The first two periods Saturday night at Wells Fargo Center were horrible. However, the third was a keeper and Owen Tippett’s four-point night was capped off with the overtime winner as Philadelphia edged Columbus 5-4.
The basics
First period: 15:47 – Mathieu Olivier (Kent Johnson)
Second period: 7:05 – Mikael Pyyhtia (Sean Kuraly)
Third period: 6:53 – Morgan Frost (Owen Tippett), 8:48 – Noah Cates (Scott Laughton, Cam York), 10:01 – Kirill Marchenko (Dmitri Voronkov, Ivan Provorov), 11:51 – Morgan Frost (Owen Tippett, Travis Konecny), 15:49 – Jake Christiansen (Dmitri Voronkov, Sean Monahan), 18:16 – Tyson Foerster (Travis Konecny, Owen Tippett)
Overtime: 3:30 – Owen Tippett (Noah Cates)
SOG: 30 (PHI) – 25 (COL)
Some takeaways
Michkov slumping?
Entering Saturday night’s game with no points the last four games, Matvei Michkov was visible in parts of the game. A pass to Travis Konecny could’ve been a breakaway but the pass went astray. In the third period Michkov drove the play following Morgan Frost’s goal, trying a Michigan again (and failing) but keeping on the puck. The Flyers tied things up thanks to another near empty-netter when Noah Cates potted his fifth of the year. The rookie didn’t get a point but was instrumental in the Flyers tying things up.
Michkov and Konecny had another strong attempt with just over six minutes to go but Michkov’s shot was stopped. The Mad Russian ended the game with nary a point but it wasn’t for lack of effort.
Far from sharp
A team that is winning or confident looks good because the passing is crisp and they can make short but high-percentage passes on a whim. The Flyers in the first period had some moments where the simple passes were adventures. A simple pass from Jamie Drysdale to Matvei Michkov wasn’t a good one, leaving the winger battling for possession when it should’ve been a simple tape-to-tape pass to head up ice. The passing problems mirrors the recent three-game winless streak where nothing looks easy, particularly in the neutral zone.
The other problem is the bad passing leads to turnovers, dump ins and more punishment your defensive corps doesn’t need with finished checks. Rasmus Ristolainen was on the end of a handful of such checks in the first period, one of which toppled him.
Power-free play
Without beating a dead horse, some nights the dreadful power play looks even worse than it should. The Flyers’ power play early in the second period was such an example. More poor passing and decision-making led Columbus to the best scoring chances of the two minutes, including one where Jamie Drysdale (whose error led to the opening goal) looked rather lost despite the team being a man up.
Philadelphia had a chance in the third thanks to Columbus’ Sean Kuraly tossing the puck over the glass. But after a tip-in attempt by Konecny failed the Flyers killed the penalty more than the Blue Jackets. Another frustrating evening against a team that they should’ve fared better against had they played better.
Frosty start, thaws out in third
The Flyers began the game with a good bit of play in the Columbus zone. The momentum briefly ceased when Morgan Frost ran interference, giving the Blue Jackets their first power play. From then on the Flyers, outshooting Columbus 5-2, did a lot of skating and passing in the offensive zone thanks to Jamie Drysdale, Bobby Brink, and Matvei Michkov. Brink made a nice saucer pass trying to set up Laughton moments later but that didn’t go anywhere.
Frost was visible in the second for a huge hit on, er, Travis Konecny. Neither appeared to see the other as they ran into each other behind the Blue Jackets net. Both were a little slow getting up but didn’t head down the tunnel fortunately. In the third Frost made no mistake on essentially an empty net when he was given a beautiful pass from Tippett to finally (and without a challenge) put the Flyers on the scoreboard.
Owen Tippett with a GROSS feed to Morgan Frost, who slams home an early Christmas gift 🎁#LetsGoFlyers | #CBJvsPHI pic.twitter.com/6zcHxL8rSK
— Maher Media (@MaherMediaCo) December 22, 2024
After being on the ice for the third Columbus goal, Frost came up big again by rifling a puck over Merzlikins to make it a 3-3 affair. Much like his season, Frost started slow but has warmed up a bit of late.
FROST SNIPE TIES IT 3-3 pic.twitter.com/E8RYAafQv4
— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) December 22, 2024
Lycksell lights lamp? No
Olle Lycksell had quite a weekend. He had a hat trick Friday night for Lehigh Valley. Saturday afternoon he was en route to Philadelphia as Sean Couturier was unable to play due to personal reasons. The Flyers’ first decent scoring chance was from Lycksell who was stopped by Elvis Merzlikins. Later in the game Lycksell seemed to keep the hot streak going when he beat Merzlikins between the legs. However, the goal was challenged for offside by Columbus. That challenge was successful, and Lycksell’s deficit-cutting goal didn’t count.
Ersson error-prone
Sam Ersson made some good saves in the first but another brain cramp in the second period was costly. Mishandling the puck behind the net, Ersson was nowhere near the front of the net when bottom-sixer Mikael Pyyhtia put it into the empty net. Some obvious crossed wires between Ersson and Drysdale led to the 2-0 Columbus lead.
He atoned for the gaffe late in the third when a Flyers defenseman broke his stick in his own zone. With Zach Aston-Reese looking to wait him out for the possible game winner, Ersson got his pad on the shot which then took a fortunate bounce under him to stop the play. And again in overtime when he kept the Flyers alive with a key stop.
York’s return good
After 40 minutes, whatever message John Tortorella sent to Cam York was received loud and clear. The blueliner was up 16-7 in chances for five-on-five and was second only to his partner Travis Sanheim. York didn’t wear the goat horns on this night as his play was far more recognizable than it was the past couple of games. He finished the night up 24-10 or 70.59 per cent, just a hair under Sanheim.
Foerster makes it 4-4
The Flyers pulled Ersson with less than two minutes to go and, as they do so often, made a late comeback to tie things up. This time Tyson Foerster deflected a Konecny pass to have a team that looked to be sleepwalking through two periods suddenly emerge with a four-goal third period.
Tyson Foerster with the goalie pulled! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/1f7tO6VaL4
— SleeperNHL (@SleeperNHL) December 22, 2024
Tippett with four points and the winner
As big as Frost was Saturday night, even he was overshadowed by Owen Tippett. The winger had four points and scored the winner in overtime to give the Flyers a valuable two points in the standings.
OWEN TIPPETT CAPS OFF THE COMEBACK FOR PHILADELPHIA!pic.twitter.com/SqjAS3BB7i
— SleeperNHL (@SleeperNHL) December 22, 2024
