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Takeaways: Flyers battle back to tie but once again lose in a shootout to Carolina 3-2

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The Flyers were down 2-0, showed some moxie and character to tie the game up 2-2 late in the game, but lost their second consecutive shootout to Carolina 3-2.

The basics

First period: 5:44- William Carrier (Sean Walker, Jordan Staal), 15:53- Taylor Hall (Alexander Nikishin, Jackson Blake) (PPG), 19:07- Jamie Drysdale (Trevor Zegras, Matvei Michkov)
Second period: No scoring
Third period: 18:08- Trevor Zegras (Travis Konecny, Christan Dvorak)
Overtime: No scoring
Shootout: Seth Jarvis- No goal, Trevor Zegras- No goal, Andrei Svechnikov- Goal, Christian Dvorak- No goal, Jackson Blake- No goal, Matvei Michkov- No goal
SOG: 26 (PHI) – 33 (CAR)

Some takeaways

Comeback kids

The Flyers were down 2-0, but battled back. And it’s almost becoming habit. With the goalie pulled for the extra attacker, Travis Konecny fed Trevor Zegras a nice pass to Zegras who had a decent portion of an empty net to beat Brandon Bussi to tie things up 2-2 late in the third. The Flyers nearly had a chance to eke out a regulation win but couldn’t jam the puck by Bussi.

Unfortunately, the overtime session saw a rather tough penalty to take when Seth Jarvis blew by brink but blew a tire when he toe-picked. The officials saw it as a Bobby Brink trip. A huge kill concluded with Cam York breaking his stick, Sean Couturier clearing the puck, and Philadelphia nearly scoring the game-winner.

Not much animosity

Despite playing against each other less than 24 hours earlier, the Flyers and the Canes couldn’t scrounge up much vitriol Sunday. And unlike Saturday’s contest, the Canes got the opening handful of shots while Philadelphia was still seeking their first. They also got the first power play, with Andrei Svechnikov blasting a one-timer into Nick Seeler’s leg. Seeler was down momentarily before he got back up and helped the Flyers make the clear. Sadly, some mix up between the Flyers forwards (Travis Konecny and Christian Dvorak) in their own zone resulted in a shot from the point. The puck didn’t make it that far but William Carrier got the rebound who wristed the puck by Vladar for a 1-0 lead.

Thankfully, the Flyers got the better of the play the longer the first period went on, getting more pressure and offensive zone time.

Vladar very good

Dan Vladar was holding Philadelphia in the game after the first period, making 12 stops on 14 shots. He kept it from being a laugher with some good saves throughout the first, including a few late in the first before the Flyers scored their first of the night. There was one section in the second where the Canes fired three shots off in about six seconds. It wouldn’t be very noteworthy except for it being a few consecutive faceoffs that slowed things down to a crawl. He also made a key save on a two-on-one midway through the game, stoning Taylor Hall in deep. Perhaps the biggest of the night was on a breakaway after a Zegras giveaway allowed K’Andre Miller in alone. Miller deked but Vladar got his pad on it to knock it away from harm.

Return of the York

Cam York returned from a few games away, and had some rust on him to start. An early giveaway led to a Carolina chance but Vladar knocked the puck away with his mask. For the most part, York settled in rather quickly along with longtime partner Travis Sanheim. In the second period he got a long wrist shot off that Trevor Zegras nearly got his stick on.

York was just over 15 minutes of ice time after two periods, with three blocked shots and a few giveaways. Overall, he was doing and looking okay against a team that loves to pressure and forecheck the hell out of the opposition.

Glorified G

Carl Grundstrom was on the ice for the opening faceoff alongside Garnet Hathaway and center Rodrigo Abols. Abols fell heavily into the boards on the first rush but the line looked better than any fourth line the Flyers have had 30 games in. Sadly, if Garnet Hathaway didn’t have bad luck he’d have no luck at all. With Philadelphia already down 2-0, Hathaway knocked the puck out of the air and into the crowd for a delay of game penalty. They killed it and, on a delayed call to Carolina, the Flyers pulled Vladar to make it six-on-five. They were successful this time, as a Jamie Drysdale shot (that hit Carrier) beat the Canes’ Brandon Bussi for a crucial goal to cut the lead in half.

The Flyers nearly tied it up seconds later as Owen Tippett nearly scored and Matvei Michkov was at the doorstep but could finagle the puck over the line.

But back to Grundstrom. He seems to be a calming factor on this line and might be the key that final gets this three-man unit on the rails after what’s been a hellish two months and change.

A man advantage? A few actually.

It only took 68 minutes of play but the Flyers finally got their first power play against Carolina this weekend when Cam York was tripped up. The possession on the delayed penalty didn’t materialize in anything. The only bizarre aspect was three players looking for the puck around Vladar as Konecny scooted up ice with it. A second power play minutes later was far more promising and probably pleased head coach Rick Tocchet. They used the bumper, albeit briefly, but had movement and a decent chance. The second half was spent primarily in the Flyers zone and went belly up.

Meanwhile on the other side of things, the Flyers penalty killing unit was called upon after a rather foolish minor from Nikita Grebenkin who bopped the Carolina defenseman in the mouth. It was an important kill as Philadelphia wanted to avoid a 2-0 deficit late in the first. That didn’t happen. Taylor Hall deflected an Alexander Nikishin blast from the point between Vladar’s legs, giving Carolina the two-goal lead while the Flyers sought shot number three.

With under four to go in the second period, Garnet Hathaway drew another minor penalty which put Philadelphia again on the power play. A good keep by Drysdale caused some havoc seconds later with Zegras and Bobby Brink having grand chances to tie the game. Drysdale took a tripping penalty with 48 seconds left in the power play, resulting in more four-on-four hockey prior to a Carolina shortened man advantage.

PS: one more power play

After a slashing call early in period three, the Flyers once again tried to solve Carolina’s penalty kill. Zegras, acting as the quarterback, tried to make some magic. Noah Cates had a great chance to tie it but missed. Cates, who got filled in just after the chance, ended up taking a minor which once again negated a power play. It’s bad enough the Flyers are finding it difficult scoring with two minutes, they can’t shoot themselves in the foot halving their man advantage with penalties of their own. Philadelphia had some chances four-on-four, including Hathaway, Tippett, Abols, and Christian Dvorak all almost tying things up. All came up empty-handed.

Seriously, wtf?

The Flyers were initially four-on-four after Emil Andrae and a Canes player got into a tussle. However, the duo of Couturier and Owen Tippett looked beyond lost in their coverages and trying to make a simple clear. Both had a few occasions to do so, but couldn’t execute when needed. Even when the captain slowly crawled over the center line to make a change, he simply rifled the puck into the boards near the Flyers bench. The bounce caused a three-on-one for Carolina. Vladar was able to keep the gaffes from costing Philadelphia on the scoreboard. But just one brain cramp after another.

Shootout foibles

Although the Flyers couldn’t score to continue the shootout, perhaps the biggest question was the status of Vladar. The goalie took a knee to the side of the head after Jackson Blake’s attempt and was holding his head afterwards. Hopefully it’s nothing that could keep him out of the lineup.

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