April 27, 2025
Headlines

Blues steamroll Flyers in 7-3 blowout

admin012 mins

PUCK DROP

First off, there’s no reason for the Blues not to wear their third jerseys all the time. They’re just so freaking pretty.

As for the hockey, Ivan Provorov tried to set the tone with a rude dumping of Blues star Vladimir Tarasenko but as seems to always be the case, the Flyers were quickly the ones trailing where it matters most. Ivan Barbashev would start the scoring early, batting one out of mid-air 2:49 in to give the Blues a 1-0 lead. Alex Steen started the play by throwing a puck towards Brian Elliott, and Barbashev made like a Cardinal and batted it home.

Armed with a power play because of Radko Gudas hooking call, the Blues would waste no time extending their lead — and the Flyers’ early misery. This time it was Ryan O’Reilly benefitting from a pretty passing play just 39 seconds later to make it 2-0 Blues. The tap-in was the result of tic-tac-toe passing from Brayden Schenn and David Perron before ending with one of the easiest O’Reilly will have scored all year.

Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse, the Flyers earned a power play.

Then get this: it got worse.

Alexander Steen would pot a shorthanded goal with 39 seconds left in the Flyers power play to make it 3-0 Blues just 5:33 into the first.

Set out to embarrass themselves in epic fashion, Oskar Lindblom wouldn’t allow the Flyers to do so just yet. The forward made a pretty play in front and deposited the puck behind standout rookie Jordan Binnington to make it 3-1.

Nevertheless, the rest of the Flyers were still mailing it in. Patrick Maroon would burn his former organization with a crushing goal just 13 seconds after Lindblom’s tally to put the lead back to three at 4-1 Blues less than seven minutes in. That’s right, that’s five goals in seven minutes, folks.

Speaking of another thing from the early 2000’s, that would be all for Elliott. The veteran was yanked after four goals on five shots. You read that correctly. Carter Hart is now in the net.

The craziness wasn’t done yet, with James van Riemsdyk extending the madness with an unassisted tally of his own to make it 4-2. It’s the 27th of the season for JVR, who stole the puck off the dasher from Carl Gunnarsson and drove the net for the goal.

Of course the Blues would score again because screw us right? Hart wouldn’t be much better, with Perron beating him to the blocker side on a Blues power play to make it 5-2. Keep in mind that’s the seventh goal before the 10-minute mark, gang. Fun fact: it would take 17 games for the early 2000’s Devils to score seven goals.

With 42 seconds left in the period the Flyers would pull ever closer with the captain Claude Giroux pouncing on a loose puck and firing one past Binnington to make it 5-3 just before intermission.

AFTER 20: Blues 5, Flyers 3

Giroux would try and get another one right back to start the second with a wicked one-timer off a Travis Konecny feed, but Binnington was there with a glove save and his best of the night.

At the other end it would be Carter Hart holding down the fort after allowing a quick goal after taking over for Elliott. The rookie was under siege early in the second with heavy pressure from the Blues but stood his ground on a few chances and was in position to prevent a few more.

The midway mark of the second period showed a vastly different look than that of the first with both teams cleaning up some of the defensive zone issues that plagued the first. It also helped that Hart and Binnington were actually stopping the puck here and there.

Then Sam Morin almost dropped the gloves with Maroon, but the officials had seen enough fireworks in the first apparently and wouldn’t allow them to throw down.

A Tyler Bozak hooking penalty with about nine minutes left in the period gave the Flyers a chance to cut the lead to one, but nothing was doing and the Flyers would pay for a missed opportunity.

Just after Bozak’s penalty expired the Blues created pressure with O’Reilly’s line and it needed with Brayden Schenn tapping home his 16th of the season to make it 6-3 Blues with 6:54 left in the period.

Sean Couturier almost got the Flyers back within two late in the third, but he couldn’t get much on a shot with Binnington down and out. Missed opportunity for the Flyers’ leading goal scorer to pull the Flyers closer before intermission.

AFTER 40: Blues 6, Flyers 3

The Flyers power play would get some run early in the third thanks to a high-sticking call on Robert Thomas. A couple shots from the point, but not much else going on for the Flyers man-advantage and the lead would stay at three.

Tempers flared with 15 minutes left in this one as former teammates Schenn and Giroux reacquainted themselves along the dasher after Robert Hagg roughed up Robby Fabbri. Morin jumped right in still looking for someone to drop the gloves with.

Morin picked up an extra minor for his trouble, but a hooking call on Perron evened things up but also sent the Flyers to an abbreviated power play that they weren’t able to do much with. Still facing a three-goal deficit with more than 11 minutes left things looked bleak to say the least.

Just as bad of news was that the Penguins avoided their collapse and secured a playoff berth. But perhaps the Blue Jackets could still yet complete a massive collapse of their own, so there’s hope Flyers fans.

Speaking of no hope, the Blues would tack on the extra point with Steen doing the honors again to make it 7-3 with 9:26 left in this one. It’s his second of the game, or one less goal than the Flyers on the night.

That would be it for the scoring as the Flyers closed out their road slate with a lopsided loss to the playoff-bound Blues and former coach Craig Berube.

FINAL: Blues 7, Flyers 3

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related News