Game Summary
It was a slow first period as far as action goes with no scoring and few penalties. There were a couple good chances, especially in the last handful of minutes for the Flyers, but both goalies were up to the task. Samuel Ersson stopped the seven shots he faced while New York Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov turned aside nine Flyers shots.
Things really opened up in the second period, mainly due to the six minor penalties called in the period. Just 2:50 into the period the Flyers went on the power play after Oliver Wahlstrom was called for a major boarding penalty that was reduced to a minor. Just 19 seconds later, another Islanders penalty gave the Flyers a 5-on-3 opportunity. It took just 17 seconds for Tony DeAngelo to get his first preseason goal with the Flyers after a shot from just above the right hash mark.
🚨 1-0! 🚨
TDA with a PPG. #PHIvsNYI pic.twitter.com/hdWlySsndY
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 3, 2022
Just after the halfway point of the game the Islanders tied things up thanks to a power play goal from Kyle Palmieri. Five minutes later the Islanders would take a 2-1 lead after a wrist shot from Scott Mayfield. They would take this lead into the third period as the teams headed to the locker room.
The Islanders switched goalies to start the third period and put in Jakub Skarek, while the Flyers stayed with Ersson. Ersson would play the entire game stopping 21 of 23 total shots. It was a really sloppy period by both teams with no one threatening to score until the last few minutes. The Flyers had two really good chances at the end of the game with the goalie pulled, but were stopped both times by nice saves.
Final Thoughts
- This was John Tortorella’s first game behind the bench for the Flyers and the changes were already noticeable. The team had 19 blocked shots and 20 hits. The most impressive stretch of the game was at the start of the second when the Flyers did not allow a shot for the first nine minutes of the period. While there is no doubt it will be a struggle to score goals this year, the way Torts gets his teams to play defense should keep them in most games.
- Cam York and Tony DeAngelo played 25:10 and 26:08 of ice time, respectively. Each of them had good games with DeAngelo scoring the goal and York having three shots on net and three blocked shots. The power plays helped inflate the ice time a bit, but it’s clear the Flyers want these guys to be ready for the season and will not hold back playing them.
- Special teams were an issue for the Flyers today. They went 1-5 on the power-play and 1-4 on the penalty kill. The most frustrating moments of the game came late in third with just under five minutes remaining. The Flyers were awarded a power-play but had it wiped away just 17 seconds later because of a Noah Cates high-sticking penalty. Special teams will be crucial to the Flyers this season and from the looks of the preseason there is still a lot of work to do. /
