The Flyers closed out their back-to-back tonight in Los Angeles, and despite having to battle through a little bit of fatigue and a whole lot of depletion in their lineup, they were able to deliver a gutsy effort on the way to a shootout win, keeping their desperate push to stay in the playoff race alive.
The Basics
First period: 19:31- Quinton Byfield (Moore, Laferriere)
Second period: :26- Travis Konecny (Ristolainen, Bump), :47- Anze Kopitar (Clarke, Panarin), 4:12- Noah Cates (Michkov, Ristolainen), 6:59- Travis Sanheim (Cates, Michkov)
Third period: 10:28- Artemi Panarin (Laughton)PPG
Overtime: No scoring
Shootout: Adrian Kempe (no goal), Trevor Zegras (goal), Artemi Panarin (no goal), Matvei Michkov (goal)
SOG: 20 (PHI) – 25 (LAK)
Some Takeaways
The lineup gets weird
As if things weren’t already bound to get a little strange just by virtue of this being a Flyers After Dark matchup, they got a little wild before the puck even dropped for this one. The Flyers were without all of Sean Couturier, Denver Barkey, and Luke Glendening as they’re all dealing with injuries, putting some serious strain on their forward group. As a result, the Flyers went with the 11F/7D arrangement for this one… more or less.
Where it all gets especially weird is in the fact that this game saw the Flyers using Emil Andrae at forward as a way to find him a bit more ice time and give the lines a little bit more continuity, but they did that while still giving him some normal shifts on defense. It was a bit of a mess logistically, but Andrae handled the assignment quite well. There were a few miscues and a bit of uncertainty at times, but he also was able to step up and make some nice plays, taking advantage of that forward role. We don’t really expect this to be a route they pursue beyond this game, but it worked well enough for them, in a pinch.
A sleepy start
This game really did not start out in a way which was particularly engaging for anyone back here on the East Coast who committed to staying up for this game, but it was also a pretty uninspired start for the Flyers, who were looking to find some energy early and keep the ball rolling coming off that huge win over the Ducks the night before. There just wasn’t a whole lot of pace pulled together, not a ton of rhythm through those early goings, as both sides struggled to generate much of anything in the way of chances.
It was a disjointed first period just about all the way through to the end, as they couldn’t even put together 10 shots on goal between the two teams, but the Kings managed to make the most of one of those few chances that they did create, getting themselves on the board with just 29 seconds remaining in the frame.
Ersson gets the nod
That first goal was a tough one to give up — a pretty clean shot that beat Ersson from some distance — for the fact that it ended the Flyers’ bid to weather the first period, but particularly for Ersson individually, as he finally got in for a start for the first time in about a week and a half and was looking to make a strong impression.
Ersson gave up two more goals in regulation, but those were harder to pin on him exclusively — the first came after a breakdown in front which saw the Kings maneuvering while each Flyers skater seemed to stand completely still, and the second on the penalty kill, when Nick Seeler accidentally screened him by trying to engage physically with the Kings skater parked in front of him. On the whole, though, Ersson held up quite well across the whole of this game. He came up with a few really key saves throughout regulation, still a few more more in overtime, and then he was perfect for them in the shootout, helping to secure them this hard-fought win. It might not have been perfect, or the flashiest performance we’ve seen from him so far this season, but it was just enough.
Picking up steam
Credit to the Flyers, though, despite playing a somewhat lifeless first period and giving up a bit of a backbreaker late in the frame, they were able to regroup at the intermission, and came out ready to play with a bit more pace and prioritize creating more and better chances. They were able to bear down in a pretty big way, and they were rewarded for that work, grabbing a tying goal inside the first minute of the period, and then after the Kings reclaimed the lead, they piled on two goals in a little over two minutes to grab the lead for themselves.
This was another low-volume game in terms of chances created, which was understandable given the whole combined situation of the Flyers’ own system, the possession game the Kings play, and the fatigue factor coming into play, but the Flyers were able to stick with it and make the most of those limited chances they were creating. This, too, wasn’t overly flashy, but it was overall a dedicated effort, and it was a real positive to see the Flyers avoiding slipping into a mode of outright frustration around their broad situation and the somewhat stifled offense. They didn’t get down on themselves, and they delivered another resilient effort, on the way to another big, hard fought win.
Bonus hockey bound again
Because the Flyers are the way that they are, there really shouldn’t have been any doubt that in a game that started after 10:30 pm back home here, the Flyers were fated to take this one beyond regulation.
Things got a little dicey in stretches, as the Flyers looked a little disorganized in the overtime frame while the Kings were able to put a couple of good looks together, but they were able to weather that storm and get themselves to the shootout, where they’re beginning to look downright automatic.
What more is there to say here? Please look at this move from Trevor Zegras in the shootout.
