On the road, the goaltenders split time. Ivan Fedotov and Carson Bjarnason doubled up in a win against the Washington Capitals. Then, Eetu Mäkiniemi and Cal Petersen were on the wrong side of a shutout from the Montréal Canadiens.
Tonight, the Philadelphia Flyers (2-1-0) were on the right side of a shutout victory versus the New York Islanders (1-2-0). Sam Ersson played the duration, saving all 37 shots fired at him.
“I thought he [Ersson] played great. [He] played really good, even right down to the wire there at the end, we were up two nothing, [and] he made a huge save right off the blocker. I thought he looked solid. It was a great confidence builder for him. [A] really important game in my opinion just to get a steady footing for himself in the crease.” – Rocky Thompson; 9/26/2024
The puck dropped at the Wells Fargo Center at 7pm as Ersson went head-to-head versus Marcus Högberg.
Ahead of the opening faceoff, the Flyers held a 13-second moment of silence and played a tribute video for Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Gaudreau:
They passed away on August 29th, 2024. Guy Gaudreau, the father of Johnny and Matthew, helped at the Flyers Training Camp on Monday. John Tortorella reached out to Guy.
“I called him [Gaudreau]. I wanted to know if he wanted to come out. It’s pretty close to home, as far as with his family and all; what’s going on there. He’s a coach. [The] first time I met him was today. I never met Johnny and Matt. I never met them in my travels as a coach, but their family’s here. [A] horrific situation going on, and he’s a coach. He’s done some great work out here with some of the youth. I figured it’s perfect just to get him in with us. He was hesitant at first, and we let him go at his timetable. I think it worked out really well today.” – John Tortorella; 9/23/2024
It was a beautiful start to an otherwise whirlwind week for Philadelphia.
First Period
Emil Andrae and Erik Johnson, more on him later, moved the puck well along the blue line in the offensive zone. This partnership featured the calculated reasoning for keeping a veteran defenseman on the roster. Johnson helped direct traffic in the neutral zone for Andrae, communicating while defending in transition. Both defensemen dumped the puck on the goal, hoping for a rebound from in close and under the hash marks.
Adam Ginning continued the trend, shooting from the blue line, while Morgan Frost tipped the puck on goal.
Simon Holmström and Scott Mayfield are a couple of skaters who put Ersson to the test early in the period. Ersson gloved a shot by Holmström, then later turned away Mayfield with the pads. Then, Owen Tippett and Tyson Foerster tried Högberg on shooting opportunities afforded by the passing execution from Matvei Michkov and Travis Konecny. Högberg shortened the angle on Tippett, then flashed pads across on Foerster. Both goaltenders were perfect throughout the period.
Frost had a juicy rebound escape his stick, but instead of taking the shot after Högberg recovered, he maintained possession of the puck to find an open pass to Cam York, recycling. Sequences like that from Frost show confidence in his game. Being on a line with Michkov will send his confidence through the ceiling.
Travis Sanheim served the only penalty of the period. Ersson had a bounce go his way from a shot by Kyle Palmieri, and when Foerster served another later, Ersson was lent a hand from the goalpost, denying Holmström. The Flyers finished perfect (2/2) on the penalty kill.
Second Period
Both goaltenders remained dialed in throughout the second. Ersson held his poise, taking on more than the fair share of total shots to start the period. The Islanders paced the start with six shots in five minutes.
Palmieri served the only penalty for New York. Frost set Michkov up for a quick shot, but Högberg got enough of the puck with his arm. Philadelphia finished without a conversion (0/1) on the powerplay.
“He’s [Michkov] been working really hard. You can tell within our practices and with our skating, he’s made a diligent effort. That’s good, he’s backchecking hard, [and] he’s doing all those things, but you can see his ability to make plays. He generated opportunities for his teammates, he had opportunities to score himself; got a goal and an assist. [He] played good.” – Rocky Thompson; 9/26/2024
Tippett and Frost tried a two-on-one before the end of the period but failed to beat Högberg. Michkov was in on a few offensive driving plays, including a couple of shots, but dressed this situation beautifully for Tippett to locate Frost. Högberg, like Ersson at the opposite end, kept the slate clean entering the final period of regulation.
Third Period
Ersson and Högberg both battled the entire length of the exhibition.
“It’s nice to get some action early on. [A] nice game actually to see a lot of pucks. That usually helps get back into rhythm and just feeling [like] some actual game out there.” – Sam Ersson; 9/26/2o24
Eventually, the Flyers broke through on the scoreboard. Michkov sent the puck on a laser to York. His shot recoiled off the back wall, and the puck presented itself to Johnson, who cleaned up the bounce, 1-0, with 15:24 remaining.
For his work, creating scoring opportunities off of his stick and with teammates, Michkov earned an empty-net goal, 2-0. He did not make it easy, however. From the neutral zone, Michkov pinged the puck off the post. Moments later, a missed pass was recovered by Michkov before he notched the empty-net goal.
Overall, Philadelphia was on the lower end of the shot total, the more undisciplined team in terms of puck control and penalty minutes, and took the brunt of the physicality. However, the Flyers won at the faceoff dot and blocked more shots, a staple in a Tortorella system.
This Saturday, Philadelphia hosts the Boston Bruins at the Wells Fargo Center. The puck drops at 7pm.
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