That’s seven, yes you heard that right, seven straight wins for the Orange and Black after taking down Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers yesterday afternoon 5-4 in OT. Just this past Monday, the Flyers sat fourteen points out of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Now, after taking care of business this afternoon, they sit seven points back of the final wild-card spot. The Orange and Black are on a roll and they don’t look they’re planning to slow down anytime soon. Here are my 3 Observations from the Flyers 5-4 overtime win over the Oilers yesterday afternoon.
Flyers’ Special Teams Rise To The Occasion:
Coming into this afternoons game vs Edmonton, both the Flyers Powerplay and penalty kill ranked near the bottom of the NHL. But as of late, things have fallen into place when it’s come to special teams. In fact, coming into yesterday afternoons game vs the Oilers, the Flyers had killed off 70 of their last 85 penalties. They followed that up yesterday afternoon by going 3 for 3 on the PK keeping the Oilers PP off the board. Despite still sitting 28th overall on the PK, the PK has drastically improved. Give a lot of credit to Scott Laughton, Michael Raffl, and of course, Carter Hart for the recent success when down a man or sometimes even two.
The powerplay has also struggled mightily this season. Coming into yesterday afternoons game, the Flyers ranked 29th in the league on the Powerplay. As of late though, things have started to click on the man advantage as the Flyers have now scored six powerplay goals in their last two games after going 4 for 5 vs the Oilers.
“There’s a couple different looks, I mean you got to switch some stuff up. I’m not going to give away our secrets, but I mean it’s definitely a little different. I think we’re funneling some pucks to the net and just getting some good bounces like I said”, said Flyers RW Travis Konecny when being asked if they’ve changed anything on the powerplay.
Five Goals From Five Different Guys
You get a goal, you get a goal, and you get a goal. The Flyers scored at least five goals for the 3rd time during this seven-game winning streak but this time they had help from five different guys. Sean Couturier (20), Claude Giroux (16), Travis Konecny (14), Wayne Simmonds (16), and Nolan Patrick (10) all scored goals for the Flyers. Four of those five, as mentioned earlier, came on the man advantage. The only goal not scored on the Powerplay was Nolan Patrick’s goal in overtime.
“Yeah, that one I missed there that sticks not around anymore, so obviously it’s pretty frustrating missing that one, but it felt nice to end in overtime”, said Patrick when talking about how bad he wanted that goal in OT after missing the semi-open net near the end of regulation.
Flyers RW Wayne Simmonds talked about whether or not he felt a sigh of relief after he saw the red light go off, but at the same time also gave credit to LW James van Riemsdyk for that goal that tied things up at 4-4.
“Yeah it was nice to see it go in the net. JVR was in front of the net, he did a great job screening the goalie and it kind of just skirted out. Props to him, obviously, and it got the puck in the net, so it was nice”.
Patrick Comes Up Clutch:
Nolan Patrick came oh so close to making it a 5-4 game with less than ten seconds remaining in regulation, but he shot the puck over the net and into the safety netting. The good news though is that he redeemed himself in OT by scoring the game-winner just 2:01 into the extra session. Travis Sanheim, who scored the overtime winner Thursday night in Boston, shot a puck high and wide of the net resulting in a bounce off the boards that landed right to the side of James van Riemsdyk. JVR, who had yet to record a point in the game, got to the puck and got just enough on it to get it to Patrick who shot it top shelf to give the Flyers the 5-4 win.
“Yeah, he’s been playing well and especially to score in overtime, that probably even feels better then doing it in regulation. He fixed his stick after he missed the empty net in the hallway there, got the right one, and got the winning goal”, said Flyers Head Coach Scott Gordon after being asked whether or not it was fitting for Nolan Patrick to score the game-winning goal after missing the net late in the 3rd.
Their’s no doubt Nolan Patrick is playing with more confidence of late. He now has five goals in his last seven games.
Post Game Notes:
- The Flyers had five different goal scorers tonight (Couturier, Giroux, Konecny, Simmonds, and Patrick all managed to put the puck in the back of the net).
- Both Claude Giroux (1G,2A) and Jake Voracek (3A) finished with three points.
- The Flyers PP went 4 for 5. It’s the first time they’ve scored four powerplay goals in a game since December 13, 2008.
- With the win yesterday afternoon, the Flyers have now won back to back games in overtime (Also Thursday in Boston: 3-2 OT Win over the Bruins).
- Oilers center Connor McDavid and RW Zack Kassian each finished with two points (1G,1A).
- Flyers goalie Carter Hart stopped a career-high 40 of 44 shots fired his way extending his personal winning streak to six straight games.
- Flyers RW Travis Konecny has six points (3G,3A) in his last 5 games
The Flyers are back in action on Monday night when they host Elias Pettersson and the Vancouver Canucks in search of their eighth straight win. Puck Drop is at 7PM.
As always, Lets Go Flyers!
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
