Three Stars
1. Carter Hart
Hart was spectacular for the Flyers today, keeping them in it in the first when the Red Wings were charging, and making the necessary saves from then on. The one goal against him wasn’t the greatest, but overall the kid was sharp and continues his strong month of November. All of those worries about him after a shaky end to the month of October have seemingly been put to rest pretty quickly.
OKAY, HART. OKAY. pic.twitter.com/vQb5WeK14l
— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) November 29, 2019
2. Scott Laughton
Laughton was all over the ice in this game. He was aggressive on the forecheck, threw his body around, and made the skill plays when he needed to. He scored the first goal of the game getting behind the Red Wings’ defense, and then assisted on Kevin Hayes’ goal with a sweet feed. He’s been his usual self since returning from injury, and he continues to be one of the better bottom six forwards in the league.
3. Matt Niskanen
Speaking of players being their usual selves, Nisky was great in this one. He made the breakout pass to find Laughton on the breakaway, and found Sean Couturier for his goal. He was great defensively and played like a warrior after taking a puck to the face in the first period but returning with a full cage. He’s been such a pleasant surprise since coming to the Flyers, and not only has he been great in his own right, he’s taken a massive load off of Ivan Provorov’s shoulders.
Answering the bell
1. Can the power play solve the zone entry issues?
Surprisingly, yes! To be fair, it was against the Red Wings who have a penalty kill percentage of …
* checks notes *
72.62 percent which is ah, substantially lower than I thought it was even for how bad they are. That’s just ridiculous and I kind of feel bad for Red Wings fans, but there’s also that 1997 thing so … not really. Anyway, the Flyers looked much more crisp on the passes in the neutral zone attempting to enter the zone, and carried it in effectively. The true test will be if they can do this continuously, but for one game, it was a pleasant sight to behold.
2. Will Hayes stay hot?
I was just about to start typing he didn’t, because I was about to during the second intermission. Oh me of little faith. Hayes would score his third goal in his last six games, after a beautiful feed from Scott Laughton. He continues to excel on the third line with Laughton and Joel Farabee, really starting to earn that offseason payday.
Play of the night
There were quite a few options to choose from here, but that Laughton to Hayes connection was a thing of beauty, so it gets the nod.
Hi, Kevin! pic.twitter.com/u8nrC5fEVj
— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) November 29, 2019
