The Philadelphia Flyers threw 41 shots towards Jordan Binnington and hit 4 posts but could only muster up 1 goal as they were defeated in the shootout against the St. Louis Blues.
Scott Laughton opened the scoring late in the first period before former Flyer Kevin Hayes scored on a breakaway attempt to tie things up. The third period and overtime were where Binnington was spectacular as he made a combined 20 saves to keep the Flyers off the board and secure the 2 points in their all-important playoff race.
Jake Neighbours scored first in the shootout in the second round, then Morgan Frost responded in the ensuing round before Pavel Buchnevich ended things in the fourth. Samuel Ersson earned the hard-luck loss, allowing just 1 goal on 25 shots.
The Flyers looked to pad their lead for the third spot in the Metropolitan Division as they hosted the Blues on a rare Monday night showdown. Pittsburgh, New Jersey, and Washington all lost last night, opening the door for the Flyers to give themselves some breathing room.
Samuel Ersson received the nod after giving way to Felix Sandström on Saturday night on the back-end of their back-to-back set. After dropping a disappointing game in Washington, they scurried away with the 2 points against Ottawa and are returning with an unchanged lineup with the exception of Olle Lycksell taking Nicolas Deslauriers’ spot.
As for the Blues, they entered tonight having lost 6 of their last 10 after having previously won 8 of 10. Jordan Binnington received the start, looking to improve on his 21-16-3 record, 2.88 GAA, and .910 SV%. The club is in paced offensively by Robert Thomas’ 69 points, followed by Pavel Buchnevich’s 24 goals and 48 points and Jordan Kyrou’s 47.
FIRST PERIOD
The game had a very tentative feel with both clubs barely carrying out any offensive pressure but that changed when the Blues came barreling in on an odd-man rush. Pavel Buchnevich passed it to Jordan Kyrou who passed it back to Buchnevich but his shot was impeded by Tyson Foerster but Samuel Ersson was still tasked to make a big save to keep the Blues off the board.
Shortly after that, at the 12:33 mark of the first period, the Flyers hopped on their first power of the game after Oskar Sundqvist was nailed for a hooking minor. The Flyers had 3 shots on goal but nothing overtly dangerous with very minimal traffic in front of Jordan Binnington.
With 1:08 remaining in the period, Scott Laughton continued his hot pace with the game’s opening goal. Ryan Poehling jumped on an odd-man rush with Laughton on the other side and he made a silky move past a sliding Colton Parayko before his shot was eventually deflected off of Laughton’s glove, who was making a bee-line towards the blue paint.
It was his 10th goal of the season and his 5th goal and 12th point in his last 11 games.
The period came to an end with the Flyers up 1-0 on the scoreboard and holding a 11-6 shot advantage but each team rung iron twice.
SECOND PERIOD
The shots might have just been 7-5 for the Blues to start the second but they had the territorial play, more of the dangerous opportunities, and should have tied the game a few times had it not been for Ersson, including a stop on Buchnevich’s redirection in the slot.
With 9:47 left to play in the period, Nick Seeler was guilty of the Flyers’ first penalty of the game by virtue of an interference minor. After killing it off and then creating a dangerous opportunity in St. Louis’ end with Foerster being robbed in the slot, the Flyers went back to the penalty kill after Egor Zamula was nailed for a holding minor at the 12:41 mark.
The kill remained perfect but not too long afterwards, none other than Kevin Hayes tied things up after he lost control of the puck on the breakaway but it went right through the wickets of Ersson. Joel Farabee coughed it up at the blue-line to Kasperi Kapanen who found Hayes in the neutral zone. It was his 11th goal of the season and 1st in 20 games.
The period came to a close with the Blues having tied things up and holding a 14-10 shot advantage in the period – Ersson played fantastic.
THIRD PERIOD
After a dominant shift from the Tippett-Laughton-Foerster line, the Flyers finally received a power play after the referees had missed at least 3 or 4 blatant calls. Tippett kept the puck in the zone 3 times and they were buzzing around the slot, but every shot was blocked or went wide. Nevertheless, Foerster had his stick slashed in half by Sundqvist with 8:39 remaining. They created some chances but couldn’t break through Binnington with a golden opportunity.
Then with 4:46 left in regulation, Marc Staal was called for a tripping minor. Fortunately, the number-one ranked penalty kill came to the rescue, keeping this game tied with less than 3 minutes remaining.
It was a very strong comeback period from the Flyers as they outshot the Blues 14-4 but Binnington had all the answers, which isn’t all too surprising considering his career numbers against the Orange and Black.
OVERTIME
John Tortorella started Noah Cates, Ryan Poehling, and Travis Sanheim versus Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, and Colton Parayko and as expected the Blues held possession for the first 100 seconds.
After surviving the early onslaught, Tippett was robbed on a backhander before Cam York ripped one off the crossbar. Then with 8 seconds left in overtime, Sanheim had an abbreviated breakaway attempt that was stopped by Binnington.
Poehling and Cates were double-shifted with players like Sean Couturier not seeing the ice.
SHOOTOUT
ROUND 1
Sean Couturier: Miss
Robert Thomas: Miss
ROUND 2
Tyson Foerster: Miss
Jake Neighbours: Goal
ROUND 3
Morgan Frost: Goal
Brayden Schenn: Miss
ROUND 4
Owen Tippett: Miss
Pavel Buchnevich: Goal
UP NEXT
The Flyers head to the Sunshine State to play the Eastern Conference leading Florida Panthers (7:00pm, NBCSP) on Thursday at the Amerant Bank Arena.
Union Forge Vodka proudly serves as the Official Vodka of Flyers Nation. This partnership celebrates the unyielding spirit of Flyers fans and offers a quality spirit that perfectly compliments the team’s essence. Whether celebrating victories or showing resilience, Union Forge Vodka embodies the winning spirit of both the Flyers and their dedicated fans. Stay connected with exciting giveaways by following @unionforge and @flyersnationacross all social media and platforms.
