FINAL: 3-4 ARIZONA (OT)

STARTING LINEUPS:

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

Forwards
Giroux-Couturier-Voracek

Weal-Filppula-Simmonds

Read-Lehtera-Konecny

Leier-Laughton-Raffl

Defensemen
Provorov-Hagg

Gudas-Alt

Manning-Sanheim

Goalie
Elliott

Top Scorers
Voracek(16pts), Courturier(13pts)

ARIZONA COYOTES

Forwards
Domi-Stepan-Keller

Kempe-Dvorak-Rieder

Rinaldo-Cousins-Perlini

Martinook-Richardson-Fischer

Defensemen
Ekman-Larsson-Demers

Goligoski-Hjalmarsson

Connaulton-Schenn

Goalie
Wedgewood

Top Scorers
Keller(12pts), Domi(8pts)

FIRST PERIOD

Less than a minute in, Elliott bobbles the puck on what looks like a simple play. That could’ve been worse.
Flyers show some life early but have committed multiple missed passes early on.
Just 2:20 into the period the Coyotes have their first goal off an innocent passing play. Martinook scores his first. 0-1 Arizona.
Momentum swings completely in the Coyotes favor following the goal. Flyers can’t keep up.
Through 5 minutes, the Flyers have missed multiple opportunities because of miscommunications.
A lot of back and forth hockey, difference is, Arizona is getting shots on goal, Philly isn’t.
Sanheim has a GREAT chance out front of Wedgewood but can’t handle the puck.
Immediately following, the Coyotes go the the other way and Dvorak scores his first of the season. 0-2 Arizona. 12:14 left in the first.
10 minutes into the period, Sanheim feeds Giroux a beautiful outlet pass. Giroux finds himself on a 2-on-1 with Couturier but can’t get the pass through. Huge missed opportunity.
With 7 minutes left, it’s all Coyotes. Flyers pinned in their own zone.
Just over 14 minutes in, Read and Konecny find themselves on a 2-on-1 but are called offsides. Questionable call.
More lack of communication. Giroux misses his man on an easy drop pass on the zone entry. 4 and a half to play.
18 and a half in and the first line misses ANOTHER easy chance for a quality shot on net.
With 10 seconds left, Elliott makes a huge save and keeps this one at 0-2.

SCORING

(2:20) Coyotes; G: Martinook, A: Hjalmarsson, Richardson

(7:46) Coyotes; G: Dvorak, A: Ekman-Larsson, Demers

PENALTIES

None

SHOTS

Flyers 3

Coyotes 13

SECOND PERIOD

The 4th line comes out flying for Philadelphia but still can’t put a shot on net.
Poor passing across the board. just over a minute in, Voracek attempts to start a rush from the Flyers’ zone but instead hits a Coyote skate. Puck ricochets into Elliott who saves the puck.
2:38 into the period and the Flyers have their first shot.
Giroux with a great chance in tight on Wedgewood. One of the Flyers’ only threatening chances so far.
Constant pressure by the Coyotes as we pass the 5 minute mark. BIG save by Elliott on Domi.
14 minutes in, more solid pressure by the 1st line. They’ve had plenty of quality possessions but very few of them have translated into decent shots.
An EASY open net goal is missed by the Coyotes as they almost catch Elliott sliding. Scrap ensues. First real physicality of the game so far.
Dvorak and Couturier both get Roughing minors from the shoving match. First penalties of the game. 4-on-4 follows.
No one takes advantage of the 4-on-4. Provorov had a big giveaway but nothing came of it. Back to even strength.
With 5 minutes left, Philadelphia seems to be finding their legs a bit. Multiple shots on the same possession for the first time in a while.
Provorov misses an easy feed to the point as he’s streaking in. Could’ve been a huge chance. 2 and a half to play.
Simmonds is called for a cross-check with 5 seconds left in the period. FIrst powerplay for either team.

SCORING

None

PENALTIES

(12:48) Coyotes; Dvorak, Roughing

(12:48) Flyers; Couturier, Roughing

(19:55) Flyers; Simmonds, Cross-checking

SHOTS

Flyers 10 (13)

Coyotes 9 (22)

