The Philadelphia Flyers will leave New York after being handed a 2-1 loss by the Islanders in what was not necessarily the most exciting preseason game you will ever see.
Even though it still took until the dying minutes of the 3rd period for the Flyers to put one on the board for the first time this preseason after being shut out 6-0 by the Devils in their first game, the Flyers looked way better than they did in Newark. Let’s get to it.
FIRST PERIOD
Only 2:26 into the first period, the Flyers were on the penalty kill as Brendan Furry tripped Dennis Cholowski. Nothing came of that power play for the Isles, but surely the Flyers coaching staff were none too pleased to be a man down that early on.
Regardless, it was a far better first period for the Flyers compared to the Devils game as they let up a goal 12:38 into the first instead of 68 seconds on Monday, as Simon Holmström found the back of the net on a deflection.
All joking aside though, the defense and goaltending looked much better than in game one of the preseason.
The Flyers wouldn’t get on the board in the first, despite some chances and went to the 2nd trailing 1-0. This lineup for tonight definitely lacked offensive talent and was composed of a lot of young faces and 4th liners but battled hard against the Islanders’ starters.
SECOND PERIOD
12:06 into the 2nd period, Scott Laughton found his way to the box on a holding penalty which ultimately led to an Islanders goal by Julien Gauthier. The Flyers found themselves now down 2.
As mentioned before, the Flyers can thank their goaltenders for keeping them in the game as Felix Sandström looked comfortable in the first period along with Samuel Ersson, who at times had to stand on his head to keep the score close.
Keep in mind these two netminders, along with Cal Petersen, are battling for that backup goalie spot.
THIRD PERIOD
If you watched the 3rd period tonight, it was extremely fast. It seemed like there were hardly any stops.
The Flyers put on the pressure in the 3rd but just could not find the back of the net until new guy Ryan Poehling, with the goalie pulled, scored on a wrist shot 17:38 into the 3rd.
The Flyers then managed to control the puck outside of a few miscues for the remaining two minutes but just couldn’t get it done even despite a last second dash by Scott Laughton, who threw one into Ken Appleby’s chest.
A Few Player Notes
- Samuel Ersson really stood out tonight as he stopped 12 of the 13 shots he faced. The lone goal coming on what seemed to be a screen. Ersson made a few really nice saves to keep the Flyers in this game and looked every bit of the Samuel Ersson we saw last season.
- Ronnie Attard tallied 5 shots tonight as he saw a little over 18 minutes of ice time. Attard may be an odd man out on defense, but it was encouraging to see him shoot the puck and defend against the Islanders’ starters.
- Ryan Poehling scored the only Flyer goal of the night (and preseason), had 3 shots on net and played over 19 minutes.
- Noah Cates tallied an assist tonight and played a good 2-way game. He made a very good play to disrupt an Islander breaking in on net.
- Zayde Wisdom only played 9:50 tonight. Personally I was looking forward to watching the young player in game action. Hopefully he gets more opportunity in the future.
UP NEXT
The Flyers will travel to Boston next and take on the Bruins this Friday, September 29th at 7pm ET at TD Garden.
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