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Takeaways: Trevor Zegras wills Flyers to 4-3 shootout win over Islanders

Trevor Zegras notched three points and scored a shootout goal to force the Philadelphia Flyers to earn two points over the New York Islanders.

Posted on by Cole Keller
© Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

In the first game of a five game homestand, the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the New York Islanders by a score of 4-3, notching their first shootout win of the season. Here is everything you need to know.

The basics

First period: 9:51 – Simon Holmstrom (J.G. Pageau) (SHG) 
Second period: 6:15 – Anthony Duclair (Marshall Warren, Anders Lee), 10:29 – Christian Dvorak (Trevor Zegras, Matvei Michkov) 
Third period: 1:53 – Trevor Zegras (Dvorak), 4:21 – Maxim Tsyplakov (Warren, Tony DeAngelo), 7:32 – Zegras (Bobby Brink, Noah Cates)    
Overtime: No scoring 
Shootout: Brink – no goal, Bo Horvat – no goal, Zegras – goal, Holmstrom – goal, Michkov – goal, Duclair – no goal
SOG: 26 (NYI) – 26 (PHI) 

Takeaways

Zegras makes another ridiculous pass…

With the Flyers down two goals in the second period, and earning very few high-danger chances, the Flyers needed a flash of skill from anyone. Zegras provided that, as the Zegras-Dvorak-Michkov line connected. Michkov, delaying with the puck when entering the zone, went cross-ice to Zegras, who made a no-look centering pass to find Dvorak in front of the net. 

While the shift to shift consistency may not be there for Trevor Zegras yet, he’s already made no shortage of high-end passing plays in the early season. Today, in all facets, this was the most complete effort we’ve seen from Zegras as the true driver on his line. 

...and also ties the game twice in the third period 

It wasn’t merely the passing prowess from Zegras today, as he scored his first and second goals with the Flyers today. To begin the third period, Dvorak entered the zone, made a move past an Islanders defenseman, and spotted an open Zegras cutting towards the slot. Zegras made no mistake, and potted his first goal as a Flyer past Sorokin’s shoulder. 

On the second Zegras goal of the night, it was more luck than anything else. On the power play, Zegras followed a rebound of a Bobby Brink shot, and was the last one to touch the puck in a massive scramble in front of Sorokin. Zegras got credit for the goal, but this one was more a testament to Bobby Brink’s work than anything. 

Overall, the Zegras-Dvorak-Michkov line was probably the best line for the Flyers today. Earning a 50% corsi-for percentage, and most of the Flyers high danger chances today, the potential of a Zegras-Michkov line flashed today. Michkov wasn’t anywhere near his best, and the line was still a bit of a wagon. Not to mention the two shootout goals that Zegras and Michkov scored in this one. If the Flyers can get Michkov to click, there might really be something here between the two. 

Ersson saves the day 

In the midst of Dan Vladar playing his way into the majority of the starts thus far, Sam Ersson has been counted out and tossed to the wayside by most fans. Today, particularly in the second half of the game, Ersson actually flashed a best-possible version of himself. 

Three goals allowed is not a shutdown performance, but when you take stock of the big saves that Ersson made late in this game, this might be a real step forward for Ersson. Just after the Flyers tied the game at three in the third period, the Islanders had a 2-on-1 led by Bo Horvat. Moving across the crease, Ersson made an athletic sprawling save on Jonathan Drouin. 

Later, Ersson made an even more impressive save to keep the Flyers alive in overtime. Again with Drouin and Horvat on a 2-on-1, Ersson pushed from post to post to absolutely rob Horvat with his glove. 

Perhaps, with an actual stable goaltender in Dan Vladar splitting time with him, Ersson can relax and return to the level he once reached. The athletic, dynamic saves that Ersson made today demonstrate the fact that the level is still there, and maybe it takes one good performance to jump start him. 

Poor power-play decision making leads to Islanders’ shorthanded goal 

On the Flyers’ first power play of the game, sloppiness from the first unit came back to bite the Orange and Black. With the puck on the half wall, Matvei Michkov attempted to throw a puck to Owen Tippett in the bumper position, who was well marked and stripped off the puck. On an ensuing 2-on-1, Sam Ersson was beaten clean by Simon Holmstrom. 

The turnover was another example of Michkov just looking slightly off to start this season. The decision-making was suspect, as Michkov didn’t read that Tippett was completely covered in the bumper spot. In the offensive zone, we’re just not used to Michkov making bad reads like this, and the Flyers desperately need Michkov to snap out of it. 

A larger point on Matvei Michkov and the Flyers’ outlook 

There’s something to be said about the Flyers looking competent despite very little output from the young star. Up and down the lineup thus far, there’s been positives. The Foerster-Cates-Brink line is relentless, Jamie Drysdale seems to have taken a step, Zegras has been better than advertised, Sean Couturier is returning to better form, Owen Tippett is shooting from everywhere again. For 8 games, the Flyers are above .500 with very little from the face of the franchise. 

All players are going to have their slumps, and for the Flyers to be a contender long-term, they are going to need to weather the storms when Michkov is not at his best. That’s what the best teams are able to do, and as much as the Flyers need Michkov to get back on track, they also need so much else to go right in this rebuilding process. The step forward from the rest of the roster should not be understated, even if we might be going through a sophomore slump from Michkov.

Hathaway draws blood, and the fourth line gets nasty 

Garnet Hathaway is a bad man. Towards the end of the first period, Hathaway got tied up with Scott Mayfield, and ended up dropping the gloves. Quickly, Hathaway bloodied the forehead of Mayfield, and the bout was over in pretty fast fashion. It’s sometimes easy to forget, considering the Flyers roster decisions, but Hathaway’s got plenty of fight to make up for when Nic Deslauriers is in the press box. 

Later in the game, Nikita Grebenkin got into it with longtime Islander Casey Cizikas, and then all hell broke loose. Rodrigo Abols eventually came to back up his teammate, and other Islanders joined in the scrum as well. When all was said and done, the entire Flyers fourth line earned penalty minutes, as well as three Islanders. Essentially, the Flyers new fourth line has some real bite to it. 

A developing home-ice advantage? 

After today, the Flyers have earned all four of their wins at the Xfinity-Mobile Center. With lots of home games coming up in this early part of the season, and the weaker competition that’s ahead, there’s a real chance to rack up some wins. The next four games are all at home against Pittsburgh, Nashville, Toronto, and Calgary. Although Pittsburgh is off to a good start, there’s nothing too challenging in this homestand. We’ll see if the early season home-ice advantage continues over the next week. 

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