The Flyers gave it the old college try, but the Vegas Golden Knights were too much for them, shutting the door on them in the third for a 5-2 win Thursday night in Vegas.
The basics
First period: 0:21 – Tyson Foerster (Bobby Brink, Noah Cates)
Second period: 0:51 – Mark Stone (Jack Eichel, Noah Hanifin), 2:13 – Nicolas Hague (Keegan Kolesar), 18:22 – Pavel Dorofeyev (Shea Theodore, Brayden McNabb)
Third period: 2:46 – Alexander Holtz (Noah Hanifin, Alex Pietrangelo), 4:56 – Travis Konecny (Owen Tippett, Morgan Frost) (PPG), 19:24 – Tanner Pearson (Mark Stone, Jack Eichel) (ENG)
SOG: 25 (PHI) – 27 (VGK)
Some takeaways
Defense has good and bad moments
After a lull in the second, the Flyers began to see their blueline carry the puck more and deeper into the Vegas zone. First Travis Sanheim made a deliberate push and moments later Nick Seeler and Jamie Drysdale followed suit. None of the attempts resulted in goals, but it did give the Flyers a bit of life after a stagnant start to the second. You might not want to play very loose against such a talented team like the Golden Knights, but the Flyers were creating a bit more where they needed to.
The flip side? Well, they did have some miscues. Drysdale looked like he screened Aleksei Kolosov on the fourth goal of the night for Vegas early in the third, effectively putting the nail in the Flyers’ coffin.
Kolosov being Kolosov
Coming off a co-shutout against San Jose, Aleksei Kolosov got off to a good start but had some help seven minutes in when a shot got through him and sat untouched for a second before Noah Cates alertly and quickly got it out of harm’s way. The Flyers goalie wasn’t tested too much in the opening half of the first.
But neither was the keeper at the other end as both teams managed a combined five shots on goal. The only other time Ilya Samsonov had to make a good save in the first was when Travis Konecny redirected a Rasmus Ristolainen point shot. Meanwhile Vegas were held without a shot for the last several minutes out of the opening twenty.
Kolosov couldn’t do much to start the second as the Golden Knights tied the game 1-1 as a shot was either deflected by a Vegas forward or bounced off of Ristolainen’s skate. Then a bad turnover by Joel Farabee along the boards caused Nicolas Hague to score on a wraparound 82 seconds later. It was a shot that Kolosov was slow to get across to, leaving space to put Vegas ahead.
Vegas goal!
— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 3, 2025
Scored by Nicolas Hague with 17:47 remaining in the 2nd period.
Assisted by Keegan Kolesar.
Vegas: 2
Philadelphia: 1#PHIvsVGK #VegasBorn #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/QRdK6IDFnI
Poehling plows in
The Flyers were hoping the Golden Knights weren’t thinking revenge when Ryan Poehling sped down the outside and crashed into Samsonov which sent him sprawling backwards. A scrum ensued but Poehling was called for a minor. Had Vegas decided to attempt the same thing as a means of frontier justice the Flyers could’ve quickly saw Ivan Fedotov as the starter and to be announced as the backup.
Philadelphia, with a slightly new look with Joel Farabee as one of the penalty killers, kept Vegas primarily to the outside and made some quick and strong clears.
Cates cooking
The opening line starting the game was Cates centering Bobby Brink and Tyson Foerster. And the line struck early as Tyson Foerster scored 21 seconds in, beating Ilya Samsonov for a quick 1-0 lead.
Philadelphia goal!
— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 3, 2025
Scored by Tyson Foerster with 19:39 remaining in the 1st period.
Assisted by Noah Cates and Bobby Brink.
Vegas: 0
Philadelphia: 1#PHIvsVGK #VegasBorn #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/ewMxN8ygVL
The line didn’t dominate on every shift but caused some havoc and problems with four minutes left in the first when they had some great pressure and good chances. They also had another excellent chance in the second when Foerster nearly jammed in a greasy goal. Seconds later Ristolainen blasted a howitzer that Samsonov got his glove on.
A sweet, magical comeback not to be
The Flyers got a rarity against Vegas: a power play against the least-penalized team in the league. And while Matvei Michkov was not used on the first unit, it didn’t matter as Konecny beat the goalie clean to get the Flyers at least back to within earshot at 4-2.
Power play goal for Philadelphia!
— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 3, 2025
Scored by Travis Konecny with 15:04 remaining in the 3rd period.
Assisted by Owen Tippett and Morgan Frost.
Vegas: 4
Philadelphia: 2#PHIvsVGK #VegasBorn #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/3ZcElYfw8J
The Flyers, facing an opponent who were a perfect 14-0-0 when they score four or more goals, had a second power play in the third and, with Michkov on unit two, had some chances but didn’t capitalize. A late empty net goal for Vegas made it official.
Second period blues
The middle frame has been improving the last little bit for the Flyers. But like their power play, being a smidgeon above abysmal isn’t probably reason to celebrate. The Flyers gave up two early goals and a back-breaking goal late in the second when Pavel Dorofeyev beat Kolosov. Philadelphia were up 44-36 in chances for (55 per cent) and had 65.03 per cent of the expected goals for after two periods. However, the scoreboard was all that mattered against a team that knows not only how to win, but has that killer instinct to put teams away.
