The flow of play slightly favored Detroit in the second period. However, it was a scoreless stanza for both teams and the Flyers took a 1-0 edge into the third period. In the third period, the Flyers staged a strong closeout. In a chaotic final few minutes, the Flyers blocked a slew of shots and Ersson took care of the rest.
Former Flyers goalie Alex Lyon got the start in goal for Detroit. He stopped 14 of 15 shots in 26:50 of action before an apparent injury forced him to exit the game. Ville Husso went the rest of the way in relief, stopping all 18 shots he faced in 30:19 of action
The Flyers went 0-for-3 on the power play. The Red Wings were also 0-for-3.
Travis Sanheim (illness) was a late scratch from the lineup. Rasmus Ristolainen moved up and had a very strong performance, including three hits and a crucial blocked shot in 23:07 of ice time across 32 shifts. In addition to scoring the Flyers goal, Cam York (23:01 TOI over 31 shifts), made several strong on both sides the puck as he used his feet effectively.
Egor Zamula re-entered the Flyers' lineup after he was a healthy scratch on Thursday against Washington. Carter Hart (illness) returned to back up Ersson after missing Thursday's game,
FLYERS STARTING LINEUP
71 Tyson Foerster - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
86 Joel Farabee - 25 Ryan Poehling - 89 Cam Atkinson
74 Owen Tippett - 48 Morgan Frost - 10 Bobby Brink
44 Nick Deslauriers - 21 Scott Laughton - 19 Garnet Hathaway
8 Cam York - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
24 Nick Seeler - 26 Sean Walker
5 Egor Zamula - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
33 Samuel Ersson
[79 Carter Hart]
TURNING POINT
The York goal that Compher accidentally tipped into his own net ended up being the single biggest play of the game. However, don't overlook the Flyers latter second period penalty kill and a third period PK that helped bring some order to the game as Philly defended the narrowest of leads.
POSTGAME 5
1) The Flyers had the game's first three shots, including a wicked deflection by Frost at 4:48 that Lyon made an excellent reaction save to stop. Cam York turned defense into offense with a good defensive play in the neutral zone and a chance in the attack zone. Detroit's first two shots required tough saves by Ersson on Robby Fabbri and Jeff Petry.
Through a TV timeout at 6:14, shots on goal were 6-3 Flyers. York scored at 6:21.
The Flyers went on the game's first power play at 8:28. Daniel Sprong was called for holding Rasmus Ristolainen's stick behind the Philly net. The Flyers generated little on the ensuing 5-on-4. After play went back to full strength, Sean Walker had a chance from the left slot.
At 12:23, Ersson denied Jake Walman's 20-foot wrister pinching down to the slot. A good job of backchecking by Christian Fischer broke up a developing play with Sean Couturier entering the Detroit zone. Seeler followed up with a shot on net.
Konecny turned the puck over in the neutral zone for a Detroit counterattack at 14:23 but they recovered defensively. Deslauriers landed a clean hit on Sprong along the boards.
2) First period shots on goal were 11-6 in favor of the Flyers. Shot attempts were 19-16 in the Flyers' favor. Scoring chances were 11-10 in Philly's favor. High-danger chances were 3-3. Faceoffs were 10-7 Detroit (the Flyers were led by Poehling's 2-for-3 while Compher went 5-for-7 for Detroit).
3) Detroit went on their first power play at 3:52 of the second period. In a battle along the boards in the Philly zone, Sean Walker was called for holding Fischer. Ersson stopped a Walman one-timer from the right circle on the best chance for Detroit. The Red Wings continued to pressure after the power play expired.
Through 6:25, second period shots on goal were 4-2 Detroit. Frost won the ensuing left circle defensive faceoff and the Flyers broke out down the ice. Frost fed Tippett for a scoring chance from the slot. Lyon made a pad save but awkwardly rolled his left ankle after making the save. Unfortunately, he had to leave the game. Husso came in to relieve Lyon.
