The Philadelphia Flyers often struggle to earn wins during their annual Pacific road trip following the Christmas break, but they took a positive first step in changing that narrative this year.
The Flyers took down the San Jose Sharks by a score of 4-3 in overtime Thursday night at SAP Center to kick off their post-Christmas voyage. Defenseman Tony DeAngelo scored the game-winner 1:10 into the OT period to earn the Flyers their first overtime victory of the season.
DeAngelo ended the night with an impressive three-point outing — he also logged a pair of primary assists in regulation. DeAngelo is currently riding three straight multi-point games.
While DeAngelo was the hero of the night, it was Travis Konecny who put together one of his best performances of the season. Not only did he score two of the Flyers’ goals, including the game-tying marker with 2:05 remaining in regulation, but he created several high-danger scoring chances and even flattened Sharks forward Alexander Barabanov with a vicious hip check in the neutral zone that left fans in attendance dumbstruck.
Travis Konecny just sent someone to the Shadow Realm. pic.twitter.com/Jw5xiYweM3
— Ryan Quigley (@ryanquigz) December 30, 2022
Konecny has been on a tear as of late. The feisty winger has logged eight points — five goals and three assists — in his last four games while extending his lead as the Flyers’ top point producer. The 25-year-old is on a four-game streak of multi-point performances, and he’s currently on pace for a career-high 86 points and 43 goals. If his scoring rate doesn’t dip, Konecny could become the first Flyer to score 40 goals in a season since Jeff Carter scored 46 during the 2008-09 campaign.
“We know we’re a resilient team,” said Konecny. “We’re gonna keep pushing and we’re gonna keep coming at you, and tonight it ended up working in our favor.”
After an ugly NHL debut against the Carolina Hurricanes last Friday, rookie goaltender Samuel Ersson put together a much stronger performance Thursday night to earn the first win of his career. The 23-year-old netminder turned aside 25 San Jose shots and made several clutch stops to keep the Flyers’ hopes alive, including a gorgeous glove save on Sharks captain Logan Couture.
Samuel Ersson, hello. pic.twitter.com/dneZrKI5gI
— Ryan Quigley (@ryanquigz) December 30, 2022
“Definitely a game I needed to respond in,” said Ersson. “It wasn’t perfect, but definitely a big step forward. I think I showed coming up big a couple times, made some big stops, and that’s what I need to do. I’ve got to show that I can help this team win to fight for playing time.”
The Flyers will be back in action Saturday, on New Year’s Eve, with a 4 p.m. tilt against the Los Angeles Kings before wrapping up their road trip Monday in Anaheim.
