Highlights Beyond Highlights- Nov. 27 vs. Predators

It’s a wacky sport sometimes, this NHL hockey stuff. The Flyers were not at their sharpest on Wednesday night in Nashville, as the Predators forecheck and defensive play prevented the Flyers from getting much of anything going for nearly the entire night. But with two late deflections, the Flyers turned what looked like a 2-1 loss into a 3-2 overtime victory.

That said, here are some of the little plays from earlier in the game that kept the Flyers just one shot away from tying it.

Travis Sanheim took care of a problem halfway through the first period that started off a misplay at the Nashville blue line. He took the right angle to be able to steer Gustav Nyquist away once he received the pass at center ice, and put the perfect amount of pressure on him to nullify the chance without taking a penalty.

Soon after, Emil Andrae had possession deep in the Flyers zone and was being pursued by one Predator while another closed in on him from in front of the net. No problem – he played a high-skill pass through the ice vacated by the second Nashville forechecker right to Joel Farabee, who was able to clear the zone. Without that pass, Andrae would have had a lot to deal with behind the net, and one of those Predators players likely would have been able to pop the puck out in front of the net to the other one.

Early in the second period, while Matvei Michkov was in the box, the Predators got the Flyers hemmed into their own zone beginning at the halfway point of that power play. The four Flyers defending that power play were all stuck out on the ice for more than two minutes, while Michkov, who joined the effort halfway through, was out for 1:13. But it was Michkov who got to a loose puck and made a perfect play that didn’t go far enough for an icing, but did go far enough for all five Flyers to get off the ice during the period of the long change.

The Flyers didn’t have many scoring chances in the game, but one of their best was started by Rasmus Ristolainen. He is F1 on this play, meaning he’s the first forechecker in the zone – a role that is usually played by a forward. But with everyone else changing, Ristolainen took on the task. He smushes a Predator against the boards and immediately sets up the guys coming off the bench for a great chance.