The Flyers outworked, outshot and outchanced the Panthers Sunday evening at Wells Fargo Centre. Sadly they did not beat them in the goaltending department, resulting in a frustrating 4-1 loss.
The basics
First period: 10:34- Sam Reinhart (Anton Lundell, Brandon Montour)
Second period: 0:55- Vladimir Tarasenko (Sam Reinhart, Brandon Montour)
Third period: 4:43- Carter Verhaeghe (Sam Bennett, Brandon Montour), 12:53- Bobby Brink (Ryan Poehling, Egor Zamula), 18:48- Sam Reinhart (Eeto Loustarinen)
SOG: 33 (PHI) – 15 (FLA)
Some takeaways
Battle of backups
The Flyers opt to go with Felix Sandstrom while the Panthers — down Aleksander Barkov and a few key defencemen — go with their own backup in former Flyer Anthony Stolarz. Despite the backups the pace is high and energy is high from the start. The first big hit is of course Garnet Hathaway who levels defenceman Josh Mahura just inside’s Florida’s zone. A Flyers power play sees some decent pressure from the first unit led by Morgan Frost while the second unit doesn’t do much. Shortly thereafter Couturier’s line is caught up ice and Sam Reinhardt comes in for a wrister that Sandstrom is horrific on.
Fortunately for the Flyers they bend and block but do not break in killing off a Joel Farabee intereference penalty. Travis Sanheim takes a massive shot and hobbles off before Sandstrom keeps the floodgates closed.
Konecny renting space
If part of the Panthers’ gameplan was to get Travis Konecny unhinged, they fail miserably 18 minutes in. A second penalty Konecny draws leads to some power play flash on the first unit but Konecny nor Frost can tie things up. The period concludes with Matt Tkachuk in the middle of a quasi-melee that also sees Bobby Brink not picking on somebody his own size because, well … Brink and Tkachuk get roughing minors while Cam York gets an extra roughing penalty. Not a great way to end 20 minutes shorthanded after three blown power plays, but not insurmountable.
Now a bit more insurmountable
Flyers coach John Tortorella tries to argue why the Flyers shouldn’t be down a man but it’s no use. The Flyers begin the Panthers’ power play trying to tie things up but they don’t. Instead Vladimir Tarasenko rifles one past Sandstrom to put Florida up by two.
The goal doesn’t deflate the Flyers but they keep pushing up-ice. A two-on-one has Hathaway feeding Tyson Foerster perfectly but Stolarz makes a crucial stop. Minutes later Couturier takes the puck in the slot and fires a backhand over Stolarz to cut the…oh it hits the damn crossbar. The Panthers return and Stolarz stones Sam Bennett while the Flyers keep the puck from crossing the line.
Hathaway and Foerster make another fantastic offensive chance. That’s denied. Morgan Frost with a prime chance. That’s stopped too.
Flyers frenzy
Whether it’s momentum or the fact the Flyers might have a wee rest advantage having played at home earlier Saturday while Florida flew in from New York Saturday night, the Flyers take it to the Panthers the longer the second period goes. A man advantage goes on basically much longer as the Panthers kill it but can’t make a needed line change for roughly another minute. Philadelphia keep the intensity up and are playing with desperation, especially the third line who just miss another golden opportunity that goes wide. The second ends with Frost’s line and the top defensive pair surviving a marathon shift that keeps the Flyers with a puncher’s shot after 40 minutes.
Stolarz > Sandstrom
The third begins with the Flyers having 16 shots on Stolarz and an equal number of shots blocked by Panthers in front of their backup. An early icing by Florida sees York (18:06 ice time through two periods) handling the workload as the Panthers get some pressure. But the Flyers respond again with Brink having a chance and Couturier’s line pouring more chances at Stolarz.
For Philadelphia you know at some point the Flyers will need a big save by Sandstrom to keep them in it. With the shots 8-1 for the home team five minutes in the Panthers’ Carter Verhaeghe scores on another shot Sandstrom should have and it’s 3-0.
Last gasp?
The clock becomes more of an enemy and Konecny misses the net from a rather bad angle. A fourth power play begins and Tortorella pulls out all the stops with seven minutes to go, pulling Sandstrom for a sixth attacker. The plan works as Brink breaks the shutout and give themselves a chance!
The Flyers come down again with Hathaway shooting and the rebound to Poehling for a wide open net. Unfortunately the puck gets caught in his skates and doesn’t pan out. With just over three minutes left Sandstrom is pulled and Poehling makes a game-saving dive to keep the Panthers from the empty netter. The Panthers finally put it away when Sam Bennett puts his 50th into an empty net. Game over.
