The Philadelphia Flyers secured their first home win of the 2024 NHL regular season behind an impressive offensive output from captain Sean Couturier and assistant captain Travis Konecny. Couturier netted his second career hat trick, while TK finished with 4 assists and a goal added to his season totals.
In a crazy hockey game, the Flyers and the Wild battled it out like a 12-round prize fight at The Sphere in Vegas, except the location was South Philadelphia and the Wells Fargo Center. Despite limited shot opportunities, Philly still managed to find offensive success in the contest which is a welcome sight given their recent inability to find the back of the net over the first handful of games in 2024.
Philadelphia grabs their second win of the season and snaps a six-game-long losing streak in the process of improving to 2-5-1 on the season. For Minnesota, it is the first regulation loss over the first eight games of their campaign as their record falls to 5-1-2.
First-period fireworks
The Flyers opened the scoring early behind two goals in the first four minutes from Sean Couturier and Nick Seeler. On the first Philadelphia goal, Konecny moved the puck to the point for a Rasmus Ristolainen shot that provided a juicy rebound for Captain Coots to slam home the first goal of the game. It was a milestone point for Sean Couturier as he record career point #500 in the NHL with the goal.
Philly’s second goal came shortly after following an excellent feed from Travis Konecny. TK drove the puck into the zone and spotted a trailing defenseman Nick Seeler in a prime shooting position. Konecny saucered a pass between two Minnesota defenses and onto the tape of Nick Seeler who ripped a shot past the Wild goalie to double the Flyers advantage at 2-0.
For Minnesota, it was the first time they allowed the first goal in the last six games. It was a less-than-ideal start for Minnesota goalie Filip Gustavsson who allowed the two tallies on the there shots he faced in the period. Philadelphia did register a shot in the final fifteen minutes of the first.
Following the Flyers goals, Minnesota pushed back but Flyers goalie Sam Ersson stood tall with seven saves in the period. Particularly late in the period, Ersson was tested by a couple of close chances but turned them aside to keep Philadelphia’s two-goal advantage intact. On the defensive end, Philly played strong in front of their goalie blocking seven shots in the period.
Second period shenanigans
Minnesota controlled the play through the duration of the second period as Philadelphia was unable to generate any offensive pressure against the Wild. Like the first frame, Philly managed to produce only 3 shots in the period to raise the total to an impractical six shots through two periods of play.
For yet another time this season, the Philadelphia Flyers allowed two goals within a one-minute span as Brock Faber and then Marcus Foligno pushed pucks past Sam Ersson with five minutes remaining in the period.
Matvei Michkov’s 4th goal of the season restored the Flyers lead at 3-2 on a delayed penalty call. With the goalie out of the net, Philly fed the puck to the point allowing Michkov some room to operate and the 19-year-old Russian winger sniped a shot past Gustavsson and bring the party atmosphere to South Broad street.
It was a short-living soirée as Philadelphia took a “too many men” on the ice penalty placing Minnesota back in the man advantage. This time, Minnesota would capitalize with Ericksson Ek scoring with only :03 left on the second period clock to tie the game at 3-3.
Third period features late drama
The third period started with a bang as Marcus Foligno scored his second of the game to give Minnesota their first advantage of the contest, 4-3. Wild center Frederick Gaudreau won a faceoff cleanly that was pushed back to the point and steered towards the net where it was redirected past Ersson.
Minnesota put Philadelphia on the Power Play shortly after and Philly capitalized on the opportunity. Morgan Frost took a shot that was deflected wide, however, the puck bounced off the end boards right on to the stick of Travis Konecny who rifiled it home to tie the game at 4.
Sean Couturier scored his second of the game three minutes later to put Philadelphia on top once again, 5-4. The pendulum would swing back the other direction at 13:28 when Jake Middleton’s wrist shot slipped past Ersson for a 5-5 leveled scored.
With regulation counting down, the Flyers slipped another puck past Filip Gustavsson as Rasmus Ristolainen made his 6-foot-4 presence known as he became a human bowling ball to knock the puck in the net for a 6-4 Flyers lead.
Coots then completed the hat trick with an empty net goal with one minute remaining in regulation for a 7-5 final. The Flyers captain played exceptionally this afternoon. Both Couturier (3G, 2A) and Konecny (1G, 4A) registered a total of five points in the afternoon contest against Minnesota.
While the Flyers get to enjoy an afternoon win, Philadelphia will be unable to marinate in the good vibes for very long. Philadelphia is right back in action tomorrow night hosting the Montreal Canadiens at Wells Fargo Center at 7 PM.
Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
