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Takeaways: Konecny has a hat trick but it’s not enough as Flyers fall to Columbus 5-3

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Travis Konecny scored a hat trick, and Dan Vladar made some great saves to keep Philadelphia in it, but in the end the Flyers had too many passengers on this night in a 5-3 loss to host Columbus on Wednesday evening.

The basics

First period: 0:38 – Charlie Coyle (Mathieu Olivier, Zach Werenski), 9:03 – Travis Konecny (Cam York, Noah Juulsen), 19:40 – Kirill Marchenko (Zach Werenski, Adam Fantilli)
Second period: 1:58 – Erik Gudbranson (Cole Sillinger, Charlie Coyle)
Third period: 4:08 – Travis Konecny (Christian Dvorak, Jamie Drysdale), 15:14 – Travis Konecny (Travis Sanheim, Christian Dvorak), 16:32 – Sean Monahan (Damon Severson, Kent Johnson), 18:54 – Mathieu Olivier (Cole Sillinger) (ENG)
SOG: 25 (PHI) – 31 (CBJ)

Some takeaways

Vladar back on the radar

Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar made his first start since leaving two weeks ago after one period against Buffalo. And with five games left before the Olympic break, it was imperative he help steer the Flyers back closer to a playoff spot. Well, the Flyers looked as foolish starting off as they did against the Islanders on Monday. A bad giveaway along the boards by Trevor Zegras resulted in a quick turnover. Charlie Coyle took a short pass and simply beat Vladar who didn’t have much of a chance. Another game, another occasion the opposition opened the scoring.

Vladar settled the team down somewhat after that, making a good stop on a shot by defenseman Damon Severson. But late in the first the Flyers got outworked when Owen Tippett was tossed off the puck and lost his stick. The result was a two-on-one that Vladar again had very little chance on as Kirill Marchenko drove it home on the one-timer. And Columbus struck again early in the second as they did in the first, as this time defenseman Erik Gudbranson blasted one from the point that Vladar couldn’t see through some bodies until it was too late.

Also in the second, Vladar had his mask knocked off but the play continued. Fortunately a shot from a bad angle was low enough to not do any damage, though it irked the Flyers who weren’t happy with the shot. On the whole it wasn’t a great return for the netminder. Then again, the skaters in front of him didn’t really offer a lot of support.

Vladar’s biggest save of the evening was early in the third when he stretched across and got an incredible glove save on Adam Fantilli, robbing him of a goal. Officials reviewed the play to see if it crossed the line but replays indicated Vladar’s glove crossed the line. Vladar made another remarkable save minutes later to keep the game within reach, this time stoning Boone Jenner.

Some push back, but not enough

The line of Zegras, Christian Dvorak, and Travis Konecny were called out by head coach Rick Tocchet this week. Tocchet said the trio were cheating for offense and, as a result, were beginning to get burned more and more. After another bad giveaway early, the line redeemed themselves somewhat midway through the first. Travis Konecny wristed a shot through Columbus goalie Elvis Merzlikins to tie things 1-1.

The line kept looking for more, but late in the first, a bad turnover in the offensive zone ended up being a two-on-one the other way. Travis Sanheim took a hooking penalty to prevent what looked like a likely goal. The Flyers were able to kill it successfully. And after killing it, the line went to work again, nearly taking the lead when, on the power play, the unit featuring Konecny and Zegras had prime chances with Merzlikins essentially on his back. But neither time could they put it home.

Following the third Columbus goal, the Flyers had another chance courtesy of Sean Couturier and Tippett. But Couturier’s shot from the side was stopped by Merzlikins with a high pad save. Overall it epitomized most of January for the Flyers, with opportunities staring them in the face but them being simply unable to score.

New defensive combos

With the news that defenseman Emil Andrae wasn’t going to be in the lineup against Columbus, the pairings got mixed up slightly. Noah Juulsen was Andrae’s replacement and got on the scoresheet early, getting a secondary assist on Konecny’s opening goal. It marked the 18th goal for Konecny against Columbus in 31 career games. And his 19th of the season!

With the Flyers left with just five defenseman so early in the first (more on that below), obviously the pairings got tossed out the window and were made on the fly for the rest of the way. It also certainly didn’t help that the quintet would be used more on the front end of a back-to-back with the Bruins waiting for them tomorrow night. Drysdale led all Flyers blueliners with a rather mammoth 26:46 while both Travis Sanheim and Cam York logged over 23 minutes each.

Denver Barkey, Matvei Michkov meh

The Flyers first decent chance of the night took place moments after Coyle’s goal. Winger Denver Barkey didn’t get the pass from Owen Tippett to put it behind Blue Jackets keeper Elvis Merzlikins. Merzlikins then proceeded to push Barkey away from him without taking a penalty. Meanwhile minutes later Matvei Michkov came in on a breakaway but was one-upped by Merzlikins. The Mad Russian showed some fight midway through the game when he got into a minor scuffle with Adam Fantilli after a whistle.

The Russian winger also nearly cut the deficit in half late in the second on a power play. But Michkov’s low shot was kicked out by Merlikins’ pad. Like most of the Flyers opportunities on this night, close but no cigar.

Too many passengers, not enough TKs

Although the Flyers weren’t exactly scoreboard watching during the game, they had to have known just how important this game was. With the Islanders romping the Rangers, Philadelphia needed a big effort to at least get the two points. But after two periods of play, there were three players who were over 40 per cent regarding Corsi For percentage: Zegras, Konecny, and Michkov. The same trio were responsible for six of the 13 shots the Flyers had over two periods. Seven different players were under 25 per cent heading into the second intermission. In short, there wasn’t a lot of help from a vast majority of players despite knowing wins are required.

Speaking of Konecny, he scored again in the third to make it a 3-2 game four minutes into the third.

The winger, who took a shot off the leg late in the second and was hobbling to the bench, then ended up tying the game with his third of the night. Getting his stick for a tip-in with under five minutes to go, Konecny willed the team back into the game to tie it at three goals apiece.

Konecny and Vladar deserved much better outcomes on this night. But two players don’t make a team. Sadly, the Blue Jackets minutes later ended up going ahead. This time for good.

Breaking news! Rasmus Ristolainen is hurt

Stop me if you heard this before. Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen wasn’t on the bench just five minutes into the game. Ristolainen took a shift but then went down the hallway. Given his knack for dealing with recurring injuries, it didn’t seem all that surprising he would be hurt. When asked during a stoppage what happened, Tocchet said Ristolainen fell but didn’t elaborate further. Ristolainen fell awkwardly behind the Flyers’ net seconds into the contest and looked to be favoring something. He left the game after having just 1:01 of ice time.

The Flyers made the news official prior to the start of the second period that he wouldn’t return after suffering a lower-body injury. The notion Ristolainen would be possibly trade fodder at the deadline was a long shot to begin with. Now it appears to be a non-starter.

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