Before the puck dropped in last night’s affair, the Philadelphia Flyers honored the late Mr. Ed Snider. The organization put together a sentimental video package displaying the founder’s journey when putting together the Flyers, the winning of back-to-back Stanley Cups, and his impact on the youth in the community.
For the honoring puck drop, Flyers alum Paul Holmgren, Kimmo Timonen, and Wayne Simmonds, a part of Snider Hockey, took to center ice.
The Philadelphia Flyers played one of their worst games against the Dallas Stars on Thursday night. Despite how players such as Sam Ersson said, “I don’t think necessarily that this was a bad game.” Ersson did return after being out again for a few games due to a lower-body injury. The lines stayed the same except for Ersson in the net.
PHI lines vs. DAL
Forwards:
Foerster-Cates-Brink
Tippett-Poehling-Konecny
Laughton-Frost-Michkov
Farabee-Couturier-Hathaway
Defense:
York-Sanheim
Zamula-Ristolainen
Seeler-Drysdale
G:
Ersson
Fedotov
Flyers vs Stars recap
Dallas-dominated game from the start. The Stars came into the Wells Fargo Center with five straight wins and aimed to extend the winning streak to six. Mavrik Bourque scored for the Stars within the game’s first few minutes.
Dallas extended their one-goal lead to two goals as Roope Hintz scored. However, the blame wasn’t entirely on Ersson, as Jamie Drysdale was caught in bad positioning on the ice. Drysdale now marked a first anniversary since being a Philadelphia Flyer, and it’s been a rough year for the defenseman. Drysdale is a strong skater, which is his biggest strength, but when it comes to passing and getting into good positioning, he still struggles with that aspect of the game.
While Dallas dominated, both teams finished the first frame with nine shots on goal each. The Wells Fargo Center fans were not pleased as they booed off the home team.
The second frame was anything but entertaining for the home team. The Stars kept the puck in the Flyers’ defensive zone for minutes. At one point, Owen Tippett was without his stick because it was broken into pieces. With a lifeless Flyers team on the ice, fans in the building erupted when their team got the puck past the red line and finally out of their defensive zone.
The Stars were later able to take a three-goal lead as Wyatt Johnston scored. Down 3-0, the Flyers were showing frustration. Travis Konency was the closest to putting Philadelphia on the board as he had a powerful shot on goal, but the puck hit the post. After 40 minutes, fans were displeased as more booing erupted throughout the barn.
At the start of the third period, an Eagles chant broke out to set the tone. Clearing Philadelphia fans were giving up hope early. Before the fans could display their displeasure even more, the Flyers got on the board as Morgan Frost scored and finally beat out Casey DeSmith in net. However, as time was winding down, John Tortorella pulled Ersson, who had over four minutes of hockey remaining. With not even a minute gone by for the Flyers’ extra skater on the ice, the Stars took advantage of the empty net, and Miro Heiskanen scored from down the ice.
The Stars won 4-1. After the game, Stars defenseman Matt Dumba talked about the win over the Flyers: “It’s starting to click. You get that feeling in the locker room that you’re going to win. It’s a really good feeling.” The Stars have now won six straight games. Philadelphia enters a four-game winless streak. After the match said, “Tonight we sucked.” The head coach gave credit to Ersson, saying he played well.
The Flyers look to break the winless streak Saturday as they host the Anaheim Ducks.
Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
