On a night where the Flyers were missing their young stud, Nolan Patrick for the second straight game, they took on Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Coming in off a 5-4 loss on Thursday against Ottawa, the Flyers will look to rebound tonight against a good Maple Leafs team.
Thursday night wasn’t the greatest for the Flyers. First, Jordan Weal was called for goalie interference on hardly no contact with the goalie. However, the letter of the law states that if the opposing player is in the blue paint, it is goalie interference. Second, Sean Couturier tied the game with under a minute left, but was never awarded the goal. Couturier scored by never giving up beside the net. But, the ruling was the play was complete. However, how can a play be complete if the puck was still clearly visible and puck still moving? Dave Hakstol showed his frustration about the no goal postgame…
“The first overturned goal, those are judgement calls and I don’t get involved in second guessing them or anything like that. I thought it was a goal, but they’ve got to make that call when they watch it and that’s a judgement call. The last one though, I watched the puck go over the line and it’s 100 percent a goal. I don’t know how that’s missed. That bothers me because our guys fought their rear ends off tonight to get back into this thing and tie this thing up. We tied it up. It’s there. I just watched it on our own video in the coach’s room. It’s clear as day.”
However, all was not lost Thursday. First, Jake Voracek scored his first goal of the season. Look for that to boost his confidence and find the net more consistently now. Second, the Flyers showed great fight, coming back from deficits of 3-0 & 5-2. The grit and fight in this team is strong and alive earlier in the season.
Flyers Lineup
Giroux – Couturier – Voracek
Weal – Filppula – Simmonds
Read – Lehtera – Konecny
Leier – Laughton – Raffl
Provorov – Gostisbehere
Sanheim – Gudas
Manning – Hagg
Starter – Elliott
Backup – Neuvrith
Stratches
Weise
Patrick
1st Period Notes…
Game opens up with both teams trying to find their legs. Both teams were coming in off losses Thursday. So, no team came in riding a high and nobody controlled the start of the game.
However, around the 17:00 mark, the Flyers 3rd line amped up the pressure for the Flyers. The shift lasted for a good 30 seconds in the offensive zone. Konecny had the best scoring chance when he had a wrap around fall off his stick.
And just when you thought the officiating problems were gone for the Flyers, they are back. This time hitting Couturier. Around the 13:00 mark, Couturier was whistled for a 2-minute tripping penalty for having his stick on the ice and the Toronto player stepping on it. But, it didn’t hurt the Flyers as they killed it off easily.
However, after killing it off. 4 seconds later, the Flyers had a lapse in defense and Matthews fed Kadri for a goal. Leafs take the lead 1-0.
The Flyers took over from there, though. 5 minutes later, Manning scored after joining the rush and a slick cross ice pass by Laughton. Leier fed Laughton in center, who proceeded to have a great rush through the neutral zone to find Manning for the goal.
Then, with under 2 minutes left in the period. Voracek scored to make it 2-1. Voracek came in stream-rolling from the point, cut back infront of the net, and put it five-hole past Anderson.
Period end 2-1 Flyers.
Scoring
10:53 Maple Leafs Nazem Kadri Assisted by Auston Matthews & Josh Leivo
7:54 Flyers Brandon Manning Assisted by Scott Laughton & Taylor Leier
1:22 Flyers Jake Voracek Assisted by Radko Gudas & Sean Couturier
Penalties
12:57 Flyers Sean Couturier 2 min Tripping
Shots
Flyers – 6
Maple Leafs – 10
2nd Period Notes…
Toronto comes out firing. But, Elliott came up big. Around the 19:00 mark, Elliott made a huge save on Kasperi Kapanen off a 2 on 1.
Then, off the next faceoff, Gostisbehere saves a quality scoring chance by taking a slashing penalty. But, Flyers didn’t help themselves out. As, rookie Robert Hagg made a rookie mistake and was called for a very easy holding penalty. Might not have been called in minors, but easy call for referee in NHL. Leafs to 5 on 3.
But, this was the downfall of the Leafs chances tonight. Sean Couturier won the faceoff to start the 5 on 3 and iced the puck, killing most of the 5 on 3. Then, the Flyers killed off the latter part of both penalties easily.