THIRD PERIOD

Just 1:34 into the period, a missed call behind the net results in a feed out front that Perlini sends home. 0-3 Arizona.
12 seconds later, Richardson takes a Hooking penalty against Voracek. 5-on-4 Philadelphia.
2:14 into the period, Couturier put the Flyers on the board by sending a beautiful feed from Giroux to the back of the net.
Philadelphia has A LOT of momentum following that goal.
With 15:40 left in the period, Simmonds has a great wrap around chance denied by Wedgewood.
Provorov commits another bad giveaway 5 and a half minutes into the period.
Consistent pressure for both teams, the first quality hockey of the night. A lot of back and forth.
Just over 10 minutes into the period, the Flyers get a great chance from the point that a sprawling Wedgewood manages to save. A huge scrum follows the save that results in a Luke Schenn Roughing penalty.
After a commercial break and some deliberation from the officials, Jake Voracek has also been assessed a double minor for High Sticking someone during the scrum. A Flyers powerplay turns into a 5-on-4 for Arizona.
The Coyotes can’t find the back of the net on the powerplay, back to even strength.
Neuvirth looks to the bench around the 4 minute mark. It seems he’s about to come off when Giroux send an ill-advised pass back into the Philadelphia end. Neuvirth stays put for now.
Flyers pull Neuvirth with 2:14 to play.
4 seconds later, the Flyers call a timeout.
Philadelphia is REALLY pouring it on now. One minute left.
Weal slams home a rebound after a fantastic Provorov keep in and shot at the blue line. 2-3 Arizona.
With 15 seconds left in the game, Couturier redirects another jaw-dropping pass from Giroux and it finds twine. 3-3, all tied up. We’re headed to Overtime.

SCORING

(1:34) Coyotes; G: Perlini, A: Goligoski, Hjalmarsson

(2:14) Flyers; G: Couturier, A: Giroux, Provorov

(19:07) Flyers; G: Weal, A: Provorov, Filppula

(19:45) Flyers; G: Couturier, A: Giroux, Provorov

PENALTIES

(1:46) Coyotes; Richardson, Hooking

(10:15) Flyers; Voracek, High Sticking (Double Minor – served by Raffl)

(10:15) Coyotes; Schenn, Roughing

SHOTS

Flyers 17 (30)

Coyotes 7 (29)

OVERTIME

The Flyers send out Giroux-Voracek-Provorov to start the 3-on-3 Overtime.
Just 32 seconds in, Voracek is called for a hooking, yet another questionable call against Philly. 4-on-3 for Arizona.
Elliott stands tall as chaos engulfs him. Great defensive effort while down a man from the Flyers.
Filppula misses a gimme goal with just over 3 minutes left to play
Simmonds blocks a huge shot from the point, 2:50 to go.
They survive the onslaught and get back to even strength.
Just over 3 minutes in, Sanheim takes a big shot and barely misses the net.
Provorov, after limping off the ice minutes before, fire a shot towards the net that’s turned away by Wedgewood.
Sanheim commits a terrible turnover and causes a 3-on-1 with 15 seconds left in the period. Some slick passing by the Coyotes and they find the back of the net. Goligoski makes it 4-3 Arizona. That’s all she wrote.

SCORING

(4:45) Coyotes; G: Goligoski, A: Keller, Domi

PENALTIES

(0:32) Flyers; Voracek, Hooking

SHOTS

Flyers 1 (31)

Coyotes 5 (34)

TAKEAWAYS

Slow starts, slow starts, slow starts. They’re killing this team.
The team capable of 60 full minutes of speeding up and down the ice seems to have disappeared. More often than not they look winded.
Again… Sanheim is not ready for the NHL. Great young talent, but not ready.
The Flyers beat great teams and lose to bad ones, have you heard this before?
Playing catch up isn’t fun.
3-on-3 Overtime is, indeed, still insane. So much fun even when it doesn’t go your way.
The 4th line is GRINDING, they may not be lighting the lamp but Laughton’s line is making their presence felt in plenty of other ways.
Sean Couturier is slowly, and I mean slooowly gaining my confidence. The chemistry of that top line is undeniable, no matter how much I don’t want to admit it.
The Flyers miss Shayne Gostisbehere, duh.
The Flyers also miss Nolan Patrick, double duh.
The Flyers do not, however, miss Andrew MacDonald. Get outta here with that nonsense. He’s a very expensive human traffic cone. Disclaimer: Wouldn’t hate AMac if he was cheaper, let this be known.

Overall, the Flyers didn’t deserve to win this game. They barely deserved a point. They started slow and barely looked like they wanted to be on the ice, let alone win the game. I’m not one to blame coaches at every sign of trouble. I mean, Hell, I stood behind Craig Berube just because everyone around me hated him. Hakstol needs to find a way to have his team ready to roll come game time though. Whether is be the Tortorella method of no game day practices or some sort of pregame ritual, something needs to change. Injuries aren’t helping our situation either Flyers fans, so hunker down because this could get bumpy. BUT, great teams push through injury and missed opportunities, and this IS a great team. Things will turn around here in Flyerland, I’m sure of it (kinda).