In the first game of a lengthy homestand, the Philadelphia Flyers came out flat and saw their five-game point streak come to an end after a 6-3 loss to the Calgary Flames.
Calgary jumped ahead to a 3-0 lead with all goals coming within 1:52 before Noah Cates and Andrei Kuzmenko brought them back to within one. Unfortunately, Yegor Sharangovich tallied 18 seconds after the fact to regain a two-goal lead that they never gave up.
MacKenzie Weegar added a late power play tally in the second period and then Sean Couturier gave the Flyers life in the third, but it was too little too late as Matt Coronato iced the game with an empty-netter.
Samuel Ersson was pulled after allowing 3 goals on 5 shots but it was Ivan Fedotov who was on the hook for the loss despite giving up just 2 goals on 27 shots. Dustin Wolf earned his 21st win of the season, stopping 24 shots.
Riding a five-game point streak, the Flyers kicked off their season-long 7-game homestand against the Flames.
The Flyers secured victories against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Edmonton Oilers, and Winnipeg Jets along the way and would be looking to continue their successful ways against some familiar faces in Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee.
Ersson returned between the pipes after giving way to Fedotov on Saturday night, and with Garnet Hathaway still sidelined due to injury the same lines remained intact.
As for the Flames, they entered Tuesday on a three-game losing streak and had lost seven of their last 10 games. They held a playoff spot by the skin of their teeth with the Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues, and Utah Hockey Club within two points of the final Wild Card spot in the West entering the contest.
Calgary was paced by Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri who each had 44 points in 60 games, followed by MacKenzie Weegar’s 33 points, Matthew Coronato’s 31 points, and Blake Coleman’s 29 points.
Rookie goaltender Dustin Wolf was given the call between the pipes as he looked to strengthen his rookie of the year case and improve on his 20-12-4 record, .913 SV%, and 2.58 GAA.
Entering the game since the trade, Farabee had one goal in 10 games, Frost had three points in 10 games, Kuzmenko had three points in five games, and Jakob Pelletier added an assist in four contests.
FIRST PERIOD
2:22 into the game, Egor Zamula was given the gate for a high sticking minor, sending the Flames onto the first power play of the night. Despite several good looks, the Flames recorded zero shots on goal, including three from Kadri and two from Frost that missed the net.
The Flyers then earned their first power play of the game less than three minutes later at the 5:05 mark after Weegar was nailed for a cross-checking minor against Michkov.
The Flames killed off the Flyers’ power play despite a couple solid chances. They then scored the game’s opening goal shortly after with Brayden Pachal’s point shot deflected by Connor Zary at the front of the net with a few defensemen in the way of Samuel Ersson.
33 seconds later, Kadri doubled the lead after wiring a shot off the rush low-glove past a befuddled Ersson. Kadri grabbed the loose puck in the neutral zone and danced around Owen Tippett before letting loose on his shot for his 22nd of the season at the 8:13 mark.
1:52 after Zary’s first goal, he doubled up after firing a shot from a bad angle off Ersson’s backside and in. That spelled the end of the Swedish international’s night after allowing 3 goals on 5 shots at the 9:32 mark.
The Flyers answered back 22 seconds later after Cates ripped a shot from the slot with a delayed penalty on its way. Tyson Foerster was tripped up but the puck landed right to Cates who beat Wolf blocker-side through a bit of traffic for his 14th of the season – a new career-high.
After a lengthy shift being hemmed in the defensive zone, a tired Kuzmenko whipped a hard snap shot in the middle of the ice high-glove past Wolf with 2:49 remaining. The Russian winger did a good job in the neutral zone to force a turnover against Kadri before taking care of business against his former club.
Unfortunately, the Flames responded back just 18 seconds later after Sharangovich slipped a loose puck through Fedotov’s five-hole. The Russian netminder was a little slow to react after a blocked shot, which allowed Sharangovich to sneak one in.
A whacky first period came to a close with the Flames up 4-2, while shots were tied at 12-apiece.
SECOND PERIOD
7:31 into the middle frame, the Flames were guilty of a too many men minor, giving the Flyers a golden opportunity to strike. Travis Konecny hit the crossbar but outside of that opportunity, there wasn’t much going on with the extra skater.
With 3:53 remaining in the period, Nick Seeler was given the gate for a roughing minor. It only took the Flames 20 seconds to respond after Weegar’s point shot got through traffic and beat an out of balance Fedotov. After an initial big stop, the rebound was loose before the puck found its way to Weegar, who made no mistake.
With 1:24 left in the period, Tippett was tripped up but the Flyers just looked out of sorts and without much juice left in them. The power play featured a bunch of missed shots, failed passes, and slow entries before the horn sounded.
The Flames scored the lone goal in the period, taking a 5-2 lead into the third.
THIRD PERIOD
With 9:17 remaining in regulation, the Flyers cut the deficit to two after Matvei Michkov‘s shot from the slot deflected off a defender and fluttered past Wolf. Sean Couturier was there just in case with a final tap-in but the puck had already crossed the line and it was given to Michkov, but later credited to Couturier.
With the Flyers pressing, Konecny was able to draw a hooking minor against Huberdeau with 3:31 remaining. The Flyers recorded 2 shots near the end of the power play but couldn’t generate any kind of pressure even with the net empty halfway through.
With 60 seconds remaining, Coronato iced the game with an empty net goal.
UP NEXT
The Flyers take on the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night at Wells Fargo Center (7:00pm ET; NBCSP).
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