It didn’t have the oomph of Friday evening but the Flyers eked out an overtime win against the Rangers Saturday afternoon in Allentown.
The Basics
First period: 5:00 – Matteo Mann (Josh Zakreski)
Second period: 6:29 – Sawyer Boulton (Zayde Wisdom, Jacob Gaucher), 10:07 – Matthew Robertson (Ryder Korczak), 15:31 – Adam Edstrom (unassisted)
Third period: No scoring
Overtime: 0:33 – Samu Tuomaala (Emil Andrae)
Some takeaways
Players in, players out
With a handful of players out (notably Matvei Michkov and Oliver Bonk) and some brought in (including the mammoth Matteo Mann), the Flyers take exception to a late hit on Jett Luchanko after the whistle, leaving the Flyers with an early power play. The best chance early is a Rangers short-handed breakaway that goes wide of goalie Carter Bjarnason. The Flyers capitalize right on the cusp of the power play ending as Mann takes pass in the slot and rifles it behind the Rangers goalie to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead.
Aside from the goal, the play is relatively tame although Saywer Boulton throws another open-ice hit on a Ranger. And Hunter McDonald continues to make an impression, this time with a good opportunity that’s denied. Some offsides, some choppy (sloppy?) play and not much happening in the first half of the first period. Part of it probably had to do with the fact it’s the second of a back-to-back and the adrenaline after night one has left the tanks a little less full.
Bjarnason solid (for 20 minutes)
Flyers goalie Carson Bjarnason was strong on Friday night and continued that high level of play in the first. Although not tested as often as he was to start Friday night, Bjarnason swallowed most shots in his stomach preventing any rebounds, particularly bailing out Helge Grans who flubbed the puck in the slot for a Rangers chance.
Unfortunately the Flyers take a minor penalty when Alexis Gendron slashes a Ranger, but Bjarnason stays strong, making a nice glove save roughly 14 minutes into the first. The Rangers have a 14-7 shot advantage late in the period but the Flyers Samu Toumaala has a golden chance after some fine work by Jett Luchanko. But after a ho-hum first the Flyers lead 1-0.
More malaise but then a nifty one
Sam Hillebrandt starts the second period in relief of Bjarnason and he isn’t tested too much to start. The play is again rather mediocre on both sides but the Flyers’ Jacob Gaucher has a shot in close to give Philadelphia a bit of wiggle room but is denied.
Just over six minutes into the second the Flyers move up the ice. Jacob Gaucher feeds a pass to a charging Zayde Wisdom who looks like he could take a shot. Instead Wisdom feeds the puck over to Sawyer Boulton who buries it for a 2-0 Flyers lead. It’s not Michkov magic but it is rather pretty.
The lead is cut in half minutes later on the Rangers power play. Matthew Robertson takes a shot from the point and it finds its way behind Hillebrandt to break the shutout and put New York back in it down 2-1.
Berard tossed sparks Rangers
With the Rangers’ Brett Berard taking a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for spearing, the Flyers look to get the two-goal lead back. Unfortunately seconds later New York’s Adam Edstrom ends up with a breakaway, going on his forehand and then to his backhand to beat Hillebrandt and tie the game on a short-handed goal.
The Rangers almost take the lead with another breakaway as Brennan Othmann is stopped by Hillebrandt. The Flyers do nothing on the power play and end up blowing a chance to at least regain the lead heading into the third.
Luchanko so-so in second game
The energy spent in his first Flyers appearance might have caused Luchanko to have a slightly less impressive game Saturday. Although he looks at times he’s controlling play, more often this game the Rangers are on top of him often, giving him far less room to shine and a few times knocked down.
The third starts with Philadelphia narrowly avoiding a too many men minor before Massimo Rizzo makes a shot block with his body, sliding on the wet ice for some distance but no worse for wear. About eight minutes in the Flyers keep the Rangers penned in for some time as Luchanko and Desnoyers put the pressure on long enough for Philadelphia to start making a change for fresh legs. The roughly minute-plus pressure goes for not sadly as the Rangers get most of change.
Hopeful homestretch?
With the game tied the Flyers have to survive another penalty kill as Spencer Gill takes a slashing penalty. The bigger issue looked like Hunter McDonald was slow getting to his skates but then had words for Edstrom, clearly irked at something the Ranger did. The Rangers’ Adam Sykora has a shot in close but Hillebrandt stands his ground to keep it even at two. The goalie is a bit lucky also as seconds later the puck hits off the iron and bounces back without crossing the line.
As the clock ticks under six minutes, Hunter McDonald has a chance to possibly win the game but Ollas shuts the door. The refs miss what looks like a high stick on the Flyers’ Santeri Sulku (who wasn’t noticed much this game). The teams play out the rest of the third and the contest for the second straight game goes to overtime.
Early in overtime Luchanko has a chance but then the puck ends up out in front to a wide open Emil Andrae. Andrae looks like he’s about to deke Ollas but then passes the puck to Samu Tuomaala who wins the game for the Flyers, splitting the Rookie Series at a win each. Not a great game compared to Friday’s but a win is a win.
