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Golden Knights 2, Flyers 1: Flyers lose late night game in overtime

The Flyers have embarked on a long road trip, and the NHL schedulers went, “It’s a Friday night, Flyers fans won’t need to work in the morning right?” Thus, another edition of Flyers After Dark kicked off with a game against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Recap

For the first 10 minutes of the period, it was a low event game. The shots sat at 2-1, advantage Flyers, for so long that I almost began to wonder if the counter was broken. It should be noted that these two teams are the best at blocking shots in the NHL, so a low shot affair was to be expected. Even so, the period was dragging along.

Unfortunately, the lack of shots early on for Vegas didn’t end up equating to a lack of goals against. The Golden Knights were the first to score on what was a weird rebound against Carter Hart.

Beyond that goal, not much else happened in the first. The overall shots on goal began to pick up to 9-8, advantage Flyers, but it was slow and sleepy. Not ideal for a late night game.

Only a minute and 47 seconds into the second period, the Flyers tied the game. Scott Laughton was able to take advantage of Adin Hill making a complete goaltending gaff. Considering it was his first goal since October 27, hopefully it was just what he needed to get back on track.

Into the third period, there was a lot of muddy hockey going on, but the most exciting chance came off a breakaway from Joel Farabee. Emphasis on chance, because in the end, his backhand attempt failed to convert. At least it was enough of a jolt past midnight on the east coast to help keep everyone awake and on their toes.

With a little under three minutes left in the game, Noah Cates took a tripping penalty. This could have completely killed the momentum for the Flyers, but not only did Hart stand on his head, but Patrick Brown was able to break away with the puck. It didn’t result in a great shorthanded chance, but it took precious time away from the Golden Knights’ power play.

With less than a minute left in regulation, neither team was able to score a goal, so this edition of Flyers After Dark required going into overtime. Who needs sleep?

For the majority of the overtime period, the Flyers had most of the pressure in their favor. Yet, hockey is a weird game. Jonathan Marchessault took off on a breakaway, and he got through past Hart to win it.

Final Thoughts

For a late night game, the ideal would be a game so entertaining that it keeps you easily awake. This was not that game. For a game between a talent-depleted Flyers squad and a top-4 team in the Golden Knights, though, this was as close to ideal as it could get.

The Flyers didn’t need to be exciting or flashy. They just needed to shut down Vegas from doing much of anything. Sure, the team lost, but the Flyers were able to keep the Golden Knights to a similar game pace throughout the night.

For those who want to see the team get better, this game was a sign that improvements aren’t out of the question. For those who want to see the team tank, maybe an overtime point wasn’t needed, but they didn’t get the win either.

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