Hockey fans in the Pacific Northwest could be forgiven for taking Monday night off. On paper, a regular season matchup for the Seattle Kraken against a mediocre, cross-country opponent like the Philadelphia Flyers doesn’t compare to the Seattle Mariners’ first Game 7 and pursuit of their first World Series berth in nearly 50 years of existence.
However, those who focused on the action at the Xfinity Mobile Arena were treated to some excitement. 2024 top-10 pick Berkly Catton made his NHL debut with Jared McCann out of the lineup due to injury and immediately jumped onto the top line with top-10 selections Matty Beniers and Jordan Eberle. But ultimately, fans were better off switching to baseball once things started early in the second period. Two goals just 33 seconds apart helped the Flyers take control of the game. The Flyers had the upper hand a 5-2 finalwinning three of four games in their first homestand of the season.
Summary of the game
After consecutive games in which the Flyers allowed fewer than 20 shots, Monday’s game started surprisingly wide open. Turnovers and rushing opportunities were plentiful before the first TV timeout, with players in both lineups nearly capitalizing. But the biggest turnovers, both of which resulted in each team’s first count, came from the goalies.
One play after creating an overtime winner by holding a puck in his glove on the play, Dan Vladař made an ill-advised backhand pass to Catton just over seven minutes later. Seconds later, Vladař fished the puck out of his net as a blind shot from Cale Fleury rebounded off Eberle, giving Seattle the early lead and Catton his first NHL point via secondary assist.
Even though Christmas is still two months away, Joey Daccord decided to join his fellow netminder in the spirit of giving. While Vladař moved the puck too quickly, Daccord’s blunder came from over-patience, as Sean Couturier practically wiped the puck off his stick. It slid to the left point for a Nick Seeler shot that was partially blocked, but not enough to prevent it from finding the red-hot Owen Tippett. Along with Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny, Tippett reached the lamp for the fourth straight game by chipping in the puck on his way to the cage, tying his career-best goal streak (recorded from November 10-18, 2023).
Tyson Foerster, perhaps not appreciating that someone had already passed his three-game season opener for the longest Flyer goal streak of the season, gave the Flyers the lead moments later with a power play goal. But don’t think all is well and good for Philadelphia in terms of the man advantage; they spent 2:29 at 5-on-4 in the period and while they scored, they also managed to take a penalty, allow a 2-on-1 and allow a breakaway. Vladař was able to save them with the two chances (as well as a bouncing puck that evaded John Hayden’s reach), but it wasn’t pretty.
However, only one of the teams was able to continue their strong attacking play into the second period. The Flyers chased the Kraken out of the break, with Tippett and the vaunted Foerster, Noah Cates and Bobby Brink line generating early chances. But it was the Flyers’ two slumped Russians, Matvei Michkov and Egor Zamula, who really made something happen. Two cross-ice passes during the rush between the two led to a backdoor goal by Travis Konecny, a three-way period of catharsis. Zamula had been scratched healthy in two of the previous three games. Michkov has regularly been benched in tight third periods and overtime. Konecny’s goalscoring problems from the second half of last season carried over into the new season. Then all that frustration disappeared in one beautiful sequence.
Instead of responding offensively, Seattle went back to the penalty kill less than 30 seconds later when Hayden took a foul penalty in the middle of what was a rather physical match, which included a spirited first-period battle between Fleury and Nikita Grebenkin. This time the Flyers scored a goal that required no caveats; they quickly gained position and extended the lead to 4-1 after a Noah Cates deflection.
Not to appear, Seattle’s man advantage had a quick response of its own. Jani Nyman was robbed on a powerplay one-timer in the first period thanks to a great side push from Vladař, but had no chance this time thanks to a silky dish from Matty Beniers. However, the Flyers kept their foot on the gas pedal and restored their three-goal lead on Tippett’s second score of the night. Yes, this one had a bit of a whiff, as Daccord certainly could have figured out the wrister on the short side that barely crept over the goal line. But someone who shoots as often as Tippett is bound to take a few breaks, especially when he hits the net and especially with the heater he’s on right now.
The third period featured some fireworks, namely a fight between Ryan Lindgren and Travis Konecny after Tye Kartye was stung by a big hit from Tippett. But the Kraken never threatened the Flyers’ three-goal advantage, allowing the home side to skate away with its most dominant performance of the young season.
There’s still plenty of home action on the horizon for the Flyers, but they’ll make a quick detour north to play the Ottawa Senators on Thursday. Seattle, who suffered their first regular season loss in this game, has a quick turnaround as they meet the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night, the fifth game of a season-long six-game road trip.
#Flyers #offense #alive #win #Kraken #Hockey #Writers #Philadelphia #Flyers #Latest #News #Analysis