A 5-0 loss to Carolina dropped the Flyers closer to more lottery balls, ending the homestand a paltry 1-6-0.
The Flyers ended the homestand with their sixth loss in seven games, this time a 5-0 thumping to the talented, playoff-bound Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night at Wells Fargo Center.
The basics
First period: 8:21 – Sebastian Aho (Jackson Blake, Seth Jarvis), 15:46 – Mark Jankowski (Eric Robinson, Tyson Jost)
Second period: 0:19 – Taylor Hall (Sebastian Aho, Shayne Gostisbehere) (PPG), 13:15 – Mark Jankowski (Eric Robinson, Shayne Gostisbehere)
Third period: 19:28 – Scott Morrow (Logan Stankoven, Taylor Hall)
SOG: 26 (PHI) – 31 (CAR)
Some takeaways
Menacing Michkov
Matvei Michkov and Logan Stankoven got into each other’s face midway in the first, with Michkov being the only one sent to the box for an unsportsmanlike conduct minor. Neither one dropped the gloves but it marked the second time Michkov was in the box (the other for the Flyers’ delay of game on a failed challenge for goaltender interference).
For most of the night the forward was trying to create but not much was going right.
Ersson fighting
Hours after having his coach admit he’s not the goalie for the Flyers but possibly part of a tandem, Sam Ersson wasn’t dialed in but kept fighting to make saves. He made a few stops on the Canes’ opening power play. Ersson made a glove stop on the Canes during their second power play but didn’t make the catch, instead getting enough to keep it out.
The Canes’ second goal looked bad for the starter. Fourth-liner Mark Jankowski got a redirection from Ersson trying to clear the puck. The puck was there for Jankowski who beat Ersson for a 2-0 lead. Unfortunately, two golden Flyers chances shortly thereafter were nixed by great saves from Pyotr Kochetkov. After scoring up a power play goal early in the second, Carolina looked like they had their fourth goal. But the Flyers challenged this one for offsides. They were successful on that one, keeping it a 3-0 contest. Jankowski scored his second of the game (and his fourth since the trade deadline, on four shots) when he beat Ersson high on the short side, putting a bow on this one with a lot of time left.
Tortorella stayed with Ersson in the third period, refusing to pull him for Ivan Fedotov.
More like a road test
Carolina entered the game winning seven consecutive games at Wells Fargo Center. So it almost seemed like the Flyers needed to play a “road game” to see if they could have any success. The Flyers were hemmed in early in the first as Sean Couturier’s line couldn’t do much to make clears and the defensive pair of Emil Andrae and Egor Zamula didn’t fare much better. Eventually a Jakob Pelletier attempt on the rush was Philadelphia’s first decent chance. But it appeared that if the Flyers could survive the opening 10 minutes (despite having the last change), they may have a chance.
The Flyers almost survived it but some offensive zone time resulted in the Canes taking the opening lead. Sebastian Aho scored after Jackson Blake just beat Travis Konecny to the puck, putting it by Ersson on the blocker side. Philadelphia challenged the call for goalie interference. The goal was a good goal, leaving the Flyers short-handed afterwards. Carolina’s power play is not hot, the lone saving grace being ranked 26th heading into the contest.
Konecny, Tippett close but no cigars
If hitting two posts and a crossbar on a shootout attempt isn’t the definition of snakebit, then Konecny doesn’t know what is. Konecny nearly got the monkey off his back down a man when Ryan Poehling fed him a pass on a two-on-one. Unfortunately Konecny didn’t get enough of it to put it home. Meanwhile, Owen Tippett had a strong first period with three shots on goal. But again, nothing to show for it.
Tippett took a shot off the hand late in the second and headed down the hallway to the locker room, seconds before Rodrigo Abols and Jankowski (who had a pair of goals) were tussling. The referees took just one of them, with Jankowski serving two minutes. Fortunately Tippett was on the bench to start the third period.
Getting the call right
The Flyers got the benefit of an officials huddle a few minutes into the first, resulting in a Cam York high-sticking penalty being negated after realizing York’s stick didn’t hit Taylor Hall in the face. Hall sold the non-infraction well but the stick simply hit him in the chest. It was strange seeing York in the box and then explained what happened, leaving York to head back to the bench and continue playing five-on-five. A nice break for a struggling outfit.
Hall made up for the quasi-embellishment early in period two when he capitalized 19 seconds in following a Poehling minor penalty. Not the best way to try to cut a 2-0 deficit in half. The goal was a backbreaker with so much game left to play.
Half a game of garbage time?
The Flyers were involved in a laugher with 25 minutes left to go. Given how futile the offense has been, and how snakebit a few forwards are currently, it seemed like the Flyers would’ve been happy to run out the clock as quickly as possible. A power play by Philadelphia had a few chances but Jakob Pelletier and Poehling couldn’t get the puck beyond Kochetkov (who tossed Poehling’s twig) and Canes player Tyson Jost.
After two periods only the fourth line and Ryan Poehling were over 50 percent in chances for. That said, when you let the opposing fourth line score two on you, it’s not a good night. The result after the halfway point was rarely in doubt, more damning given Carolina played the night before in Detroit while the Flyers awaited them. The only part that remained in doubt was whether Kochetkov would end up with the shutout or not. Konecny looked like he hit the postt with just under a minute left. But instead the Canes went up ice and put their fifth in, this one from Scott Morrow for his first NHL goal.
