POSTGAME 5: Flyers "Konec-ted" for 5 in Opener

On opening night of the 2022-23 regular season, the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the New Jersey Devils, 5-2, at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday evening. The victory marked John Tortorella's first as Flyers' head coach. It wasn't a flawless win but it was one where the Flyers outworked New Jersey at key junctures.

Two goals apiece by Travis Konecny and Morgan Frost paced the offense. The teams were tied 1-1 after one period. The Flyers led 3-1 after two and Philly outscored New Jersey, 2-1, in the final stanza.
The two teams traded off closely spaced goals in the first period. An Alexander Holtz power play goal (1st) was answered just 23 second later by a Wade Allison rebound goal (1st).
In the middle stanza, mid-period goals by Konecny (1st) and Frost (1st) within 23 seconds of one another built a 3-1 edge for Philly.
Ninety-one seconds into the third period, Konecny struck again (power play, 2nd) off another pass from Hayes to build a 4-1 lead. Damon Severson (1st) cut the Flyers' lead to 4-2 near the midpoint. With 1:59 left in the third period, Frost scored an empty net goal (2nd of the game) to seal the win.
Carter Hart earned the win in goal, stopping 34 of 36 shots. The first goal he allowed was one Hart could have stopped. Otherwise, he was excellent. New Jersey's Mackenzie Blackwood made 20 saves on 24 shots.
The Flyers went 1-for-3 on the power play. The Devils were also 1-for-3 on the night.
Ivan Provorov (two assists, five hits, three shots, +4) and partner Tony DeAngelo (two assists, three blocked shots) enjoyed a strong regular season debut together. Forward Tanner Laczynski collected his first two NHL assists while splitting time between fourth-line center and third line right wing.
After a late first period collision with Ondrej Palat, Owen Tippett did not return for the second or third periods. Per the Flyers, Tippett sustained an upper-body injury.
Cam Atkinson (upper-body injury, day-to-day) and Rasmus Ristolainen (undisclosed injury, day-to-day) were unavailable to play for the Flyers. Likewise, Nico Hischier (hamstring, IR) was unable to play for New Jersey although he is now considered day-to-day.
FLYERS STARTING LINEUP
21 Scott Laughton - 13 Kevin Hayes - 11 Travis Konecny
86 Joel Farabee - 49 Noah Cates - 74 Owen Tippett
25 James van Riemsdyk - 48 Morgan Frost - 57 Wade Allison
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 58 Tanner Laczynski - 42 Hayden Hodgson
9 Ivan Provorov - 77 Tony DeAngelo
6 Travis Sanheim - 61 Justin Braun
24 Nick Seeler - 54 Egor Zamula
79 Carter Hart
[33 Samuel Ersson]
TURNING POINT
The obvious turning point in the game came in the middle of the second period as Konecny and Frost (game-winning goal) turned a 1-1 tie into a 3-1 Flyers lead that they would not relinquish.
Tortorella, however, pointed to something that shortly preceded the first Konecny and Frost goals of the night. The Flyers' head coach called attention to Nicolas Deslauriers throwing his weight around and registering two of his three credited hits on the night. Not long after that, the Flyers struck for quick back-to-back goals.
MELTZER'S TAKE
1. The first period was a hard-working and physical one for Philly (13 Flyers hits to five for New Jersey) but the Flyers got themselves in penalty trouble with three minors that left them shorthanded to one for New Jersey. Owen Tippett took an overzealous boarding minor at 4:05. Morgan Frost got beaten defensively and took a holding penalty at 6:38 that led to New Jersey's goal. Scott Laughton took a retaliatory cross-checking penalty at 16:18.
Holtz's power play goal at 8:01 was scored on a shot from just above the left dot that beat Hart between his glove and body on what looked to be a stoppable chance if on his angle. The assists went to Jesper Bratt and Dawson Mercer.
The goal at 18:24 that tied the score at 1-1 started with a Noah Cates faceoff win. Ivan Provorov's shot rebounded directly to Allison, who stashed it home. The assists went to Provorov and DeAngelo.

2. During the first period, DeAngelo had two blocked shots including clutch PK block and a zone clear. He attempted two shots, putting one on net and had a late-period grappling match with Nathan Bastian. First period shots were 11-8 Devils (five on the power play for New Jersey). The Flyers PP1 generated two scoring chance on their lone opportunity.
   3. In the second period, New Jersey outshot the Flyers by a 15-8 margin, but Philly put two of them in the cash register. New Jersey had 68.4 percent of all shot attempts in the period but Hart came up big when he had to as the Devils had 13 scoring chances overall and five of the high-danger variety per NaturalStatTrick.
   Playing without Tippett, the Flyers did some juggling of personnel.
   4. At 10:39 of the second period, Hayes made play at the offensive blueline to get the puck over to Konecny. From high in the zone, TK rifled a wrist shot that found the net. Hayes and Provorov (second assist of the game) drew the helpers.

Frost had a near-miss opportunity on his first shot of the game and found the net on the second. James van Riemsdyk made a good play along the left side boards to get the puck behind the net. Tanner Laczynski, moved to RW3 spot, made an even better centering pass out to Frost. From the bottom of the left circle, Frost beat Blackwood at 11:02.

In the latter half of the second period, Tatar had a puck bounce to him with seemingly half the net open, but the Devils were unable ot score. Later, Jack Hughes turned on the jets to go one-on-one with Hart but the Flyers' goalie made the stop.
5. Konecny got the Flyers off on running in the third period during a carryover power play. First, Konecny had a near goal in transition as the team applied nonstop pressure in the opening 90 seconds. Finally, at 1:31, Konecny took a pass from Hayes and used a quick release to beat Blackwood through a partial van Riemsdyk screen. The helpers went to Hayes and DeAngelo.

About four-and-a-half minutes into the third period, Konecny was stripped of the puck at center ice. It took a 10-bell save by Hart on Yegor Sharangovich to keep Philadelpha ahead by three goals.
.
The Flyers had eight of the first 10 shots on goal in the third period. But the Devils' made their third one count. Severson took a backhanded pass from Bratt and, from below the right dot, fired a rising shot past Hart at 9:26. Bratt earned the lone assist.
The Devils pressured heavily after cutting the deficit to 4-2. New Jersey had each of the next four shots on goal and the Flyers struggled with failed clears against the forecheck.
The Devils pulled Blackwell for an extra attacker with nearly two-and-a-half minutes left in the game. Finally, the Flyers worked the puck up us as Laczynski sent it to Frost. The center's backhanded attempt at the ENG missed the net but Frost pounced on the puck and tried to center it to Laczynski near the net. The puck deflected in off defender Dougie Hamilton's stick at 18:01.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Flyers will hold a noon practice on Friday at the FTC in Voorhees. On Saturday, they will host the Vancouver Canucks at the Wells Fargo Center.