Postgame 5: Tip of the Hat

Two evenings after opening the season with home victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Philadelphia Flyers captured the return match, 5-2 at the Wells Fargo Center on Friday night. A Travis Konency hat trick and a stellar goaltending performance by Carter Hart led the way.
The Flyers roared out to a 3-0 lead in the first period on power play and even strength goals by Travis Konecny (1st and 2nd) and an even strength goal by Ivan Provorov (1st). The Penguins later struck back for closely spaced goals by Sidney Crosby (1st) and Brandon Tanev (2nd).
Sean Couturier exited the game early in the first period. The Flyers were forced to juggle even strength and power play combinations the rest of the game.
The Flyers were significantly outplayed in the second period but took a 3-2 lead to intermission. In the third period, Konecny (3rd) completed the hat trick (3rd) and Oskar Lindblom (2nd) added an empty net goal with Konecny collecting his fourth point of the game via an assist on the last tally.
Hart authored 30 saves on 32 shots to run his record to 2-0-0. Tristan Jarry, two nights after a rough outing in the opener, had a short evening on Friday. He lasted just 11:30, yielding three goals on six shots. Casey DeSmith entered the game in relief, stopping 12 of 13 shots.

TURNING POINT
Hart made assorted vital saves, including one on Crosby that resulted in a counterattack that led up to Konecny's goal. He was THE difference maker in keeping a lopsided second period scoreless and the Flyers' ahead. While Konecny was the night's obvious 1st Star, Hart was every bit as vital to the win.
MELTZER'S TAKE
1) The Flyers spent the first several shifts of the game hemmed in their own end of the ice. Evgeni Malkin set up an early chance. Hart denied a tip in front by Evan Rodrigues. Philly was unable to capitalize on a brief five-on-three power play but, on the ensuing 5-on-4, Konecny had a slam-dunk off perfect passes from Claude Giroux to Jakub Voracek and from Voracek to the goal scorer at 7;27. At 9:26, Konecny potted a Nolan Patrick rebound off a James van Riemsdyk centering pass. Provorov made it 3-0 at 11:30 and ended Jarry's night on a rising shot to the stick side from the top of the left circle. Voracek and JVR got the helpers.

Pittsburgh struck on its first power play as Crosby beat Hart from in close on the backhand at 12:59. The assists went to Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust. Just 32 seconds later, Hart gave up a rebound on an Jared McCann shot and Tanev buried it to narrow the gap.
Late in the period, DeSmith denied Kevin Hayes on a short-range breakaway sprung by Joel Farabee. The Flyers took two late period penalties, with the Penguins taking 1:03 of PP time into the second period after an ill-advised cross-checking penalty by Nicolas Aube Kubel.
2) First period shots were 14-9 in Pittsburgh's favor, and shot attempts were 20-14 Pens. Scoring chances at 5-on-5 were 8-8 (high danger chances were 4-4). The Flyers had a 45.8% team Corsi in the opening period to 54.2%. Faceoffs were 11-5 Penguins (led by Crosby winning 8 of 9).
3) Philly was unable to capitalize on their third power play. Later, Jason Zucker had a golden chance to tie the game as he got in behind defenseman Erik Gustafsson for a breakaway but was stoned by Hart. Thankfully for the Flyers, Hart was very sharp in 2nd period. Possession-wise, shot wise, change wise, power play wise and in most every other way but goaltending the second was an awful period for the Flyers. The absence of Couturier was very noticeable.
4) Second period shots were 10-4 Penguins (24-13 Pens through two periods). Shot attempts were 16-10 Pens (36-24 overall for Pittsburgh). Scoring chances at even strength were 4-2 Penguins and high-danger
were 4-2 Pens (8-6 Penguins overall). Pittsburgh dominated puck possession to the tune of a 66.7 percent Corsi at 5-on-5 to Philly's 33.3 percent (58.1 percent for the Pens overall to 41.9% for the Flyers). Faceoffs in the second period were 12-4 Flyers (17-15 Pens through two periods) with Giroux going 4-0. The Pens were not charged with a single giveaway through 40 minutes to a half-dozen for the Flyers.
5) The Flyers continued to struggle to generate shots for the first six-plus minutes of the third period but did a better job checking early in the stanza. Voracek forced a neutral zone turnover. Patrick made a nice backchecking play and then a good move in the offensive zone. After Aube-Kubel was penalized for slashing, Lindblom came up with a clutch block and Hart made a vital save for a stoppage. At 12:53, after the Penguins got overaggressive up ice at the end of a PK, the Flyers countered in transition with numbers. Hayes fed Konecny, who finished off the hat trick for a 4-2 lead. Lindblom's late empty netter was assisted by Laughton and Farabee, who had a four-point night.

Third period shots were 9-7 Penguins (33-20 Pens for the game). Philly bent but didn't break, largely thanks to Hart, in finishing with a 38.6% team Corsi to the Penguins' 61.4%. Final scoring chances at 5-on-5 were 20-13 Penguins (with a 10-7 high danger edge for Pittsburgh). Final faceoffs were 26-24 Penguins.