The Philadelphia Flyers valiantly fought back but their efforts came just short of the mark as they dropped the final game of the 2023 calendar to the Calgary Flames by a score of 4-3.
Rasmus Ristolainen opened the scoring in the first period before the Flames scored the next 3 goals – 2 of which came in the third period. After Nazem Kadri made it 3-1, Bobby Brink brought the Flyers back within 1 but then Blake Coleman scored a crucial empty net goal just 1:06 later.
Egor Zamula gave the Flyers life with 82 seconds left but Jacob Markström made a big stop on Joel Farabee on the ensuing shift to seal the victory for the Flames. Samuel Ersson played brilliantly in the first 2 periods as he made 27 stops in the loss.
The Flyers’ road trip continued with their third game in 4 days, this time in Calgary to face off against the Flames. After a massive victory against the Vancouver Canucks, the Flyers’ tired legs came into the equation against the Seattle Kraken but they still managed to pull out with 1 point as they were defeated in overtime.
Samuel Ersson got the nod with Carter Hart most likely playing the Edmonton Oilers in front of his family and friends on Tuesday. The lineup remained the same with Marc Staal and Rhett Gardner serving as the healthy scratches. Noah Cates also skated earlier Sunday.
As for the Flames, it’s been a tough season as they sat 6th in the Pacific Division with a 14-16-5 record, have several players on the chopping block with expiring contracts and the trade deadline looming, and have already traded Nikita Zadorov earlier this season.
Nazem Kadri paced the club with 25 points through 35 games while Blake Coleman was the team’s leading goal scorer with 12 tallies. Jacob Markström earned another start as he sported an 8-10-2 record with 1 shutout, a .904 SV%, and a 2.71 GAA entering the game.
FIRST PERIOD
5:07 into the game, Andrew Mangiapane was whistled for a tripping minor against Garnet Hathaway. The Flyers had one generally dangerous scoring chance and it came from Travis Konecny whose tuck-in attempt from the side of the net was stopped and covered by Jacob Markström.
The Flyers were the more dangerous team to start the game and fortunately they were rewarded for their efforts with a 1-0 lead at the 9:44 mark of the period. Rasmus Ristolainen finished off a one-timer in the slot for his 1st goal of the season from a patient and nifty pass from Ryan Poehling.
After allowing the first goal of the game, the Flames changed gears and started putting a lot of pressure on the Flyers defense but Samuel Ersson had all the answers. In his first action since he was forced out of his last start due to dehydration, Ersson didn’t look to have missed a beat with several ten-bell stops in the period on Rasmus Andersson, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Yegor Sharangovich among others.
The Flyers hobbled into the intermission with a 1-0 lead in large part because of Ersson’s strong goaltending as he stopped 12 shots to Markström’s 7. After Ristolainen’s tally, the Flames outshot the Flyers 8-2 in the final 10:16 of the period.
SECOND PERIOD
1:50 into the second period, Martin Pospisil ran Egor Zamula into the boards after the defenseman turned back to make a play and earned himself a 2 minute minor for boarding.
After 2 scoring chances coming from the Flames, Zamula was called for a holding minor after he lost his stick and had to grab a hold of Blake Coleman with 1:03 remaining on the initial penalty.
Ersson was tasked with yet another dangerous scoring opportunity just 15 seconds into the power play but was able to make the diving save with Elias Lindholm’s one-timer hitting his shoulder.
With 10:24 left to play in the period, Coleman was guilty of a high sticking minor against Cam York, sending the Flyers onto their 3rd power play of the night. Unfortunately, another dud.
The Flames finally beat Ersson and got on the board with just 99 seconds left in the period. The Flyers had a chance to get the puck out of the zone but the Flames retrieved it before Mangiapane set up Mikael Backlund in the slot for the one-time finish.
The period came to a close with the game tied heading into the final frame. The Flames held the 21-19 shot advantage through 40.
THIRD PERIOD
To start the third period, John Tortorella changed up the lines with Owen Tippett demoted to the fourth line with Scott Laughton and Hathaway while promoting Tyson Foerster to the top line with Sean Couturier and Konecny. Joel Farabee was bumped up to the second line with Morgan Frost and Cam Atkinson, while Poehling centered Nicolas Deslauriers and Bobby Brink.
7:29 into the final frame of regulation, Dennis Gilbert scored his first goal of the season after firing a hard shot from the faceoff dot after a perfect seed of a pass from Huberdeau to give the Flames a 2-1 lead.
Although the strap on Ersson’s mask came off after a shot from Kadri, the goaltender pulled his mask off instead of shaking it off his head, which resulted in a delay of game penalty with 7:06 remaining. With 36 seconds left on Ersson’s penalty, MacKenzie Weegar was sent to the sin bin for a tripping minor.
Unfortunately for the Flyers, Kadri doubled the Flames’ lead only 10 seconds later after they jumped on an odd-man rush from the initial defensive zone draw. Kadri walked in and fired a shot low-glove past Ersson for his 10th of the season.
After a very aggressive power play where Markström came up huge on several occasions, the Flyers pulled Ersson with 3:33 left on the clock. Only 9 seconds after the fact, Brink finished off a rebound opportunity in the blue paint after Markström made the initial stop on Konecny’s shot.
Tortorella pulled Ersson again with 3:10 remaining before taking his timeout with 2:42 left on the clock. With the extra skater, the Flyers looked discombobulated and after Tippett’s whiffed pass in his own zone, they weren’t able to regroup as Coleman potted the empty netter for his team-leading 13th goal.
With 1:22 left, Zamula brought the Flyers back to within 1 after his one-timer from the point beat Markström with a mass of bodies in front of the goaltender.
The Flyers raced back in and almost tied it up with a scrum in the blue paint but Markström made a huge pad save on Farabee to seal the victory for the Flames.
UP NEXT
The Flyers finish out the road trip in Edmonton and face off against the Oilers (9:00pm ET, NBCSP) on Tuesday, January the 2nd.
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