It wasn’t too long ago that it felt like the Philadelphia Flyers couldn’t buy a goal. The Flyers were shut out in three consecutive games from Jan. 29 to Feb. 2, the on-ice focal point of a 1-6-1 stretch that included the trade of Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee.
But so far, the Flyers have left those struggles on the front side of the 4 Nations Face-Off break. The Flyers returned by hanging a six-spot on the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday afternoon. Facing the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second time in three games (the Flyers won 3-2 on Feb. 8), Philadelphia showed no signs of slowing down, racing out to an early 2-0 lead and hanging a six-spot on their Keystone State rivals on Tuesday night.
Game Recap
The Flyers didn’t spend much time in the offensive zone during the first few shifts, but that didn’t prevent them from gaining the early lead. A Rasmus Ristolainen one-timer from the left circle beat Alex Nedeljkovic just four minutes in. Ristolainen then kept the lead he gave his team intact, sweeping a loose puck behind Sam Ersson that was trickling toward the goal line a few minutes later. That flurry didn’t change the pace of a sluggish first period, but it loomed especially large when Noah Cates ripped a wrist shot off the pipe and into the net 12:19 into the frame.
The Flyers finished with a hearty 15-6 edge in shots after 20 minutes and applied some pressure early in the second period thanks to a Kris Letang cross-checking penalty. But the Penguins tilted the ice after completing the kill, eventually breaking through when Philip Tomasino buried a beautiful saucer pass from Michael Bunting for a breakaway goal to get Pittsburgh back in the game.
Philadelphia managed to survive a run of eight straight Pittsburgh shots and a Penguins power play with their lead still intact. Things began to open up for them after that barrage, and after a few missed opportunities, they restored their two-goal lead when Jamie Drysdale hit Tyson Foerster for a cross-ice one-timer off the rush for his 16th goal of the season.
Any chances of a Penguins comeback faded in the closing moments of the second, with the Flyers’ second line taking control of the game. Foerster and Drysdale (along with Nick Seeler) combined to create another goal, cycling the puck around and eventually getting it on goal for a rebound goal by Cates, his second two-goal game of the season. A mere 10 seconds later, the Flyers flashed into the offensive zone and Cates hit Bobby Brink at the back post, who had position on Pierre-Oliver Joseph, to stretch the lead to 5-1.
The Penguins hardly showed any fight in the third period, which was marred by a sloppy power play and two egregious turnovers that led to an Owen Tippett tap-in and chants of “We want seven!” from the crowd. Those hopes came up short, but fans did get the largest two-game offensive outburst of the Flyers’ season. That’s not a bad prize to come away with.
Tuesday’s game wasn’t very physical, but that could change when the teams meet for the second time in 48 hours on Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena. Both teams have four games remaining before the March 7 trade deadline.
