Flyers Rout Kraken In Dave Hakstol’s Return

The Philadelphia Flyers gave a warm Philadelphia welcome to the Seattle Kraken. Routing the Kraken 6-1 on Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

The NHLs newest franchise, the Seattle Kraken, made their first appearance in Philadelphia. An appearance that brought the return of former Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol.

In 4-seasons as the head coach of the Flyers, Hakstol was 134-101-42.

Seattle wanted to make Hakstol’s return a good one to Philadelphia. However, the Flyers had other plans.

After 20-minutes of play, the Flyers gained full control of the game & never looked back. Scoring three 1st period goals on 16-shots.

Claude Giroux would get it all started. Firing one home off a great give-&-go feed with his line-mate Travis Konecny.

Travis Konecny would make it 2-0. Keith Yandle would use his slick touch & feed Konecny at the blue-line behind the Seattle defense. Philipp Grubauer would make the first save. But, Konecny would ram home the rebound.

Derick Brassard proved why you always put the puck on net. Brassard would threw a puck in-front. The puck would deflect off a Kraken skate & past Grubauer. His first in a Flyer uniform.

After failing to continue the pressure in the 2nd period on Friday, the Flyers kept up the pressure tonight. Resulting in 2-goals in a 1:39 span just before the mid-way point of the 2nd.

Ryan Ellis would get his 1st in a Flyer uniform. Derick Brassard would fire a pass from the corner to the streaking Ellis. Who would beat Grubauer high over the blocker.

Justin Braun would end Grubauer’s night early. Travis Sanheim would break-up a Kraken rush at the Flyers blue-line. Fire a pass up ice to James van Riemsdyk. Who would drop it to Braun. Whose shot squeaked by Grubauer.

Seattle would finally get on the board late in the 2nd period. It would be the only shot that would beat Carter Hart on the night.

In the 3rd period, Joel Farabee would make it 6-goals on the night for the Flyers.

Cam Atkinson would fire a shot on net. The rebound would go right to Joel Farabee. Who would slap it by Chris Driedger.

Carter Hart stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced in the winning effort. His 1st win of the season.

Loose Pucks…

• Keith Yandle continues to prove to be a great & valuable veteran acquisition by Chuck Fletcher. Yandle setup the Flyers 2nd goal with a great pass to a breaking Travis Konecny at the Seattle blue-line. It was Yandle’s 3rd assist through 2-games this season.
• Derick Brassard was another low risk signing by Chuck Fletcher to provide depth at center. With Kevin Hayes injured, Brassard has found great chemistry with his line-mates, Cam Atkinson & Joel Farabee. Brassard finished the night with a goal & two assists.
• Carter Hart’s robbery of Jordan Eberle in tight in the 1st period proved to be a big one. Claude Giroux said “it woke them up”. Giroux gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead just 62-seconds later.
• Nick Seeler earned his Philadelphia stripes tonight. Seeler challenged Seattle Kraken’s 6’7″ Jamie Oleksiak. After the fight, Seeler roared at the crowd & the crowd responded with a huge roar back.
• The Flyers improved to 7-2-1 in their 1st game against expansion teams.

Result : Flyers 6 – Kraken 1 , WIN

Record :   1 – 0 – 1

Next Game : Wednesday 10/20 vs Boston Bruins , Philadelphia PA , 7:30pm

Photo Credit : Len Redkoles – Getty Images