Postgame 5: Flyers fall to Flames, 6-3

The Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Calgary Flames, 6-3, at Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday night. Unlike Friday night, the Flyers got off to a strong start. Nonetheless, they found themselves chasing the game most of the night.

In a losing cause, Travis Konecny collected shorthanded and power play goals for Philadelphia. The Flyers also got a tally from Joel Farabee.

Veteran forward Jonathan Huberdeau had a monster night for Calgary, racking up a four-point game (2g, 2a). Nazem Kadri netted two goals, and Andrei Kuzmenko collected three assists. Team captain Mikael Backlund and defenseman Mackenzie Weegar (1g, 1a) rounded out the goal scoring.

Huberdeau (2nd goal of the season) scored a fluky goal for a 1-0 lead at 5:37 of the first period. An attempted centering pass from behind the net bounced into the net off his shoulder. Martin Pospisil and Anthony Mantha received the assists.

A 4-on-3 power play for Calgary produced a 2-0 lead at 7:43 of the opening stanza. Weegar (PPG, 2nd) fired a center point shot into the net high to the blocker side with goalie Ivan Fedotov deep in his net. The assists were credited to Huberdeau and Kuzmenko.

The Flyers' dangerous penalty killing duo of Travis Konecny (SHG, 1st) and Scott Laughton worked a nice give-and-go to cut the deficit to 2-1 at 7:05 of the middle period. The assists went to Laughton and Erik Johnson. Johnson started the counterattack by sealing off the wall.

Kadri bagged a 5-on-3 goal (PPG, 1st) from the left circle for a 3-1 lead at 14:41 of the second period. The assists went to Kuzmenko and Huberdeau (third point of the game).

At 18:11 of the second period, Farabee (1st) collected an area pass from Bobby Brink and brought Philly back within 3-2. The assists went to Brink and Sean Couturier.

The Flyers gave up a 2-on-1 counterattack as a Travis Sanheim shot attempt got blocked by Connor Zary. Moving the other way, Blake Coleman set up Backlund (1st) for an insurance goal at 14:46 of the third period. The assists went to Coleman and Zary.

Calgary put a stranglehold on the game as Huberdeau (second goal of the game, third of the season) scored from the slot for a 5-2 lead at 15:34. The helpers came from Pospisil and Jake Bean.

Matvei Michkov earned his first career NHL point (a primary assist) in a tic-tac-toe power play goal scored by Konecy. Konecny's second goal of the night and season was assisted by Michkov and Frost at 17:11 of the third period.

With the Flyers attacking 6-on-4, the Flames gained possession. Kadri (second of the game and season) scored into an empty net from the neutral zone at the 18:16 mark. The assists went to Kuzmenko and Weegar.

Ivan Fedotov faced 32 shots, stopping 27. Winning netminder Dustin Wolf denied 37 of 40 Philadelphia shots.

The Flyers went 1-for-4 on the power play. They were 3-for-5 on the penalty kill with the Konecny shorthanded as the main highlight.

Noah Cates entered the Flyers' lineup for the second game of the season. Eighteen-year-old rookie Jett Luchanko did not dress.

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

39 Matvei Michkov - 48 Morgan Frost - 11 Travis Konecny
74 Owen Tippett - 14 Sean Couturier - 71 Tyson Foerster
86 Joel Farabee - 25 Ryan Poehling - 10 Bobby Brink
21 Scott Laughton - 27 Noah Cates - 19 Garnet Hathaway

82 Ivan Fedotov

[33 Samuel Ersson]

PP1: Drysdale, Tippett, Frost, Konecny, Michkov
PP2: Zamula, Foerster, Poehling, Farabee, Brink

TURNING POINT

At 12:48 of the second period, Foerster jumped in to defend Drysdale after the Flyers defenseman was steamrolled at center ice by Pospisil. Foerster got 17 minutes of penalties (instigation, automatic 10-minute misconduct, fighting).

Shortly thereafter, the Flames ended up with a 43-second two-man advantage on a Sanheim slashing penalty against Kadri. Kadri sniped a 5-on-3 goal to restore a two-goal edge (3-1 at the time) for Calgary.

POSTGAME 5

1) The Flyers started with six of the game's first seven shots on goal, but the one Flames shot was a tester by Kadri. Huberdeau scored on Calgary's second shot, albeit on a puck that bounced off him into the net. At 7:19, a Poehing tripping penalty set up a 4-on-3 power play for 1:04. Weegar cashed in.

2) Philadelphia peppered Wolf with 18 shots on goal in the opening period, led by three apiece from Frost and Foerster, but could not find the net. Fedotov made seven saves, settling in as the period went along. Frost won five of six faceoffs in the period.

3) An interference penalty on Poehling at 5:41 of the second period sent the Flyers center to the box for the second time in the evening. However, the "power kill" struck for a shorthanded collaboration between Laughton and Konecny: a combination that presented a constant danger to opponents last season.

4) Frost went up the tunnel to the dressing room after receiving a hit on the offensive zone boards midway through the second period. He missed several shifts, then returned to the game and appeared to be laboring. In the third period, however, Frost seemed to be feeling better. He later collected his first point of the 2024-25 season.

5) A tripping penalty on Johnson created a must-kill minor for the Flyers at 4:29 of the third period. Philly gutted out the kill with Fedotov coming up big twice. At 8:32, Philly gained a critical power play of their own. Fedotov came up big again to prevent a 2-on-1 shorthanded goal for Calgary. At the other end, Michkov set up Konecny at the doorstep, but the All-Star winger couldn't jam it home.