On Monday, Flyers’ head coach Alain Vigneault stated that he was going to use rotation involving Phil Myers, Shayne Gostisbehere and Robert Hagg for the last two defense pairing. He said he was not sure who was going to play Tuesday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs and would make a decision on Tuesday at the morning meetings.
Based on the practice pairings, it appeared that either Gostisbehere or Myers would be the odd D-Man out. On Tuesday, Hagg was skating with the scratched players, indicating he was the odd man out. The third and final defensive pairing would be Myers and Ghost.
Myers Leading The Way
Myers was a healthy scratch in Montreal on Saturday. He then earned player of the game honors by the NBC Philly telecast on Tuesday night. Myers played a solid game. He was physical and moving all over the ice. He had the first three-point game of his career, assisting on three goals and finishing a game-high plus-three rating.
In the second period, The Flyers were getting a lot of pressure in the Toronto zone. However, there was a lack of shots on net. Myers took control and shot the puck on the net. He simplified the game and was the right Flyer on the ice in these situations. When asked about this he stated the following:
“Yeah. You know, my game is nothing too fancy. You know, that being said, You know, I can still make plays, right? But I felt like we weren’t getting enough pucks on net and, you know. I was just trying to create chaos and you know, when you shoot on net, good things happen, right. A lot of rebounds and stuff, so it’s worked out. Glad I could chip in, you know, offensively.”
Myers’s first assist showed his playmaking ability. He read the play perfectly and pinched to keep the puck in the zone. He was able to successfully get the puck behind the net to Travis Konecny, which led to the game-winning goal by the captain, Claude Giroux.
Myers’ ability to move the puck was on full display as two break-out passes led to assists. His first spring Konecny and Giroux on a two on one. The second to JVR on a breakaway which was buried.
The Rotation
When asked about the rotation of the bottom three defenders, Myers stated the following:
“Obviously you try not to think about that. And, you know, just try and you know, when you get the opportunity to play, just focus on your game and, you know, try to get that out of your mind. And I think, you know, he stuck with us tonight me and Ghost, I think we, you know, played well together, had good chemistry out there and, you know, kept it simple for the most part and, you know, things just fell into place there.”
It was reported at practice Wednesday, Vigneault stated the following regarding Myers:
Is Ghost Back?
Gostisbehere had a really good game as well. He was seeing the play and jumping on loose pucks. Ghost was playing with renewed confidence and for his effort, he had a goal and an assist. His goal was a laser to the upper corner of the net. Ghost stated the following in reference to his play Tuesday night and if he was seeing the play better:
“Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think it comes down to you know, real confidence to I think I had that tonight. You know, just being assured of myself and you know making the plays you know, not telegraphing too much and you know just keep moving my feet. A big weapon I have is my skating and you know my ability so I think for me to you know, get those things going is a good combination.”
The play of Gostisbehere and Myers is going to make it difficult for AV to get Hagg back in the lineup. Ghost playing with confidence and contributing offensively is really good for the Flyers.
Carter Hart on Myers and Ghost
When asked about the defensive play of both Myers and Ghost, Hart stated the following:
“I thought we were great tonight. In the third period there, didn’t give them really anything. I mean that play at the end there I went over to Ghost and Ghost when back over to Myseyt, we were actually working on those exchanges yesterday in practice so that’s funny how that worked out. And then he [Myers] gets a flip pass to Reemer there and he capitalizes so no and I thought our D-corp was really solid tonight.”
Next up, the Flyers host the Arizona Coyotes Thursday night at 7:00 PM. Former Flyer, Rick Tocchet’s club enters the contest with a 5-3-2 over the last ten games.
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