Just about every game is a must-win for the Flyers these days, so coming out on top at the start of a three-game road trip on Wednesday night, even if they coughed up a late lead, had them feeling pretty good.
They took care of the Anaheim Ducks, 3-2, on an overtime goal by Noah Cates at the Honda Center, moving their record to 3-0-1 over their last four games.
Cates scored the winner when he banked a shot off goaltender Lukas Dostal’s leg at 2:17 of OT.
It was the Flyers’ fifth straight victory over the Ducks.
Dan Vladar picked up the win in goal for the Flyers. He raised his record to 12-3-3 vs. the Western Conference.
Cates’ goal had to survive a league review for a possible offside call on the play but eventually it stood up. Most of the Flyers were in their locker room when the final call was made.
“Obviously it was close,” Travis Sanheim said in a televised interview. “We were all in here cheering once they officially made it a goal. We were hanging on. You never know with those things. We weren’t a hundred percent sure. We didn’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves.”
Cates was relieved to see the puck go in. The Flyers had several good stabs at the puck before Cates got creative.
“Lucky enough it went in,” he said. “Huge win for us. We needed those two points.”
Was he sure the play was onside?
“No,” he said with a grin, “I was not. We looked sharp. We had some time off. We got some video, worked on some things. This is something to build off of.”
Coach Rick Tocchet didn’t sound too thrilled with how regulation time ended but he’ll take the two points.
“You hate giving that goal at the end,” Tocchet said. “But it’s a Western (Conference) team, so it doesn’t really matter. We just needed the two points.”
The Flyers took a 2-1 lead into the third period but gave up a tying goal with 1:54 to play. Leo Carlsson scored with a short shot.
Things were going along quite well in the second period for the Flyers until the final minute.
As the period unfolded, Philadelphia took a 2-0 lead by way of a goal from Owen Tippett. The play began when Sanheim fired a shot from the left point. The puck nicked off a Duck defender and right to Tippett, who poked it past Dostal at 7:53.
The Flyers should have been content to protect the lead for the rest of the period but it didn’t work out that way.
First, with the Flyers on a power play, Matvei Michkov took one of his patented needless penalties. That created a four-on-four. With the puck in the Flyers’ defensive zone, defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen got bumped, allowing ex-Flyer Cutter Gauthier to take a pass in front and send it past Vladar with only 38 seconds left on the clock.
Aside from that lapse, the Flyers played solid hockey for the first 40 minutes.
Tippett’s goal was his 23rd of the season.
“I thought we played with a lot of pace,” Tippett said in a televised second intermission interview. “Had to bounce back after last game (a 2-1 shootout loss to Columbus). We have to stick with what’s working.”
Tippett and Trevor Zegras seem to be working well together.
“We’re just being more aware of where guys are,” Tippett said. “Guys know what they’re doing in certain situations. There’s more trust the more we play together. He (Zegras) makes plays, you just have to find a way to get open.”
Entering the game having not played since Saturday, the Flyers hit the ice with a lot of energy.
The Flyers jumped on the scoreboard first with a goal from an unlikely source.
Luke Glendening had not scored a goal in 78 NHL games. That drought came to an end at 2:51. Garnet Hathaway put a check on Anaheim defenseman John Carlson and that freed Cam York for a pass to Glendening in front.
In a televised first intermission interview, Glendening sounded relieved to have that annoying 78 number off his resume.
“I mean we’re working, just trying to keep it simple,” Glendening said. “We’re not known for our goal scoring. We’re just trying to contribute any way we can.”
It’s only been a few games but Glendening and Hathaway appear to have developed some chemistry. And Glendening, a 36-year-old veteran, likes what he sees of the Flyers so far.
“There’s a feeling of belief in this room,” he said. “Great group of guys. It’s a young group but it’s exciting to be a part of. I’m thankful for the opportunity.”
Tocchet likes the way his fourth line is playing.
“I thought they were terrific,” he said. “They stuck to the gameplan. I thought they were our best line.”
>Short shots
The Flyers get right back after it in Los Angeles on Thursday night when they visit the Kings. . .Flyers center Christian Dvorak played in his 600th NHL game. . .Anaheim surrendered the first goal of the game for the 42nd time this season. That still trails NHL leader Philadelphia (45). . .York, a native of Anaheim, now has one goal/nine points in 10 career games vs. the Ducks with a plus-11. . .The Ducks gave their former player, Zegras, a nice video tribute in the first period.
Be the first to comment