brink goal, where Foerster blocked a shot at the blueline, beat a defender up the ice and won a battle along the boards, and spun a nifty pass to a rushing Brink. The goal was all Foerster, completely undoing the Rangers’ defense through gritty, smart, and relentless forechecking. He was individually dominant throughout the entire game, too, skating to the tune of a 60.61 Corsi-for percentage and a 80.99 xGF%.
Brink-Cates-Foerster dominant
In addition to Foerster himself, his linemates were equally as good in this one. Brink-Cates-Foerster were forechecking demons, and overwhelming for a Rangers team that’s been a mess in their own zone all season. Brink’s first period goal was his fourth of the season, and Brink could have had a few more on the night if not for repetitive robbery from Shersterkin. As a line, across 10:34 of icetime, Brink-Cates-Foerster outshot Rangers opposition 10-4 and won the high danger chances battle 6-0. That’s a dominant showing from a third line, and a recipe that will wear teams down as games progress. Cates has been one of the more consistent Flyers of late, and if Foerster and Brink can get going, the playing style of this line really meshes together well.
High-danger chances galore
As mentioned previously, the Flyers could have had way more than just two goals in this one if not for the stellar play of Igor Shesterkin. With 10 high danger chances in the first, and 16 total for the game, the Flyers dominated the quality chances battle 16-6. Shesterkin came through time and time again, whether on the Flyers continual odd-man rushes or extended shifts in the Rangers zone. Igor Shesterkin can’t do everything, and although he almost stole this one, he can’t even fix the utter mess this Rangers team is right now.
First line noticeable
Aside from the Cates line, the Flyers’ first line of Farabee-Couturier-Konecny continues to hum along. Particularly, the Couturier-Konecny connection got on the board again, off another beautiful breakout pass from Ristolainen and a Couturier assist to a streaking Konecny. Konecny added a second goal on the empty netter, but the line was buzzing all afternoon for the Flyers. Sure, Joel Farabee continues to be snakebitten despite having numerous scoring opportunities, but the underlying process remains strong for the young forward. With Couturier and Konecny playing at their current form, it’s only a matter of time before Farabee really joins in on the fun.
Fedotov answers the call when needed, brick wall in third period
In the first half of the game, Ivan Fedotov was hardly tested at all, as the Rangers didn’t cross the 10-shot marker until more than halfway into regulation. But, when Fedotov’s name was called, he did more than enough to keep the Rangers off the board. On the Rangers’ two chances in the first, he made a strong positional save in front on Brett Berard, and denied Alexis Lafrenière on an odd-man rush. Then, after allowing a Vincent Trocheck slot shot past him in the middle frame, Fedotov held his own in the third. Denying all nine Rangers opportunities in the final period, Fedotov continued his run of strong play in the Flyers 7-2-2 run. He even had luck on his side in this one, as Mika Zibanejad missed a wide open net in the final five minutes of the game, and the Rangers couldn’t scratch across the game-tying goal. Perfect performance from a goaltender fighting for the right to be Sam Ersson’s backup.
