Despite coming away with only a point in a two-game road trip through Florida and Carolina, the Flyers have to be somewhat pleased with the way they executed coach Rick Tocchet’s game plan in both matches.
They held their own against the Hurricanes on Saturday night but still wound up on the short end of a 4-3 overtime decision at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The Flyers thought they had a game-winner with 53.1 seconds to play in overtime when Bobby Brink scored. But that goal was disallowed because officials ruled the Flyers’ Travis Sanheim interfered with goaltender Frederik Andersen.
Then, with 17 seconds to play, the Hurricanes got the game-winner from Seth Jarvis.
Brink disagreed with the call which nullified his goal.
“I’m guessing it (the ruling) was because Sanheim ran into the goalie,” Brink said in a televised interview. “But, in my humble opinion, it’s the wrong call. But they make the rules. What do I know?”
Sanheim pleaded innocent on the play.
“Just tried to make a play to the net, incidental contact,” Sanheim said. “I felt he kind of pushed his arms out, too. The way I see it he was never getting back (to proper position). Tough call. It’s unfortunate and we have to live with it.”
Tocchet wasn’t thrilled with the decision either.
“It’s a tough call,” he said. “Been on the right side and the wrong side of those. Other than that, no comment.”
The coach did see some positives in this effort.
“Bobby Brink was outstanding tonight,” Tocchet said. “Ersson was great. The penalty kill (unit) hung in there. We just have to stop giving up freebie goals. But there were some guys out there who worked really hard.”
Sanheim’s goal with four minutes to play in regulation time tied the score at 3-3.
A goal by Jordan Staal with 1:30 left in the second period gave the Hurricanes a 3-2 lead. Staal eluded an Adam Ginning check, who fanned on an intercept attempt, and the Carolina veteran found the net from close range.
Down 1-0 after one, the Hurricanes came back at 3:46 of the second period to tie the score. Carolina had an odd-man rush. Flyers goalie Sam Ersson made the initial save but received no help as Logan Stankoven poured in the rebound.
Ersson was under siege for most of the game but was more than up to the challenge. He finished the game with 35 saves.
Despite the disappointment, the Flyers had to take some solace from their determined effort.
“Every game is a different challenge so you have to take it for what it is,” Ersson said in a televised interview. “It’s tough the way it ended. I think we did a lot of good things. We showed a lot of resilience. There are a couple good things to take with us.”
Brink put the Flyers back in front at 6:18 for a 2-1 lead. His hard shot from the right faceoff dot may have nicked off a defender’s stick and eluded Andersen.
The Brink-Noah Cates-Tyson Foerster has picked up right where it left off last season.
“We didn’t change anything from last year,” Brink said in a televised interview during the second period. “A simple play is the best play. When it (defense) breaks down and an opportunity presents (itself) we make the play.”
The strategy against the ‘Canes?
“You can’t give them anything for free,” Brink said. “They’re too good a team to give odd-man rushes and turnovers to. So don’t give anything up.”
Nikita Grebenkin picked up an assist on the play for his first NHL point.
That lead disappeared when Taylor Hall, finishing off a rush with Eric Robinson, evaded a Sanheim backcheck and scored at 9:07.
Even though the Flyers didn’t get a shot on goal until 11 minutes into the first period and had to kill off three power plays, they still came away with a 1-0 lead.
The Hurricanes came out and put a lot of pressure on Ersson, who stopped all 16 shots he faced.
A power play helped the Flyers score with 21.9 seconds left in the period. Trevor Zegras was credited with an assist as Owen Tippett, taking advantage of a fortunate bounce off the stanchion from a Travis Konecny entry, ripped a short shot past Andersen.
“We stayed calm throughout those kills,” Tippett pointed out in a first intermission televised interview. “And we were able to capitalize (on the lucky bounce goal).
Tippett played on a line with Zegras and Christian Dvorak. They’re still finding their way but looked pretty good in this game.
“It’s still early in the season and we’re working to find our groove with what’s working,” Tippett said.
>Short shots
The Flyers open their home schedule on Monday night when they play host to Florida. Their will be a special ceremony to honor the Flyers Hall of Fame goaltender Bernie Parent, who passed away on Sept. 21. The players will wear a commemorative patch on their uniforms. Nine of the next 10 Flyers games will be played at the Xfinity Mobile Arena. . .Defenseman Cam York missed his second straight game due to a lower-body injury. . .Carolina has the best home record in the NHL over the last six seasons with a mark of 136-40-17. . .Sanheim played a whopping 29 minutes, 34 seconds. . .Matvei Michkov did not get any shifts in overtime. Tocchet said he wanted guys out there who were skating.
Be the first to comment