The Philadelphia Flyers snapped a five-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night. Travis Konecny’s game-winner in the third period earned the Flyers a tight victory whileSam Ersson’s heroic efforts thwarted Pittsburgh’s offensive attack with 32 saves. “You always want to leave with a win,” Tortorella said postgame. “Certainly, a different kind of game for us, but it’s a win.”
New Flyers forward Andrei Kuzmenko picked up an assist in his debut. Jakob Pelletier, the other forward acquired by the Flyers in the Morgan Frost/Joel Farabee trade, was unavailable due to paperwork issues Philadelphia is still navigating. Pittsburgh entered the game without some star power, as well. Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust, two of their three leading scorers on the season, did not participate in the game on Saturday night.
Flyers Net Only Goal of First Period
Things started with a bang for Philadelphia in the first period. On their opening shift of the game, Flyers forward Scott Laughton scored a backhand goal past Penguins goalie Joel Blomqvist for the game’s opening goal. Andrei Kuzmenko started the play in his own zone and earned a point on his first Flyers shift for his effort. “Very talented, you can see his skill,” Tortorella described Kuzmenko. “Has an enthusiasm about him. He can do some things with the puck. It was a good first game for him.”
Pittsburgh responded well to Philly’s opening tally with a tight forechecking effort that dominated the rest of the period. The Penguins outshot the Flyers 10-1 over 17 minutes. The shot attempts that were blocked or missed the net painted a far worse picture. Pittsburgh fired 36 shot attempts at the Flyers goal compared to just five total shot opportunities for Philly. Flyers Goalie Sam Ersson made several critical saves in the first period, including a stick save with the Flyers on the penalty kill late to retain the 1-0 advantage heading into the break.
Flyers-Pens Split Second Frame
The Flyers conceded the opening score of the frame to Pittsburgh’s Erik Karlsson on a snipe from the right face-off circle that went sailing above Ersson’s shoulder and into the Flyers’ net to tie the game at one. Pittsburgh’s passing allowed the 3x Norris Trophy winner to take a wide-open shot from a sharp angle on the Flyers goalie. It was Karlsson’s 6th goal of the season and the 194th goal celebration of his career.
The Penguins continued to pressure against the Flyers in the second period, but the Flyers untied the game on a fortunate bounce midway through the period. Garnet Hathaway’s speed burst toward a loose puck forced Pittsburgh’s goalie to dash from his crease to clear the puck. In doing so, Blomqvist’s pass collided with the charging Flyers forward, and the resulting ricochet sent the puck into the unguarded Penguins net for a 2-1 Flyers lead. Once again, despite being outplayed in the period, Philadelphia held the lead at the second intermission.
Ersson Denies Penguins in Third Period
Within the first 90 seconds of the third period, Pittsburgh threatened to tie the game, but Sam Ersson’s sprawling save kept Philly’s slim lead intact. With a delayed penalty man advantage upcoming against Pittsburgh, the Flyers slipped Travis Konecny onto the ice as the extra skater. Defenseman Cam York feathered a pass across the blueline that Konecny one-time through traffic that deflected off a Penguins forward and past Blomqvist for a 3-1 Philadelphia lead four and half minutes into the period.
A little more than a minute later, Penguins center Kevin Hayes was initially denied by a fantastic pad save from the Flyers goalie as he moved laterally following a loose puck. However, the former Flyers forward stuck with the play, ultimately locating the loose puck in the crease and pushing it across the thin red line. The referee initially blew the play dead with a ruling of no goal, but Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan challenged the play, resulting in an overturned decision and a good Penguins goal slicing the lead in half, 3-2. It was Hayes’ 10th of the season in his debut season with Pittsburgh.
Ersson held the Penguins at bay over the last 10 minutes, earning first-star honors on Saturday. “He made some incredible saves,” the Tortorella described Ersson’s performance. “We were out-chanced pretty good.” With 25 games remaining after the two-week NHL hiatus, Ersson is expected to receive many of the starts down the stretch for the Flyers.
Laughton and Kuzmenko were selected as the second and third stars of the game, respectively. Philly improved to 24-26-7 on the year and settled into a seventh-place tie in the Metropolitain division with the Penguins (23-25-9) at 55 points at the break.
Scheduled NHL Break Brings International Tournament Next Week
Most of Philadelphia’s roster gets a mid-season vacation as the NHL breaks for two weeks. Flyers Head Coach John Tortorella (USA), Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim (Canada), Sam Ersson (Sweden), and Rasmus Ristolainen (Finland) will head off to the NHL-sponsored international tournament, the 4 Nations Face-Off. The event will start in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, before shifting to Boston, Massachusetts, for the Finals on February 20.
The Flyers’ next game will be at home on February 22nd when they host Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers for an afternoon contest in South Philadelphia.
Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
