The Flyers fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Overtime to mark the start of the Hakstol era, but it was a point that many Philadelphia Flyers fans were more than happy take. Why? Here are three positives to take from the Flyers season opener.
3: Secondary goals
Matt Read opened the scoring for the Flyers before Brayden Schenn found the net to put the Flyers in front of Tampa for a short period. Surprisingly it was Umberger who assisted on both goals but a pleasant surprise to note was that the goals both came from the third line. It was an issue that plagued the Flyers last season, that they were rarely able to provide the support that the top line needed to succeed, the early signs are most definitely impressing. Laughton looked great at Center and his assist as shown below was completely selfless. The moment he touched the puck, his head was up and looking for Read. The third line had a great game against one of the fastest teams in the league, that’s a positive for sure.
Reader. https://t.co/mtbMSHornH
— Flyers Nation (@FlyersNation) October 9, 2015
2:Defense
It was never going to be an easy task coming up against the reigning Eastern Conference Champions in your season opener, especially in their arena. The Lightning boast one of the fastest and most intimidating Offenses in the league and to hold them to just two goals in regulation? That’s a positive. Luke Schenn had a huge game and Evgeny Medvedev was able to assist on a power play shot to show his versatility. The Flyers previously struggled getting efficiency through all three periods off of all four lines..last night that issue seemed to disappear almost entirely.
1: 3 on 3 overtime
It may not be a bonus for the team as the pictures of a frustrated Claude Giroux moments after showed, but for fans the new overtime rule was exhilarating to see in the first game of the season. It felt like watching the closing moments of the playoff game..it was that kind of suspense. Watching it inside the arena must be a huge atmosphere and whilst the Flyers fell short, it wasn’t as if they were trampled in overtime. They kept up with one of the fastest teams in the league all game and took it to them once regulation had finished. The new Overtime rule is definitely going to bring up some surprising results.
