The Flyers have had a very busy day. Let’s look at what happened before today’s game and how the Flyers responded.
Setting the Scene.
Sean Couturier, who was named captain little over a month ago, was benched by Head Coach John Tortorella. Couturier has expressed his disappointment with his decision, which is widely regarded as contentious.
“I’ve been doing the task for a long. I’ve been struggling, but I’ve been working on my game, and the way I’ve been treated lately is aggravating. But it is what it is.
– Sean Couturier after morning skate 03/19, according to Bill Meltzer on X.
However, Couturier did add,
“It does not matter what I think. I have to put my ego aside. I’m hoping to get back into the lineup soon.
With Cam Atkinson, Denis Gurianov, and Marc Staal as healthy scratches, a banged-up defense missing Jamie Drysdale, Rasmus Ristolainen, and Nick Seeler, Sean Walker traded away, and back-to-back losses, the Flyers had their job cut out for them.
With that said, one concern remains for the fans coming into this game: how will the Flyers respond to this controversy?
First Period
Owen Tippett scores 19 seconds in with a fast wrister from Cam York. Morgan Frost’s forecheck on the boards allowed him to pass up to York, who subsequently dished it to Tippett.
Then, Nicolas Deslauriers and Ryan Reaves decided to follow through on their pregame warm-up chat, which media assumed was tied to fighting in some way. Their inference was right. Deslauriers and Reaves threw down the gloves in a heavy-weight tilt. Reaves landed some blows before Deslauriers stood his ground and took him down to the ice.
Are you still not entertained after five minutes?
The boys kept buzzing and created high-risk situations. They maintained their lead heading into the second period.
Score: 1-0 Flyers.
Second Period
Travis Sanheim wasted no time, scoring 56 seconds into the period with a wrist shot. Garnet Hathaway got an assist.
At 1:44, Frost was sent to the box for hooking John Tavares, and the Flyers were able to end the game.
The Flyers maintained their positive energy throughout the period. A spectacular two-on-one with Travis Konecny and Tippett did not result in a goal, but it exemplifies the Flyers’ hard work to maintain momentum. Ilya Samsonov was a major reason why the Flyers didn’t score on their numerous surges up the ice.
The Flyers then had the opportunity to go on a power play. After a push, Frost made it into the net, but the puck did not. The score stayed 2-0 for the Flyers.
Bobby McMann got a golden breakaway off a Zamula error, but Sam Ersson made a huge stop.
At 16:26, Frost made up for his power play gaffe with a stunning wrist shot that flew through traffic and past Samsonov. Samsonov didn’t know where the puck was. Ronnie Attard earned his first point of the season with the main assist, while Ryan Poehling had the secondary assist.
Ersson, of course, was a major reason why the score remained the same. Furthermore, Toronto hit the post four times in the first and second periods.
Score: 3-0 Flyers.
Third Period
The Leafs ultimately broke through after only ten seconds on the power play. William Nylander scored after receiving a feed from Auston Matthews.
Frost was sent to the box after catching David Kampf. The momentum turned in the Leafs’ favor after that. Ersson came up huge again for the Flyers, stopping the big names from Toronto.
Pontus Holmberg then caught Scott Laughton with his stick and was sent to the box at 7:47. The power play had an opportunity to increase the total and generate more breathing room, but they were unable to convert. Then, just seconds after their penalty kill, Tyler Bertuzzi delivered the momentum killer.
As if that wasn’t enough, Scott Laughton was sent to the box after hooking John Tavares. The Flyers had their back against the wall and relied on their penalty kill to come through.
Cheers of “Let’s Go Flyers” rang out throughout the Wells Fargo Center as the Flyers cleared the puck many times. Thankfully, the Flyers PK performed just as intended. They were aggressive and got the job done.
The puck then went by Nicholas Robertson to a fast-skating Laughton, who blasted out of the penalty box, hungry for the puck. He did a nice toe drag and passed the puck to Tippett, who took it behind the net before passing it to Laughton, who was sitting in front of it. However, my description does not do the sequence justice
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