FIRST PERIOD
Blackhawks outshot the Flyers 11-8
Flyers out-hit the Blackhawks 13-11
Flyers with 9 PIM, Blackhawks with 5
- 3:30 into the first period, Provorov had an outstanding outlet pass that deflected to Filpulla, he couldn’t finish. Great vision by Provorov.
- On their first penalty kill, Elliott did a great job on a scramble in front of the net sticking with the puck and covering it up.
- Connor Murphy laid a huge hit on Taylor Leier, completely clean, and Scott Laughton answered the bell, props to him for taking the fight and scoring the takedown.
- 14:33 in, great hustle by Voracek to poke the puck in front of the net and give Couturier a chance at a goal there, outstanding work by Crawford.
- Second PK with about a minute left in the period, Hagg did an incredible job clearing the puck from behind Elliott in the crease and then turning around to block a potential goal. Gutsy play.
Overall, the first period was pretty so-so. Flyers had more chances, but also couldn’t capitalize. Elliott has to deal with a lot of traffic in front of him because the defensemen don’t seem capable of clearing the crease (Cue the Samuel Morin mentions). He also looks a bit slow from pipe to pipe, meaning if Hagg wouldn’t have made that block, the Blackhawks would have been up 1-0 at the end of the period. Other than that, the PK looks pretty sharp, cleared 3 times I believe in the first minute of the first penalty kill, and did a great job making sure Chicago couldn’t establish any kind of offense. The Flyers are also doing a great job of moving the puck while entering their offensive zone. Second period shaping up to be a defensive battle, this game could tell us a lot about how the young core holds up.
SECOND PERIOD
Blackhawks outshooting the Flyers 23-19
Flyers out-hitting the Blackhawks 19-18
Flyers with 13 PIM, Blackhawks with 9
- :46 in, and Mark Alt takes a minor penalty for delay of game. As the penalty kill ended, Filppula lead a 3 on 1, flipped it to Sanheim who couldn’t manage to sneak one past Crawford.
- Play opened up about 5:30 in for about two and a half minutes, teams trading chances, Coots had a 2 on 1 and kept it, took the shot, was blocked. Made the right call to keep it.
- 8:52, Manning gets called for holding. Six seconds later, Anisimov slams home a juicy rebound to break the scoreless drought.
- Twenty seconds later, Toews gets a breakaway and slips one through the five hole, puts Blackhawks up 2-0.
- 10:40, Flyers have their first powerplay as Toews goes to the box for holding. Flyers can’t capitalize.
- 13:03, Bouma goes in for tripping, Flyers still can’t muster any offense.
Overall, the Flyers looked pretty uninspired during most of the period. The beginning, they came out playing really well, getting quality scoring chances and Flippula leading the charge for the most part. He was the most impressive player this period, and really this game so far if you don’t count Ivan provorov. Provorov is impressive all the time so let’s go with Filppula.
On the powerplay, the Flyers cannot seem to get a lot of quality shots off. They take the first open shot and don’t work for the high percentage shots that would potentially go in. Crawford stops those head on shots, the Flyers need to start deking to get around him and put some moves on him in order to bury those pucks. Crawford is on fire tonight, and it’s going to take a heck of a shot to break that goose egg in the Flyers’ scoring column.
Finally, I noticed that early on in the period, after an interview with Hakstol asking him “what went wrong,” he referred to Ron Hextall as “Ronnie.” First off, you look like a human-sized penis in a suit, and second off, show the man some respect. He’s not your best friend, he’s the general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers, and from here on out, you should refer to him as “Ron Hextall, General Manager of the Philadelphia Flyers.” That is all, until he says something else stupid during the third period. Let’s hope for some better hockey and at least two goals for the orange and black!
THIRD PERIOD
Shots even at 35 apiece
Hits even at 26 apiece
Flyers with 13 PIM, Blackhawks with 11
- 3:25 in and Toews goes back to the penalty box, this time for tripping, nothing comes of it.
- 4:15, the first powerplay unit had an amazing chance, Crawford made the save. Per usual tonight.
- 8:29, Voracek made a great pass to G and spurned a breakaway, G was stoned by Crawford. Sound familiar?
- 9:55 and the Blackhawks had the Flyers on their heels in their zone. Elliott looked completely lost when the Blackhawks were passing the puck around in front of him. I mean more lost than an old lady without a map.
- 16:15, Flyers had the Blackhawks scrambling but couldn’t get a shot off quick enough. They had Corey Crawford sprawled out in front of his crease and still couldn’t bury a goal.
- 18:11 and the Blackhawks ice it with an empty netter from DeBrincat. Yes, Debrincat, the same kid that HASN’T EVEN FINISHED HIGH SCHOOL YET! SERIOUSLY!
The Flyers fall to 6-6-1 on the season, and have a quick turnaround as they face the St. Louis Blues who come in with a record of 10-2-1, best in the Western Conference’s Central Division. This will be the first time this season that the Brayden Schenn and Jori Lehtera face their old teams.
If the Flyers come out and play like they did against Chicago tonight, expect another notch in the L column. Side note, actually big point, Radko Gudas wasn’t present on the Flyers’ bench during the second and third period tonight. If he isn’t ready to go for tomorrow, expect call-up Will O’Neill to make his debut with the club as Gudas, MacDonald, and Gostisbehere could potentially be sitting in the press box with injuries. I’d say hopefully tomorrow there will be better hockey to be played, but it’s all but assured considering the fact that the Flyers played atrociously tonight. So, with that being said, we will see you tomorrow with another Flyers game recap after the tilt with the Blues of St. Louis, the only team that thinks it is still cool to play their goal song with an organ. Yeah, that team.
Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports
