Garnet Hathaway and Noah Cates gave the Flyers a huge lift, resulting in a huge character win for themselves and Sam Ersson. Philadelphia earned two points in regulation and defeated the defending Stanley Cup champions 4-3 Monday night at Wells Fargo Center.
The basics
First period: 7:59- Sam Reinhart (Unassisted) (SHG), 9:34- Uvis Balinskis (Evan Rodrigues, Nate Schmidt)
Second period: 7:51- Garnet Hathaway (Unassisted)
Third period: 2:01- Noah Cates (Travis Sanheim, Rasmus Ristolainen) (PPG), 3:35- Sam Reinhart (Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov) (PPG), 5:59- Morgan Frost (Matvei Michkov, Jamie Drysdale) (PPG), 14:09- Noah Cates (Tyson Foerster)
SOG: 29 (PHI) – 23 (FLA)
Some takeaways
When up a man….
With Aleksander Barkov serving another minor penalty early in the third, the Flyers commenced their fourth man advanage of the night. Much like the Anaheim game, the Flyers were effective when they were rushing up ice without the slingshot. They nearly scored on a Matvei (or is it Mike?) Michkov attempt, then Owen Tippett had a chance that he literally passed on. Fortunately the Flyers finally struck gold when a quick one-timer by Travis Sanheim was stopped but Noah Cates was there for the rebound to tie things up 2-2.
Power play goal for Philadelphia!
— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 14, 2025
Scored by Noah Cates with 17:59 remaining in the 3rd period.
Assisted by Travis Sanheim and Rasmus Ristolainen.
Philadelphia: 2
Florida: 2#FLAvsPHI #LetsGoFlyers #TimeToHunt pic.twitter.com/F7jb15U7NM
Moments later another power play and another goal. This one courtesy of Morgan Frost.
Morgan Frost tucks one home in tight for a power play response, 3-3 game!#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/OxYruZMaxS
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) January 14, 2025
It’s not earth-shattering to see four power play goals in two games. This is the Flyers though, so this is an incredible development. The only complaint aside from not scoring every time was the passing between Jamie Drysdale and Travis Konecny along the blueline, a dangerous cross ice gamble if your pass isn’t quick and on point. But they’re getting there thanks to Rocky Thompson’s evolving hockey smarts!
Hathaway hit
Garnet Hathaway got the second period off to a nice start by cleanly steamrolling Niko Mikkola. But the momentum it could’ve created was short-lived as the Flyers once again looked just a step or half-step slower than the defending Stanley Cup champions. Granted Florida can make a lot of teams look bad. However simply getting a quick tape-to-tape pass looked like it would be a chore for most skaters on this night. At least for most of the game’s first half.
The Flyers started to use the body, got more engaged and finally cut the deficit in half. Initially Ryan Poehling looked to have scored but a Panther deflected the puck into the net. Thus Hathaway was credited with the goal, his second in two games. Just no roll after this one. Hathaway was involved again in the third when he had a brief meeting with Matthew Tkachuk, ripping his helmet off after Tkachuk looked to hit Hathaway a bit late.
Much needed goal for Flyers to stay in the game and the 4th line gets it going#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/uoKZjbWzxi https://t.co/LwdbYDuO6A
— Joseph (@HockeyJoseph10) January 14, 2025
The Flyers looked far different than the first period, getting six of the seven high danger scoring chances in the period while outshooting Florida 14-6.
Seeler okay
Nick Seeler was dinged a few times against Anaheim. It wouldn’t have been a stretch to see him miss a game given how he was laboring Saturday night. However he was back on the pairing with Drysdale as the Flyers went with the identical Joel Farabee-free lineup. Seeler took a high stick for the first power play of the night.
Live by the rush, thrive from the rush
The Flyers are looking a bit more like themselves from last season, when scoring off the rush was aplenty and chances were bountiful. In the third period the Flyers broke a 3-3 tie simply by winning a few little batttles before Cates beat Bobrovsky with a nifty little move close in. It was Cates’ second of the night. The other plus was that Bobby Brink ended up in the net after the goal, the closest he’s come to the back of the net in some time.
THE FLYERS TAKE THE LEAD! ⚫️🟠
— NHL (@NHL) January 14, 2025
What a play by Noah Cates! pic.twitter.com/GREqU6NoB3
Same venue, different vibe
As loud as Wells Fargo Center was the game before, the crowd this evening was almost as serene as watching one from Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena. But one quick and smart pass from Matvei Michkov was all it took to get things in gear. Michkov nearly scored after Sean Couturier broke in, taking a feed from Olle Lycksell. In the second period the same line almost broke the shutout as Couturier went in on a partial breakaway but Bobrovsky just got a piece of it. Soon afterwards Noah Cates’ line finally caused a few problems for the Panthers after Bobby Brink intercepted a Florida outlet pass, feeding Tyson Foerster who was stoned by Bobrovsky.
Redeem thyself Sam
Sam Ersson entered the game with a wee bit more confidence under his belt. Just a little bit. Before the game was 10 minutes old that confidence was at best diminished if not shot to hell. Florida got a save by Sergei Boborovsky which led to a short-handed chance by Sam Reinhart. Reinhart, who beat Travis Konecny who was trying to play defense, waited out Sam Ersson before shooting the puck into an almost empty net.
Ersson didn’t look great on the first one but looked terrible on Florida’s second goal. Uvis Balinskis’ shot slipped under Ersson and the Flyers found themselves down two in a span of 95 seconds. One had the sense coach John Tortorella could’ve pulled Ersson after that goal but kept him in. Ersson redeemed himself a smidgeon after a save on Carter Verhaeghe and looked fine the rest of the way. With a margin for error so small though, the Flyers need that save at all costs.
Maybe it was for the best he stayed in. Up 4-3 late in the third, Morgan Frost coughed up the puck and Ersson came up huge, making a handful of stops in a few seconds that earned well-deserved cheers from the fans. Although a shutout sounds far harder than giving up three, Ersson was full marks for keeping his chin up and getting the job done.
Farabee in, Coots out?
It would seem that Couturier is getting his chances and playing well with Michkov. On the flip side he took two rather needless penalties. The second of the pair, in the third, ended with a Florida goal as Reinhart once again found a weak spot on Ersson to put Florida up 3-2. If Couturier was finishing a handful of the chances he’s had with Michkov it would be a different story. But with the production well running drier and drier, a healthy scratch/reset might be in the cards for the captain.