Highlights Beyond Highlights- Dec. 2 vs. PIT

Little moments can tun a game one way or another, and one of those moments came just four minutes into the contest.  What started out as solid defensive coverage by the Flyers dissipated rapidly after a toe drag and then a bouncing puck eluded the Philadelphia blueliners, sending Joona Koppanen on a very late breakaway. But an alert Samuel Ersson pokechecked the threat away, preventing Koppanen from even getting a shot off.

The Flyers had perhaps one of their best minutes of the game with eight to go in the second period. Although it didn’t result in a goal, the Flyers held sustained pressure for a full 57 seconds thanks to some hard-working keep-ins at the blue line.

Not long after that minute, the Flyers sprung Owen Tippett on a breakway twice. Tristan Jarry saved the first one, but Tippett won the second battle.  This starts as a puck that comes out to the point, and the Flyers do something they’ve been doing all year – a forward closes in on the defender up high and tries to block the shot. If he doesn’t, he turns and looks for a potential turnover that might send him on a rush the other way. That’s what happens here, as Erik Karlsson puts the puck into the slot looking for Jake Guentzel on what appears to be a set play. But Tyson Foerster intercepted it clean and threaded a needle through the Pittsburgh defensemen to Tippett, who cashed in on the breakaway. It’s a great heads-up play by Foerster who makes the interception and the pass in one clean motion.