Even though their unsuccessful power play held them back once again tonight, the Flyers managed to keep the shots well in their favor (39-27) and edge out a 4-3 win over the New York Rangers in overtime.
Brian Elliott played a decent game in this showing at the Wells Fargo Center, stopping 24 of 27 shots. Sam Morin had a fight and a goal, Travis Konecny played hero with a clutch overtime goal at an impossible angle, and the Flyers did a good job of keeping the pressure on the Rangers through three periods (plus some bonus hockey).
TRAVIS KONECNY, THE OT WINNER!! pic.twitter.com/MXNl0nhyPB
— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) September 27, 2017
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but the first period opened with an almost-immediate Flyers power play, this time on a probably-weak holding call on J.T. Miller. Unsuccessful power plays are likely to be the big story of this preseason. The Flyers failed to generate scoring chances and gave up a breakaway to Michael Grabner, who couldn’t manage to get it past Brian Elliott.
Then, a fight! Bobby Farnham did not like Sam Morin’s hit on Gabriel Fontaine. Unfortunately for our good old friend Bobby, Morin was built for this, and there’s no contest there. Morin took his five-for-fighting, but Farnham got the instigator penalty, handing the Flyers their second power play of the night.
… buuuut, once again, they failed to capitalize on this. A Dale Weise turnover would lead to another breakaway for the Rangers. This time it was a two-on-one, and Elliott had a stellar save on that play, flashing the glove to take care of Fontaine’s shot up close.
A lost puck battle in the defensive zone by Travis Sanheim ultimately lead to Paul Carey scoring for the Rangers up front. Pobody’s nerfect, Travis.
Almost immediately afterwards, New York would get their first power play of the night on a Claude Giroux hooking call at 9:43, and David Desharnais scored for the lead with just six seconds left on the man advantage. 2-1 Rangers.
A rush to the net by Weise drew a hooking penalty on J.T. Miller, giving the Flyers another power play. They didn’t score on this one, either. Hey, I’m just the messenger.
Just as the period dwindled down, Morin scored his first of the preseason at 18:36 off an excellent pass by Giroux. Now we’re in business.
Sam “Offensive Dynamo” Morin pic.twitter.com/G3KwHWIvV7
— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) September 26, 2017
AFTER ONE: 2-1 Rangers, shots 13-11 Flyers
The second period would see the Flyers tie the game early on. Scott Laughton got this one, with Michael Raffl on the main assist. Raffl was a maybe being a little too generous by passing when there was an open net right in front of him, but Laughton was able to tuck it in regardless, and we’re tied 2-2.
SCOTTY LAUGHTON TIES THE GAME pic.twitter.com/M8veno9SGH
— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) September 27, 2017
Andrew MacDonald would soon receive a holding call (there’ve been a lot of those) at 3:53, and the Rangers went back on the power play. The Flyers had the answers to this one, holding the Rangers scoreless and even generating a breakaway going their way. Sean Couturier would take this one, though he would fail to score.
Both teams spent the majority of the period swapping scoring chances, including one by Taylor Leier up front, though none that looked especially dangerous.
Raffl drew a tripping penalty on Steven Kampfer with six minutes left in the period, sending the Flyers on their fourth power play of the game. They also did not score on this one. Sorry.
The Flyers managed to keep pressure on the Rangers in the offensive zone, culminating in a shot by Shayne Gostisbehere that hit Ondrej Pavelec up high. Neither team managed to score as the period ended, but the Flyers continued to get solid shots on net.
AFTER TWO: 2-2, shots 25-17 Flyers
The third period started out like a reverse of the first. Mikhail Vorobyev caught Filip Chytil early on in the period with an elbow, and the Rangers would get another power play. The Flyers penalty kill, including Laughton specifically who had a decent game tonight, was up to the task.
Nolan Patrick and Oskar Lindblom worked hard to keep the puck in the Rangers zone, and it paid off with a goal. MacDonald fired a wrist shot from the line that deflected off of Lindblom’s stick, and the Flyers went up 3-2.
A GOAL…
ANDREW MACDONALD…
IN REAL LIFE!? pic.twitter.com/63dU5qYhCe
— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) September 27, 2017
The Flyers looked promising at even-strength, keeping up the pressure in the offensive zone and eventually drawing a slashing penalty in their own. They generated plenty of scoring opportunities on their fifth power play of the night, but failed to score once again.
A faceoff in the Flyers zone lead to the tie game, with Michael Grabner scoring to make it 3-3 with just a couple minutes left on the clock. It looks like the Flyers are cursed this preseason.
AFTER THREE: 3-3, shots 36-26 Flyers
Overtime, it is.
Both teams swapped decent chances through the first two minutes, but it’s Travis Konecny’s heroic goal off a Giroux assist that won the game for the good guys. What a shot.
What a wonderful job by Konecny to stay with the puck and score from a tough angle. pic.twitter.com/pdp2Z6tikW
— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) September 27, 2017
Home sweet home.
