How about those Philadelphia Flyers?! Woooooooo were finally streaking. It’s a feel good time of year around here at the Wells Fargo Center. Let’s start singing the Jingle Bell Rock. Really though a hockey game ensued between the Flyers and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Flyers entered Tuesday night looking to keep streaking, with a four game winning streak. However, the Maple Leafs also entered the tilt riding a three game winning streak. What’s even more impressive about the Maple Leafs, is that they have won three in a row without their star center in Auston Matthews. Well, Matthew’s was again scratched tonight, and the Flyers knew the importance of starting fast to feed off the home crowd.
Brian Elliott got the nod once again for the orange and black. He was named third star of the week on Monday with his three game star performances last week on the Western Canadian road trip. Well, Elliott was phenomenal once again leading the Flyers to a 4-2 victory over the Maple Leafs. The steady netminder in Elliott back stopped 20 saves in the win. On December 2, General Manager Ron Hextall stated:
“If you look at the way we’ve played from the start of the year, I’m pretty good with the way our team has played…“I still believe we’re a playoff team. That falls on all of us. We’re all in this together. Nobody’s jumping off any ship here. We’re in it together.”
His words must have been echoed in the locker room before the game against the Maple Leafs, as the Flyers have continued their hot streak. Elliott has turned into being an unsung hero on this current streak.
1st Period
The Flyers came out of the gate hungry and determined to knock off the Maple Leafs. Sean Couturier won a face off with 10:39 remaining in the period. The puck slid to Claude Giroux who blasted the puck from Mars. It found twine behind Frederik Anderson for a 1-0 Flyers lead.
Unfortunately, the Flyers lead was short lived, as Patrick Marleau skated down the right side of ice into the Flyers zone. He found himself alone in front of Elliott, as there was a breakdown in coverage. Marleau wristed the puck past Elliott tying the game at 1.
Towards the middle of the period, the Flyers were clicking on all cylinders. Roman Polak was called for a tripping penalty at 9:20. On the ensuing Flyers power play, they managed a measly two shots on net. Andersen made both saves to keep the score tied at 1.
The first period came to a close with the Flyers and Maple Leafs pretty much even in terms of play. Of course, the score at the end of first was tied at 1, and the Flyers did wind up out-shooting the Maple Leafs 7-6. The orange and black also won the faceoff margin 65%-35%.
2nd Period
The Flyers entered the second period determined to take command of the game. They were outshooting the Maple Leafs 12-4 until Elliott was called into duty. Josh Leivo skated on a breakaway into the Flyers zone, with 6:07 remaining in the period. Leivo took a nice shot up high, but Elliott swiped the puck out of the air with his glove keeping the game tied at 1.
This young Flyers team tried to continue their dominance late in the second period. However, Jakub Voracek was called for tripping with 3:49 remaining in the period. Unfortunately, just 39 seconds into the Leafs power play. A former player for the Flyers James Van Riemsdyk potted a goal past a sprawling Elliott, for the 2-1 Maple Leafs lead.
These young legs in the Flyers kept up with the Leafs in the second period. The Flyers outshot the Leafs 14-7, and won the faceoff margin 66%-34%.
3rd Period
With the Flyers on a high, and the building rocking from the fans to start the period. The orange and black found themselves outshooting the Maple Leafs 8-4, just 5:36 into the period. After sustaining a lot of pressure in the Maple Leafs Zone, Travis Konecny took a shot from the point. The puck appeared to deflect off a Maple Leafs defender, past Andersen tying the game at 2.
Konecny was very upbeat following the game stating, “Honestly, I don’t remember the exact play. I just remember Laughts behind the net chipping it out to me on the weak side. They gave me a little bit of space up top to go for a skate in and it’s never a bad play to get a puck to the net. So I just threw the puck to the net and it bounced off a couple bodies and it ended up in the net.”
These young Flyers appeared to be relentless in their attack on Andersen, as the period progressed. Couturier put all his mustard into a wrist shot from the top of the left circle, off a nice feed from Giroux. The puck found twine behind Andersen for Couturier’s 15th goal of the year, to give the Flyers a 3-2 lead with just 2:52 remaining. Scott Laughton added an empty netter with 15 seconds left for his 5th goal of the season in the 4-2 victory. Couturier credits just putting the puck on net, “There was just a good solid play chipping it out and then G (Claude Giroux) just had seen me out of the corner of his eye and threw it in the open area and I skated and just shot as hard as I could.”
Head coach Dave Hakstol had this to say following the game:
“I don’t think it really is about the line combinations. We made a switch on a couple of the lines. We switched and moved a couple of wingers from our previous line-up. I think guys are comfortable with each other and I think there is a familiarity there. More importantly than that, it’s just a group of guys that continue to play hard, play together and on a night like tonight, not change a whole lot of things, just continue to do the things that we have been doing from the start of the game. I thought we continued that even being down in the third period. Guys just continued to play a good team game.”
Hakstol continued on Elliott, “Well, Brian’s been good from day one so he’s an outstanding pro, he shows up and he does his job and he does it very well for our team.”
That’s how the game would end, as the Flyers managed to win their fourth straight game. Fortunately, the orange and black’s top line was great. They seemed to take control right off the opening Faceoff. Enough can’t be said about the great goaltending from Elliott, as well. The Flyers outshot the Leafs 38-22 for the game, and managed to win the faceoff margin 56%-44%. This young Flyers team will hope to continue their momentum, as they host the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night at 7pm.
Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