At 6:50, Fischer was called for tripping. The Flyers generated very heavy pressure near the net in the first half of the power play as both Couturier and Konecny had scoring chances. The Red Wings went on to kill the rest of the 5-on-4.
At the 12:28 mark, Konecny had a one-on-one chance against Husso. The Detroit goalie made the save.
Detroit went back to the power play at 14:01 as Zamula was called for tripping Patrick Kane. The Flyers killed it off in good shape.
Rasmus Ristolainen landed a crunching hit on Rasmussen at 18:03. After a stoppage, Frost cleanly won an offensive zone left circle draw back to Seeler, the Flyers defenseman ripped a shot on net through traffic. Husso made the save.
4) Second period shots on goal were 12-10 in favor of Detroit (22-19 Flyers through two periods). Shot attempts were 24-17 in the Red Wings' favor (42-38 Detroit through 40 minutes). Scoring chances were 12-8 in Detroit's favor (22-18 Detroit over the first two periods). High-danger chances were tied at 4-4 (7-6 Philly through two periods). Faceoffs were 13-6 Detroit (23-13 Red Wings through two periods, as the Flyers were led by Frost's 5-for-8. Couturier was 3-for-12. Detroit was led by Compher's 10-for-15 and Austin Czarnik was 4-for-6). Through two periods, the Flyers blocked 12 shots (led by three from Farabee) and Ben Chiarot blocked three for Detroit.
5) Ersson stopped a tricky deflection by Detroit's Lucas Raymond at 2:35 of the third period to keep the score 1-0 in Philly's favor. A few shifts later, Sprong tried to use Seeler as a screen but Ersson made the stop.
Detroit went to their third power play at 7:05. Walker was called for tripping Rasmussen in the neutral zone. It was Walker's second minor penalty of the game. On ensuing kill, Laughton worked a give-and-go with Konecny for a shorthanded scoring chance. Ristolainen landed a heavy clean hit behind the Flyers net on Fabbri, who was cut by Ristolainen's stick as he went to the ice. The Flyers killed off the rest of the penalty.
Through 10 minutes of the third period, shots on goal were 8-5 Flyers. Philly was defending well and generating some chances at the other end through half of the frame.
On a counterattacking play at 11:47, Poehling hit the crossbar from the left circle. With 6:24 remaining, after Laughton pressured a failed clear, a Deslauriers shot was blocked out of play.
With 4:08 on the clock, Ersson denied a deflected shot from the mid slot. On the next shift, he stopped a turn-around shot by Sprong.
The Red Wings pulled Husso for an extra attacker. Detroit called timeout with 2:18 remaining in regulation. Couturier won a defensive right circle draw and the Flyers cleared the puck. At 18:08, the Red Wings went offside. Pushing and shoving ensued after the whistle.
Ristolainen blocked a shot down low in the D zone. At the whistle, there was more chirping and jostling. Couturier won the next draw but Foerster failed on a clear attemp. At 18:50, Ersson stopped a Kane blast from the right side. Foerster absorbed a hit to clear the puck.
With 15.8 seconds left, Poehling was tripped in desperation by Shayne Gostisbehere. Philly killed off the remainder of the clock.
Third period shots on goal were 16-11 in favor of Detroit with many coming during the Red Wings late desperation push (34-33 Detroit overall). Shot attempts were 26-18 in Detroit's favor (68-55 Detroit overall). Scoring chances were 9-8 in Detroit's favor (33-29 Red Wings overall). High-danger chances favored the Red Wings by a margin of 3-2 (tied at 9-9 overall for the game). Faceoffs were 12-9 Flyers (32-25 Detroit overall for the game, as the Flyers were led by Frost's 6-for-10 and Detroit was led by Joe Veleno's 12-for-18 and Czarnik's 5-for-7).
Farabee led the Flyers with four blocked shots. Deslauriers' five credited hits were a game high.
