The odds were stacked against the Philadelphia Flyers from the get-go but they managed to grab a victory against the NHL’s best in the Florida Panthers by a score of 2-1.
Garnet Hathaway scored the game-winning goal with just 21.3 seconds remaining in regulation and Samuel Ersson and Scott Laughton both made saves of their own in the final 5 seconds as the Flyers pulled off the upset. Ryan Poehling opened the scoring 10 seconds into the second period before Gustav Forsling tied things up midway through the middle frame.
The third period was tight, the neutral zone was clogged up, and then the final 4 minutes was utter chaos but the Flyers managed to keep their cool and secured 2 massive points in their push for the playoffs. Samuel Ersson made 29 saves in the winning effort while Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 of his own.
In their season debuts, Adam Ginning played 18:13 TOI with 5 hits and 1 block, while Ronnie Attard played in 17:48 TOI with 5 hits and 2 blocks.
With the excitement of the trade deadline growing by the hour, the Flyers visited the NHL’s best team in Sunrise, Florida as they looked to start the gauntlet with a rousing victory. The schedule-makers did the Flyers no favours but with injuries piling up and the club trading Sean Walker yesterday, they entered tonight’s game with a very different looking back-end then we’ve seen in recent games.
Scott Laughton missed practice yesterday with an illness – while many believed his absence to be trade-related – but wound up suiting up tonight on the top line next to Owen Tippett and Tyson Foerster. Travis Konecny returned after a lengthy absence with an upper body injury, Olle Lycksell and Bobby Brink were made healthy scratches, Nicolas Deslauriers was on the fourth line with Cam Atkinson and Sean Couturier, while Ronnie Attard and Adam Ginning made their season debuts – playing on the same pair. Samuel Ersson also earned the start, looking for his 18th win of the season.
As for the Panthers, they entered tonight’s game with a 43-16-4 record, having gone 12-1-0 in their last 13 games and 16-2-0 in their previous 18 games, while sitting atop the NHL’s throne with the best record. Sam Reinhart paced the club in goals and points with 45 and 75, respectively. While Matthew Tkachuk had 50 assists and 71 points, Carter Verhaeghe with 64 points, and Aleksander Barkov with 62 points (57 games).
Recently acquired Vladimir Tarasenko made his Panthers debut, looking to add to his 6 goals and 17 points in 17 games against the Flyers throughout his career. All the while, Sergei Bobrovsky earned the start, looking to improve on his 31-11-2 record, 2.29 GAA and .918 SV%.
FIRST PERIOD
In a fast-moving first period, there wasn’t all that much to report in terms of goals and penalties. It was a clean period in that sense but the Florida Panthers were by far the more dominant of the two teams.
The shots were 5-5 midway through the period before the Panthers found their legs in the latter half, outshooting the Flyers 8-1 with Samuel Ersson being the key in the first 20 minutes. He made several big stops but none more important than Sam Reinhart’s breakaway attempt with 1:17 remaining.
The Flyers weren’t sleepy or slacking off either but the Panthers just did a fantastic job at clogging the neutral zone and getting to the puck quickly once Philadelphia dumped it in. Their best chance came off the stick of Travis Konecny who had a breakaway of his own but was denied by the pad of Sergei Bobrovsky. The shots were 13-6 for Florida at the end of the period.
SECOND PERIOD
10 seconds into the period, the Flyers opened the scoring courtesy of a quick strike from Ryan Poehling, They won the opening face-off, Travis Sanheim fed a pass to Cam York who navigated through the neutral zone and found a streaking Poehling who streaked in from a long the boards before finishing high-blocker for his 8th of the season.
At the 3:24 mark, Nick Cousins was found guilty of a tripping minor after he slipped and fell into Egor Zamula behind the Flyers net. It was a paltry effort from the 32nd ranked power play as the top unit that was comprised of Sean Couturier, Cam Atkinson, Scott Laughton, and Konecny fired just one shot on goal in the first 90 seconds.
As expected, momentum shifted towards the Panthers after the penalty kill and they were able to tie the game from a point shot from Gustav Forsling with 12:48 remaining in the period. The Flyers failed to clear the puck, the Panthers regrouped and cycled, before the recently-extended Forsling fired a shot through traffic that beat Ersson glove-side. It was his 10th goal of the season, marking his 3 consecutive year with 1o+ goals.
50 seconds later, Marc Staal was called for a tripping minor as he got his stick caught in the skates of Carter Verhaeghe. The 5th ranked power play looked the part but the top-ranked penalty kill survived to tell the tale. Only 35 seconds into the man advantage. Reinhart set up Aleksander Barkov for a one-timer off the rush but Ersson made a huge pad save to keep the Panthers at bay.
With 6:43 remaining on the clock, Matthew Tkachuk and Garnet Hathaway were sent to the box for slashing and roughing, respectively – a trade-off the Flyers were happy to make. Tentative moments early-on during the 4-on-4 but Ersson made a big stop on Barkov in the slot before the Flyers countered back with a slot-opportunity of their own at the conclusion of the minor penalties.
The period came to an end with both teams tied at 1-apiece and the Panthers leading on the shot-clock 23-15 – after a 10-9 edge in the second.
THIRD PERIOD
For two teams that shoot the puck with sheer volume, the third period started off with the Flyers holding a 3-2 edge in the first 10 minutes. The neutral zone completely clogged up and any time they entered their respective offensive zones, the defense converged with speed.
With 7 minutes left in regulation, York blocked a shot that hit him right above the shin pad and below the pants. He was slow in getting up but limped off under his own power straight to the dressing room, which was more concerning than usual with the amount of defensemen currently on the IR – fortunately he returned, 3 game minutes later.
The final 4 minutes can only be described as utterly chaotic but the Flyers were able to capitalize through it all with a crucial go-ahead goal from Hathaway with just 21.3 seconds remaining. Staal’s point shot was stopped by Bobrovsky but it skittered through his arm before Hathaway chipped it in for his 7th of the season.
Ersson made a save against Vladimir Tarasenko with 5 seconds remaining and then Laughton blocked a Reinhart opportunity off the ensuing face-off to secure the win against the NHL’s best.
UP NEXT
The Flyers complete the Florida mini-road trip as they visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night (7:00pm ET, NBCSP).
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