The Flyers controlled the game after they killed the penalties off. They got great pressure and it leads to a powerplay, Zaitsev delay-of-game. The delay-of-game was a result of a net mouth scramble, where he carelessly flipped the puck over the boards.
And on that powerplay, the Flyers made Toronto pay. Gostisbehere fed Konecny with a beautiful stretch pass. Then, Konecny fed Filppula with a slick cross ice pass. Filppula then scored, shooting to the back post top corner, beating Anderson.
However, the Flyers great pressure was short lived as Kadri scored his second of the night. Kadri scored after Brown found the puck infront, who fed Kadri for a wide open goal. 3-2 Flyers.
But, it was again the Flyers turn. Giroux got on the board, after receiving a ridiculous bank pass from Voracek from his own zone. Giroux beat Anderson very similar to Filppula, back post top corner.
Period ends Flyers 4-2.
Scoring
8:57 Flyers Valterri Filppula Assisted by Travis Konecny & Shayne Gostisbehere
6:53 Maple Leafs Nazem Kadri Assisted by Connor Brown & Ron Hainsey
4:40 Flyers Claude Giroux Assisted by Jake Voracek
Penalties
18:59 Flyers Shayne Gostisbehere 2 min Slashing
17:25 Flyers Robert Hagg 2 min Holding
10:15 Nikita Zaitsev 2 min Delay of Game
Shots (Total)
Flyers – 16 (22)
Maple Leafs – 8 (18)
3rd Period Notes…
Leafs came out of the locker room like men on a mission. But, that mission never accounted to anything because of one reason, Brian Elliott. Elliott made save after save to start the 3rd. None bigger than the one on Hyman just under 6 minutes into the 3rd. Hyman was 1 on 1 with Elliott. However, he was up to it and made a huge save to keep the Flyers 2 goal lead.
Just past the 9:00 mark, the Flyers second line had a shift that put away the game. The shift was all Weal and Simmonds. They controlled the puck for a good 45 seconds. Generating three quality scoring chances and the shift being capped by a shot from the point by Sanheim. However, no goal.
However, after that shift, Toronto couldn’t really mount anything. Anything that got going, Elliott had the answer. But, they did try something early to generate something.
Toronto pulled the goalie the with 3:18 left in the 3rd.
But, they never scored with the extra attacker and the game ends 4-2 Flyers.
Scoring
None
Penalties
None
Shots (Total)
Flyers – 8 (30)
Maple Leafs – 12 (30)
The Flyers walked away with a key 2 points in a bounce back win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. They used a strong 1st and 2nd period to build a 4-2 lead going into the third. That score line was enough for the victory and the 2 points.
Brian Elliott had a bounce back game for himself after a shaky start against Anaheim. He stopped 28 of 30 shots faced and has this to say about the game…
“We all played well, it allowed us to focus on one play of the puck at a time.”
Coach Dave Hakstol also nothing but great things about his net-minder on the bounce back win…
“Real good effort tonight. Real big win for Elliott tonight, especially in this building. He was on it tonight.”
The Flyers got contributions for all aspects of the game tonight. Great penalty killing, powerplay scored another goal, depth scoring, and great goaltending. Captain Claude Giroux kept up his hot start to the season with a goal and had this to say about his teams effort…
“We got a lead and we really just played the way we wanted too.”
But, a mute point on the night, the clear absence of the forwards shooting. The Flyers ended the game with 30 shots. However, 20 of them came from defensemen.
But, the big news came at the start of the 3rd period. As, GM Ron Hextall announced that Shayne Gostisbehere would not return due to an “upper-body injury”. Gostisbehere was hit from behind in the second period by Leo Komarov, a clear boarding penalty. However, nothing was called and Gostisbehere finished the period in obvious discomfort. But, did not return to the game after the end of the period. GM Ron Hextall said he would have a better update tomorrow after Gostisbehere is evaluated at home.
Guess boarding penalties aren't a thing tonight… pic.twitter.com/8kcmDb0X7c
— Flyers Nation (@FlyersNation) October 29, 2017
The Flyers will make a get pit stop home to play the Arizona Coyotes Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center. After that, they will head back out on the road. Where, they will face Central Division powers, the Chicago Blackhawks & the St. Louis Blues, on back-to-back nights, Wednesday night and Thursday night respectfully. Game time Monday at the Wells Fargo Center is 7:00pm and will air on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
