POSTGAME 5: Flyers Can't Crack Seattle in 4-3 Loss
The Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Seattle Kraken, 4-3, in a Super Bowl Sunday matinee at the Wells Fargo Center
The Flyers finished a four-game homestand with a 1-2-1 record.
The Flyers looked heavy-legged at the end of a 3-in-4 stretch. Overcoming that factor demands a team plan a simple game with quick thinking and sound decision-making. Philly did not do that, and Seattle took full advantage. The Flyers were guilty of far too many turnovers -- the majority via takeaways by the Kraken. Seattle was patient and opportunistic.
As a result, Philly spent entirely too much time in their own end of the ice, compounding it with failed exits.
Philly got off to a good start with an Owen Tippett power play goal (15th goal of the season) at 2:11 and an early 4-0 shot lead. From there, things went straight downhill -- nine Philadelphia turnovers, an 11-0 shot deficit, and Seattle goals by Jordan Eberle (11th) and Eeli Tolvanen (11th) that sent the Kraken to the locker room with a 2-1 edge.
The Flyers tied the game at 1-1 just 3:33 into the second period on a double-deflection play by James van Riemsdyk (9th goal of the season). The score held until there was 1:01 left in the second period. Jaden Schwartz (11th) restored a 2-1 lead for Seattle.
In the third period, Schwartz (12th) scored again at 1:03 to open a 4-2 lead. A Patrick Brown shorhanded goal (2nd) gave the Flyers a ray of hope. Philly mounted a heavy late push but couldn't muster an equalizer.
Felix Sandström dropped to 1-8-1 on the season. He stopped 17 of 21 shots. At the other end of the ice, Philipp Grubauer denied 16 of 19 Philadelphia shots.
The Flyers went 1-for-2 on the power play. The Kraken were 0-for-1,
FLYERS STARTING LINEUP
86 Joel Farabee - 49 Noah Cates - 11 Travis Konecny
25 James van Riemsdyk - 48 Morgan Frost - 74 Owen Tippett
13 Kevin Hayes - 21 Scott Laughton - 62 Olle Lycksell
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 38 Patrick Brown - 57 Wade Allison
9 Ivan Provorov - 45 Cam York
6 Travis Sanheim - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
24 Nick Seeler - 77 Tony DeAngelo
32 Felix Sandström
[79 Carter Hart]
MELTZER'S TAKE
1) Konecny kept his feet moving and was tripped up by Vince Dunn. PP1 generated very good puck movement but no significant chances. PP2, however, gained an entry and cashed in. Ristolainen (with some help from Farabee) nudged the puck over to Tippett, who buried the puck upstairs for a 1-0 lead at 2:11. The secondary assist went to Laughton, the primary to Ristolainen.
PP1: JVR, Frost, Konecny, Hayes, DeAngelo
PP2: Tippett, Laughton, Cates, Ristolainen, York
Brown received an elbow to the face in the offensive right corner from William Borgen at 3:27. This power play had trouble getting set up.
Shots on goal were 4-0 Flyers through 3:25. Sandström subsequently made several stops including a close range save on Jaden Schwartz. He also got a couple of blocks in front of him including one from Provorov that erased a look from the slot.
Midway through the period, the Flyers' fourth line generated a lengthy forechecking shift that hemmed Seattle in their own zone.
An up-ice turnover by DeAngelo proved costly as the Kraken knotted the score at 12:53. McCann led a 2-on-1 against Seeler, and passed across the Eberle, who roofed a shot over a diving Sandström.
van Riemsdyk turned the puck over to Oliver Bjorkstrand on an attempted zone-exit pass intended for Frost. Tolvanen received the pass and wired a shot past Sandström.
2) The Flyers went the final 16:35 of the first period without a single shot on goal, getting outshot 11-0 in the process and outscored 2-0. Philly paid the price twice on bad turnovers.
Shot attempts were 24-9 Kraken in the period. Scoring chances ended up 12-3 Seattle with a 6-3 high danger edge to the Kraken. This was exactly the type of period the Flyers needed to avoid against the NHL's top 5-on-5 scoring team and one of the best puck-possession clubs. Seattle was credited with six takeaways (and were not charged with any giveaways). The Flyers were additionally charged with three giveaways.
