The Philadelphia Flyers extended their point streak to 8 game after shutting out the Detroit Red Wings by a score of 1-0.
Samuel Ersson was a brick wall in goal as he stopped all 34 shots fired his way and Cam York recorded the game-winning goal in the early parts of the first period after his pass attempt went off a Red Wing stick and in.
The penalty kill was strong yet again, killing all 3 attempts, and the Flyers defense that was without Travis Sanheim for the first time this season did their job for most of the game with good positioning and shot blocking acumen.
After dispatching the Washington Capitals on Thursday through another shootout victory, the Flyers welcomed the Red Wings into the confines of the Wells Fargo Center for the first of three meetings. Ever since their disappointing loss to the San Jose Sharks, the Flyers have been the best team in the NHL with an 11-3-2 record while also riding a 6-1-2 record in their last 9, and owning a 7-game point streak.
Samuel Ersson returned between the pipes with Carter Hart still dealing with the effects of an illness and Travis Sanheim was ruled out just before puck drop with an illness as well, allowing both Marc Staal and Egor Zamula to avoid the press box, and Sean Couturier made his way into the lineup after a maintenance day yesterday.
As for the visiting Red Wings, they held a 15-10-4 record on the season, were 5-4-1 coming into tonight’s game, and were the 2nd most potent offense in the league with 3.69 goals per game.
Alex DeBrincat paced the club with 13 goals and 26 points, Dylan Larkin – who was out of the lineup – had 11 goals and 25 points in 24 gams, Lucas Raymond had 10 goals and 24 points, former Flyer Shayne Gostisbehere was enjoying another strong season with 21 points, and J.T. Compher and Daniel Sprong rounded out the top with 19 points. In fact, the Wings had 13 players in double figures for points.
Former Flyer Alex Lyon was in the blue paint tonight with a 4-2-0 record, 2.13 GAA, and a .931 SV%.
FIRST PERIOD
The Flyers opened the scoring 6:21 into the game courtesy of Cam York. Sean Couturier won the face-0ff, Travis Konecny and York played pitch and catch with the latter coming up along the boards. York tried sending a cross-ice pass to Couturier at the other side of the net but it deflected off of J.T. Compher’s stick blade and into the net for his 5th of the season.
With 11:32 remaining in the first period, Daniel Sprong was called for a holding minor, sending the struggling power play to work early in the game. Unfortunately, there was very little offensive zone time and almost no scoring opportunities as another 5-on-4 opportunity went to waste.
The Flyers entered the intermission break with a 1-0 lead on the scoreboard and carried an 11-6 shot advantage.
SECOND PERIOD
3:52 into the second period, Sean Walker was called for a holding minor but the 5th ranked penalty kill kept the 13th-ranked power play on the outskirts of the high danger areas, while also providing an early odd-man rush courtesy of Travis Konecny and Scott Laughton.
At the 6:50 mark of the period and on a delayed penalty call against Jake Walman for a tripping minor, the Flyers went down the ice on an offensive opportunity that culminated into an Owen Tippett dangle that was stopped by Alex Lyon. Unfortunately for the Wings, Lyon went down in a heap after making the stop, leaving the game and having the Wings turn to starter Ville Husso.
Recently acquired Patrick Kane was able to draw a tripping minor against Egor Zamula after making a quick spin-o-rama move on the youngster at the blue line with just 5:59 remaining in the period. The Wings cooked up one good opportunity but the Flyers penalty kill once again made it difficult to traverse into the high danger areas.
The second period came to a close with the Flyers still up 1-0 and carrying a 22-20 shot advantage. The Red Wings had 12 shots to the Flyers 10 in the middle frame but Husso made the bigger saves to keep the Wings in the game.
THIRD PERIOD
7:05 into a choppy and slow-paced third priod, Walker took his 2nd minor penalty of the game as he interfered Michael Rasmussen. With 28 seconds left on the man advantage, the referees stopped play after Robby Fabbri was on the ice in obvious pain after he was run over by Rasmus Ristolainen.
Down by 1 and with 3:01 remaining in regulation, the Wings pulled Husso for the extra attacker. After a myriad of whistles, shots, and blocks, the Wings took a penalty with 16 seconds remaining courtesy of Shayne Gostisbehere to effectively end their bid in tying the game.
UP NEXT
The Flyers will head out on the road to face off against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night (7:00pm ET, NBCSP) as they look to extend their point streak to nine games.
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