The Philadelphia Flyers survived a roaring comeback attempt by the New York Islanders Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center. Beating the Islanders 3-2 in overtime.
With head coach Alain Vigneault sending a direct message with the benching of Travis Konecny, he was looking for a response. A response that came very quickly by the top line.
Jake Voracek would give the Flyers a 1-0 lead just 3:38 into the 1st period. Voracek would work a perfectly executed give & go with Claude Giroux for the goal.
Kevin Hayes would give the Flyers a 2-0 lead in a similar fashion to the Flyers first goal. Hayes would work another perfectly executed give & go with James van Riemsdyk for the goal.
But, after answering Vigneault’s message, the Flyers would fall back into their old habits in the 2nd period.
Jordan Eberle would take advance of the Flyers lazy defensive zone coverage. Jake Voracek would get caught puck watching & let Eberle skate right by him & fire one by Carter Hart.
Scott Mayfield would tie the game after a failed clear. Ivan Provorov couldn’t get the puck out of the zone & a tired Flyers 3rd line would be late to Mayfield’s shot that beat Hart far post.
The Islanders would control the 3rd period. Just like the 2nd period, the Islanders would be the hungrier team & want the puck more. But, Carter Hart would stop all 11-shots he faced. Bailing out his teammates once again & send the game to overtime.
With 1:44 left in overtime, Scott Laughton would win the game for the Flyers. After Shayne Gostisbehere forced a turnover, Gostisbehere would find Laughton. Who would out-wait Islanders goalie Seymon Varlamov & fire a puck into the vacated net.
Carter Hart stopped 26 of the 28 shots, including the last 17-shots, he faced to earn his 4th win of the season.
Loose Pucks…
– Even with two wins in New Jersey, head coach Alain Vigneault was not happy with the Flyers 5v5 play. Vigneault made his frustrations known post-game saying “some performances in the first two periods were very disappointing.” These comments were not the final part to his frustration as Vigneault would bench Travis Konecny to send a message to his team.
– In place of Travis Konecny, Alain Vigneault inserted defenseman turned LW Sam Morin into the lineup. Morin, who would be making his debut at forward, looked like a season veteran. For someone who had never played forward before, Morin didn’t look out of place in his first action. However, after being on the ice for the Islanders 2nd goal, Morin was benched by head coach Alain Vigneault. Playing just one 34-second shift over the remaining 31:30 of play.
– Erik Gustafsson continues to be a poor free agent signing for Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher. After playing ok in his return on Thursday, Gustafsson had another bad night for the Flyers. It would not be surprising if head coach Alain Vigneault inserts Robert Hagg back into the lineup for the struggling Gustafsson tomorrow night.
– Tonight was the Flyers 9th game of the season. Through 9-games this season, the Flyers have yet to put forth a 60-minute effort. Something that is concerning to say the least. But, somehow the Flyers have found a way to win 6 of their first 9 games.
– The Flyers have six wins on the season. In those six wins, the Flyers as a team have won only two of them. The other four wins have been because of their goal-tending stealing the game. Carter Hart bailed out his teammates once again tonight. Stopping an onslaught, 24 of 26, Islanders shots after the Flyers scored their 2nd goal with 6:05 left in the 1st period.
– With his goal in the 1st period, Jake Voracek extended his point streak to 6-games. Over his 6-game point streak, Voracek has 2-goals & 5-assists.
Result : Flyers 3 – Islanders 2 , WIN
Record : 6 – 2 – 1
Next Game : 1/31 New York Islanders, Philadelphia PA, 7:00pm
Photo Credit : Tim Nwachukwu – Getty Images
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