3) The Flyers' fourth line started the second period. They played a solid, simple shift and generated some positive puck possession.
Philly tied the game at 3:33. Frost set up a shot for Tippett from the right side as van Riemsdyk went to the net. JVR double-deflected the puck into the net, showing tremendous hand-eye coordination. The assists went to Tippett and Frost.
At 5:03, TK passed up a shot with an unblocked lane. He was upset with himself skating back to the bench after a pass attempt went awry. At 7:10, Cates made a nice defensive play to stay with his man. Shots were 4-2 Seattle at this point.
Brown collected a neutral zone turnover and created a counter. Deslauriers fired a shot on goal from the slot at 9:39.
Defensive zone exits continued to be a struggle for the Flyers. Tortorella dropped Lycksell to the fourth line and moved Allison up to the Laughton line.
Frost made an outstanding defensive play on the backcheck to break up a Seattle rush. At 15:15, Seeler killed a play in the D-zone.
Another failed Philly exit opportunity -- Tippett sent the puck around the wall in the D zone with no teammates nearby and then ,after a missed shot by Eberle, Provorov had a giveaway of his own -- resulted in a point shot for Borgen. Sandström covered the rebound for a stoppage.
A scrambly shift by the Flyers in their own end of the ice resulted in Schwartz being able to park himself in the right slot, take a feed from Eberle and wrist the puck home past Sandström. The shift was an exceptionally poor one for DeAngelo and Allison but they had company. The secondary assist went to Wennberg at 18:59.
4) Through two periods, the Flyers mustered a measly 10 shots on goal. Second period shots on net were 7-6 Seattle (18-10 Kraken through two periods). It was another period where the Kraken dominated possession, including a 23-9 shot attempt edge. Scoring chances were 7-3 Seattle (but Philly had a 3-1 high-danger edge). Through two periods, the Flyers were guilty of 19 turnovers: eight charged giveaways and 11 takeaways credited to the Kraken.
5) Seattle needed just 1:03 to make it 4-2. Schwartz was at the right dot to take a pass from Alex Wennberg and beat Sandström high to the stick side. The Flyers' goalie went down too early on the shot, but Schwartz had a clear look at the net from a scoring area. The secondary assist went to Borgen.
Through 4:00, shots were 2-1 Flyers as the Kraken iced the puck. In successive shifts, Hayes, Sanheim and Provorov were all guilty of turnovers on plays where they tried to force the puck. Philly had some offensive zone possession time but nothing in the way of prime chances. At the 7:35 mark of the period, shots were 5-2 Flyers (20-15 Kraken for the game).
As the period passed the midway mark, Hayes very narrowly missed a goal off a pass from Frost. At the end of the shift, Tippett had a chance in close. This was the first time all game the Flyers had two scoring chances on the same 5-on-5 shift. A stoppage ensued at 10:23.
After receiving a hit from Adam Larsson, Farabee dropped the gloves and his stick as he looked for a fight with Vince Dunn. Dunn declined. There was no unsportsmanlike conduct penalty called on Farabee.
At 16:10, Konecny sent the puck over the glass from the defensive zone. He received an automatic delay of game penalty. The Flyers generated their 10th shorthanded goal of the season on a Brown goal at 16:40. Brown took the puck off the right half boards and fired off a shot that found the net. Provorov got the lone assist.
With the deficit cut back to one goal, the Flyers put on a heavy push. In the waning minutes, the Flyers had multiple opportunites to tie the game. With the Flyers attacking 6-on-4, JVR created a chance for Tippett that started a scramble at the net. Frost was denied on a follow-up attempt.
Third period shots on goal were 9-3 Flyers. Shot attempts were 27-7 Flyers. Scoring chances were 26-4 Flyers with a 10-2 high-danger edge. For the game, the Flyers had a total of 24 turnovers: 14 takeaways by Seattle, 10 giveaways by Philly.
