The Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Detroit Red Wings, 3-0, at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday evening. Philadelphia seemed a stride off in making plays and struggled to battle through Detroit's checking pressure. The Flyers have lost four straight games in regulation.
Former Flyers goaltender Alex Lyon recorded a 30-save shutout. The team in front of him blocked 25 Flyers shot attempts. Samuel Ersson stopped 14 of 17 shots in a losing cause.
After a scoreless first period, Dylan Larkin (20th goal of the season, 10-game point streak) gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead at 1:37 of the second period. A Lucas Raymond shot from 30 feet produced a rebound in the left slot and Larkin fired it home.
Morgan Frost blocked a Moritz Seider shot attempt (6th goal of the season) off his stick up high in the defensive zone. The trajectory changed and the puck went into the net. The lone assist went to Raymond as Detroit took a 2-0 lead at 7:15 of the middle frame.
The Flyers gave up a shorthanded goal as Detroit took a 3-0 lead at 10:08. Midway through Philadelphia's second power play of the game, both teams started unit changes as Michael Rasmussen gained possession in the Philadelphia zone. Rasmusen then passed out to Andrew Copp (SHG, 9th). Copp's 40-foot slap shot deflected off Zamula and found its way into the net. The assists went to Rasmussen and Jeff Petry.
The Flyers went 0-for-3 on the power play and yielded a shorthanded goal when they had a chance to get back within one. The Red Wings were 0-for-4 on the power play.
Philly returned to a rotation of 12 forwards and six defensemen. Rasmus Ristolainen exited the lineup as a healthy scratch. Nicolas Deslauriers reentered the lineup.
FLYERS STARTING LINEUP
27 Noah Cates - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
86 Joel Farabee - 48 Morgan Frost - 89 Cam Atkinson
71 Tyson Foerster - 21 Scott Laughton - 62 Olle Lycksell
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 25 Ryan Poehling - 19 Garnet Hathaway
8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim
5 Egor Zamula - 9 Jamie Drysdale
24 Nick Seeler - 26 Sean Walker
33 Samuel Ersson
[40 Cal Petersen]
TURNING POINT
Larkin's goal just 97 seconds into the second period was a bad omen for how the middle frame would unfold. Raymond was blocked on an initial shot attempt from the right circle and his follow up attempt rebounded directly to Larkin on the other side. The other two goals were bounces that went against the Flyers but also some self-made puck luck by Detroit.
POSTGAME 5
1) Neither team recorded a shot on goal through the first 3:34 of the first period as the Flyers went offside. Konecny had the game's first shot at 4:45. On the next shift, Poehling fought off a hook to generate a shot near the net.
Scott Laughton was called for holding Klim Kostin in the offensive zone on an attempted forecheck. The whistle blew at 7:06 and Detroit went on the game's first power play. Larkin hit the crossbar after the puck deflected off Hathaway. The Flyers PKers blocked four shot attempts. Finally, Philly cleared the zone. Cates started a shorthanded counter that produced an offensive zone faceoff. The penalty was killed successfully.
At 10:50, Shayne Gostisbehere broke up a Flyers' rush. Hathaway put a shot on net that Lyon held for a stoppage at 11:13.
Ersson robbed Larkin at point blank range off the rebound of a sharp angle Lucas Raymond shot at 15:34. As time ticked down to the final minute, Farabee pressured a Detroit turnover deep in Philly's attack zone for a dangerous scoring chance by Foerster.
In the waning seconds of the opening period, Sanheim killed a Jake Walman rush attempt. The period expired as the puck dribbled away harmlessly.
2) There were quite a few potential scoring chances for both teams in the first period but most of them ended up as blocked shots, broken up passes over the middle or misses. First period shots on goal were 9-4 Flyers. Shot attempts were 24-20 Flyers as Philly blocked 11 Detroit shot attempts (Hathaway blocked three) and the Red Wings blocked 10 Philly shot attempts. Scoring chances were 13-8 Flyers. High-danger scoring chances per Natural Stat Trick were 7-2 Flyers. Faceoffs were 10-6 Detroit.
3) The Larkin rebound goal put the Flyers in a 1-0 hole at 1:37 of the second period. Poehling created a scoring chance for Lycksell, who hit the short side post at 2:25.
Olli Määttä went to the penalty box for grabbing hold of a forechecking Cates at 3:06. The Flyers didn't get much going on the ensuing power play.
Seider's deflected goal at 7:15 doubled the Flyers' deficit. With Seider in the box for a boarding minor called at 8:33, the Flyers gave up their third shorthanded goal against this season, falling behind 3-0 at 10:08. Couturier hit the crossbar from in close and Atkinson could not find the net during the ensuing scramble.
The Flyers frequently jumbled line combinations with the score 3-0 in Detroit's favor. At 18:37, after throwing his weight around in the Detroit end zone, Deslauriers dropped the gloves with Kostin. In addition to the fighting majors and additional minors for Deslauriers and Kostin removing their helmets, Hathaway and Gostisbehere received coincidental roughing minors.
4) Second period shots on goal were 10-8 Flyers (19-12 Philadelphia overall) but the damage was done by the Red Wings. Shot attempts were 10-8 Flyers (19-12 Flyers overall). Scoring chances were 8-5 Flyer (22-13 Flyers overall). High-danger scoring chances were 4-3 Flyers according to Natural Stat Trick (12-5 Flyers overall). Faceoffs were 13-9 Red Wings (23-15 Detroit overall).
5) The first 2:31 of the third period was low-event for both teams. Lycksell made nice solo rush but couldn't pull off one final move near the net.
Detroit went to the power play at 3:36. Laughton went off for tripping Gostisbehere at 3:36. The Flyers staged a strong kill. Detroit had no scoring chances. With play back at 5-on-5, Lycksell and Farabee had a promising-looking rush but the play was broken up by the defense.
The Flyers went to their third power play as Petry was called for interference against Hathaway near the net at 6:54. Frost generated a rebound off his shot from the top of the left circle but no Flyers were able to claim it.
Lycksell took a holding penalty on Robby Fabbri in the neutral zone at 11:03. Ersson stopped a Daniel Sprong backhander from the low slot.
Third period shots on goal were 11-5 Flyers (30-17 Flyers overall). Shot attempts were 21-15 Flyers (72-47 Flyers overall). Scoring chances were 6-5 Detroit (27-19 Flyers overall). High-danger scoring chances were 1-1 (13-6 Flyers overall). Faceoffs were 11-6 Detroit 34-21 Detroit overall).
