Don't look now but the Philadelphia Flyers have collected at least one point (5-0-2 record) in seven straight games. Dating back to November 1, the Flyers are tied for the third most points in the NHL (12-6-2, 26 points) and have the second most points of any club in the Eastern Conference. Only the Florida Panthers (13-7-1, 27 points) have put more points in the cash register since the start of last month.
Coming off a three-game road trip spread out over the span of a week -- crossing over to the Mountain and Central time zones before coming back east -- Thursday's game against Washington was guaranteed to be as much of a mental challenge as a physical one.
Sure enough, the Flyers slogged through a low energy (but, thankfully, scoreless) first period against the Washington Capitals.
The energy picked up in the middle stanza and ramped up higher than that over the final 25 minutes prior to the shootout finale. The Flyers skated off with a 4-3 (2-1) win, much to the approval of the 18,500-plus fans in the stands (who were good and loud during Philly's comebacks from 2-1 and 3-2 deficits in the third period and straight through to the shootout).
The last week has been a wild ride for the Flyers since sweeping the Pittsburgh Penguins in a home-and-home set and then churning out a workmanlike 4-1 victory in Arizona to start the road trip.
A Doozy in Colorado
Last Saturday in Denver, the Flyers put forth one of the best regular season games as an entire team that they've played, arguably, since the 2019-2020 season before the pandemic.
The Flyers managed a 5-3 home win last December against the Avalanche (albeit an injury-riddled version of the Avs). A few weeks later in Denver, Dec. 13 to be exact, the Flyers lost a hard-fought 3-2 game at Ball Arena. So it wasn't that there was no recent precedent of the Flyers giving Colorado all that the Cup-contending Avs could handle.
This time around, though, it felt more important.
For one thing, a year ago at this time, the Flyers were in the process of trying to dig out from a 1-8-3 swoon in November to early December that buried Philly in the standings. For another, the Avs were mostly healthy this time around. The Flyers gave Colorado the respect an opponent of their caliber deserves, but not too much respect.
Don't let last Saturday's 5-2 final score fool you. The Flyers needed every bit of the teamwide effort they received against Colorado. There were times when the ice seemed tilted, only for the Flyers to take a deep breath and answer back after regaining their equilibrium. There was grit. There were high-skill plays made by players on both sides.
Up and down the Flyers' lineup, from the veteran nucleus to rookie Tyson Foerster and the under-25 forwards, Philly received step-up performances. Carter Hart cranked out another strong game in net (37 saves on 39 shots). The team in front of him blocked 23 shots. Philly went 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
Offensively, the Flyers got two more goals from Travis Konecny (15th and 16th), who has tallied four times so far on the current road trip. The penalty shot goal, which built a 4-2 lead and short-circuited a third-period push from Colorado, finally established a firmer grip on the game for Philly. The Flyers also received tallies from Owen Tippett, Travis Sanheim and Joel Farabee.
Bobby Brink, who also made several clever plays two nights earlier in Arizona without getting a reward on the scoresheet, had nice assists on the Tippett and Farabee goals. He also turned in vital forechecking work in the sequence that led up to Morgan Frost feeding an open Sanheim in the right circle for the goal that made it 3-1 Flyers. Frost and Tippett earned the assists on the Sanheim goal, but the tally wouldn't have happened if not for Brink's work on the front end of the play.
Frost, meanwhile, had perhaps his best offensive game of 2023-24 in Denver -- later topped on Thursday night against the Capitals with a stellar all-around game -- although he only came away from the night with the one assist. Frost did not get credit for an assist on the Tippett goal that started when Frost checked the puck off Miles Wood's stick over to Brink (the official scorer ruled no touch, no takeaway and no giveaway but Wood clearly had the first possession after Hart made a save and, a moment later, the puck was claimed by Brink).
Frost also made the outlet pass to Sanheim that started the eventual Farabee goal sequence. Frost had a near-goal himself after he turned Ross Colton inside out on a rush and couldn't quite finesse a shot through the five hole. The puck wound up under goalie Ivan Prosvetov's legs after squeaking through the pads.
Sean Couturier (three shots on goal, three blocked shots, three takeaways) logged a monstrous 22:14 of ice time and won 14 of 25 faceoffs. Scott Laughton (three shots on goal, 14-for-24 on faceoffs) skated 22:09 over 32 shifts. There were stretches of the game where Tortorella sent out Couturier and Laughton on every other shift for several minutes.
The Flyers started the game with 11 forwards and seven defensemen but veteran defenseman Marc Staal was used very sparingly (8:30 TOI, 12 shots). For two periods, the Flyers largely went with just nine forwards, as fourth line wingers Garnet Hathaway and Nick Deslauriers were spotted carefully. Deslauriers had three shifts in the second period, of which one lasted 25 seconds. Hathaway had five shifts in the middle frame but two were short shifts.
Flyers Fight for a Point in Nashville
Despite controlling the majority of the play for the first 46 minutes of Tuesday's game at Bridgestone Arena, the Philadelphia Flyers had to battle back from a 2-0 deficit to forge a regulation tie and claim one point. Nashville scored 18 seconds into overtime to send the Flyers to a 3-2 defeat.
The Predators took a 1-0 lead at 9:42 of the first period on a deflection goal by Gustav Nyquist. Nashville took a 2-0 lead at 3:05 of the second period on a delayed penalty against the Flyers. Garnet Hathaway clearly touched up the puck but there was no whistle. Michael McCarron scored the 6-on-5 goal.
Moments after the Flyers killed a penalty late in the second period, Couturier scored at 19:36 to bring the Flyers within 2-1. Philly tied the game at 2-2 the 6:49 mark of the third period. Sanheim moved in to collect a Konecny rebound and scored. Couturier earned the secondary assist. The Flyers got away with an apparent holding penalty on Konecny on the front end the play but there was no whistle.
After Sanheim scored the tying goal, the Flyers had to withstand several strong pushes by Nashville over the rest of regulation. Eighteen seconds into overtime, Flilp Forsberg moved off the right boards over the middle and wristed a shot on net. Samuel Ersson made the save but couldn't freeze the puck. The puck sat on his pad and Forsberg followed it up to end the game.
While Tuesday's outcome was disappointing, it's hard to complain about taking five of six possible points from a three-game road trip.
Plays of the Week
Here's a look at the top four plays by the Flyers during the games against Colorado, Nashville and Washington.
1. Konecny's penalty shot goal: In Colorado last Saturday, a slender 3-2 Philly lead held through a heavy Colorado push in the opening nine minutes of the third period.
Finally, Konecny intercepted the puck in the defensive zone and raced off on a breakaway at 9:31. Konecny was fouled by Nathan MacKinnon for a penalty shot.
On his ensuing opportunity, Konecny moved left and then cut right. His forehand attempt to the glove side went off Ivan Prosvetov's left pad and into the net for a 4-2 Philly edge. It wasn't a pretty goal but it was a vital one. The Flyers now had much-needed breathing room and were in the driver's seat against the Avs.