Three Stars
1. Scott Laughton
The man we call Scoot Loots got the Flyers on the board for the only goal they would need, and boy was it timely. The Flyers were in a stretch of getting plenty of high quality chances, but seemingly missing the net every single attempt. The Laughton goal had to ease the minds of the players, who had to be feeling snakebitten at the time. It’s not going to take a whole lot of goals to beat the Detroit Red Wings, so getting that first one out of the way was critical.
Laughton breaks the scoreless tie! pic.twitter.com/rXos78HZ14
— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) February 4, 2020
2. Brian Elliott
Elliott wasn’t tested all that often in this game, but the few tough shots he faced he was up to the task for. He was rock solid in net once again, continuing a nice stretch of games for Moose. Outside of the Penguins game where he allowed four goals, Elliott has been stellar for the Flyers. And even in that game, it was hard to blame him for too many of those Penguins goals.
3. Kevin Hayes
So Kevin Hayes is really fun, folks. The Flyers haven’t had a player who is as much of a lethal shorthanded player since Mike Richards, and Hayes is quickly reaching Richards levels of insane on the penalty kill. When he’s out there, he’s a threat to score every single time. At the very least, he’s going to be a puck possession god and not give the team with the power play any time to breathe. There were quite a few questions on if he’d be worth the money he got in the offseason, and I think he’s really starting to put those doubts to rest.
Answering the bell
1. Can the power play keep rolling?
Not at all, unsurprisingly enough. The power play went 0/2 tonight and didn’t exactly generate a ton of offense in the process. The first power play wasn’t terrible and there were a few solid chances, but the second was flat out miserable and the kind of man advantage we’ve seen far too often from this team this year. We’re beating a dead horse at this point with saying this, but holy hell man, it needs to be better.
2. Will they fall for the trap?
While the scoreboard somewhat suggested they did throughout the first two periods, the answer is no. The Flyers dominated the Wings although it didn’t feel like it at times. Sure, it would have been nice to see the orange and black put the Wings out of this game early on, but a win is a win.
Play of the game
I mean, if you were coming to this part expecting anything other than the Hayes goal I don’t know what game you were watching.
Kevin Hayes shorthanded, AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/gLvpDZl0vK
— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) February 4, 2020
