PHILADELPHIA – They’re getting closer but the frustration continues.
Down 2-0 to the Seattle Kraken going into the third period of Tuesday night’s game at Xfinity Mobile Arena, they staged an inspirational rally with goals from Christian Dvorak at 6:07 and Trevor Zegras at 7:20, to tie the game.
But they lost the shootout, 2-1, and the game, 3-2. Their winless streak has now reached eight games (0-5-3).
Unlike their losses to Boston and Carolina over the weekend (5-1 and 4-1), the game against Seattle was much more competitive for the Flyers.
Travis Sanheim said the Flyers should look at the positives from this game and maybe start to build something from here.
“Honestly, throughout the game I thought we had better energy,” he said. “Just more of the style that we need to play to win in this league. It was nice to get rewarded in the third. It would have been nice to finish it off in the shootout.”
The way the Flyers played the first half of the third period, when Dvorak and Zegras scored should give the Flyers some pep moving forward.
“It would have been nice to kind of gut out a win there,” Sanheim said. “Kind of a steppingstone for the rest of the year and how we need to play. Hopefully guys can see that it works. . .when you play that way you get rewarded. Hopefully we can build off that.”
Matvei Michkov did score for the Flyers in the tiebreaker but the Kraken picked up a winning goal from Bobby McCann.
Coach Rick Tocchet sounded OK with the effort, especially the way his team fought back.
“I liked the energy,” said Tocchet. “There was good energy on the bench. I do want some guys to grab the puck and make a play.”
Are the Flyers making progress? Is this outcome more encouraging?
“Definitely,” Tocchet said. “It was a little bit like Ottawa (a close 2-1 loss in Canada last Thursday). I saw guys digging a little harder. But it’s got to come natural. It’s got be part of your DNA. It can’t be once in a while.”
For the seventh time in eight games, the Flyers allowed an opponent to score first.
Seattle used a penalty against Jack Studnicka, just called up from Lehigh Valley on Monday, to convert on the power play.
The puck wound up on McMann’s stick in the lower right circle and he buried a shot past goaltender Dan Vladar at 7:57.
Things didn’t go much better in the second period. Ville Ottavainen, a defenseman, wound up with the puck in the high slot and fired a screened shot which found the back of the net at 8:54.
Before the game, defenseman Nick Seeler said the Flyers pretty much know what they’re doing wrong. It’s just a matter of fixing those problems in a timely fashion.
“We just have to have belief,” Seeler said. “We had a good meeting this morning. Our one-on-one board battles have to be better. It’s winning those board battles, those faceoff battles. Just the little things every single shift.”
>Zegras, Grubauer go at it
Things heated up in the second period when Zegras and Seattle goalie Philipp Grubauer had two confrontations. The second one wound up with both players getting minor penalties.
Sanheim said the confrontation might have generated some energy.
“The fray gave us some energy,” Sanheim agreed. “And the building some energy. (We) kind of fed off that a little bit.”
Added Zegras: “I think we just need a little bit more in our DNA going forward. Look at how many comeback wins we had last year. That’s kind of what this team is built on. I like the way we played tonight, played hard, got pucks to the net, got bodies to the net.”
>Berglund off to strong start
Jack Berglund, the Flyers’ 51st overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, is off to a quick start with Farjestad of the Swedish Hockey League this season. He has three goals/eight points in eight games. Berglund signed a three-year entry contract with the Flyers back in April.
>Penalty shot thwarted
Seattle’s Jordan Eberle was awarded a penalty shot at 6:23 of the second period after he was interfered with by Jamie Drysdale on a breakaway. On the penalty shot, Vladar managed to stop Eberle’s backhand deke shot.
>Short shots
Studnicka wore No. 23 and centered a line with Michael Bunting on left and Noel Acciari on right. . .The Flyers head off to Detroit on Thursday to play the Red Wings. . .Flyers went into the Seattle game having given up an average of 35.1 shots per game. That was a negative differential of 246-140. After producing a minus-3 on Sunday in the loss to Carolina, Bonk bounced back with a plus-1 on Tuesday. “(I feel) pretty good but I’m more worried about the team,” he said. “We showed some battle-back today. Got the point. I know it’s not a win but it’s a good step.”
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