Highlights Beyond Highlights- March 2 vs. Senators

One of the unique things about hockey is how little things lead to bigger things.  The final minute sequence in the second period was one of those times. With just over a minute left in the frame, the Flyers are defending the zone when Noah Cates jailbreaks Joel Farabee with a creative little pass. This is a hallmark of the team’s game this year – instead of simply trying to kick it out of the zone, Cates and Farabee are looking to create transition offense the other way.

Farabee doesn’t score here, but the puck never leaves the zone before Tyson Foerster’s first goal.  This pressure results in an offensive-zone faceoff, and Foerster scores right off it.  But without the good play by Cates, the puck may never have been in the zone in the first place.

Of course, Foerster wasn’t done yet in that period. But his play that led to the penalty shot call was equally impressive.  In the seconds leading up to this, Flyers fans are merely hoping the clock runs out before Ottawa can score.  But as the puck comes out to the point following a Felix Sandstrom save, Foerster closes on Jacob Chychrun in such a way that there are few options – Foerster’s body is positioned to make a play down the wall seem difficult, encouraging Chychrun to try a D-to-D pass – but Foerster puts his stick in that lane at just the right time, and suddenly he’s off to the races.

And finally, another entry into the Nick Seeler log of things we see from him in this column.  The end-of-season recap for him is going to be a long one.  And this is a long clip, but it’s worth the time.  This is a Flyers penalty kill early in the third period, a perfect time for Ottawa to generate some momentum.  But Seeler leads the way on a PK determined to not let that happen.  He had two key blocks in this sequence, with a total of five on the night. Further to that, the willingness of Seeler and Sean Walker to be in those shooting lanes causes the Senators to pass up a couple additional shooting opportunities.