The Philadelphia Flyers beat the San Jose Sharks, 4-3, in a shootout Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
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Maybe it was the puck dropped by Veteran Combat Engineer and Flyers Warrior Sergeant Josh Chilcote’s service dog Turbo.
Maybe it was just the Flyers were ready and are ready to put their slow start behind them.
John Tortorella was concerned about one thing and one thing only before the game… “my biggest concern is our readiness.”
During their 5-8-2 start, the Flyers have been a slow starting team. Not just on the ice for games, but also finding consistency from game to game.
Tonight, that was a different story as the Flyers not only started fast, they continued to get back to their style of hockey.
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Erik Johnson opened the scoring for the Flyers just 1:40 into the game. Giving the Flyers the first goal in the game for just the second time in their past six games.
Johnson’s 1st goal of the season was setup by the speed of the newly formed 3rd line – Anthony Richard, Ryan Poehling, & Matvei Michkov.
Richard’s speed thru center ice created a 2v1 that Johnson finished high over Vitek Vanecek’s blocker.
Three seconds later, off the ensuring faceoff, Johnson got the second leg of the Gordie Howe hat-trick. Dropping the gloves with Sharks Givani Smith in a spirited bout.
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Matvei Michkov returned to the lineup after missing the last two games as a healthy scratch. Which John Tortorella made very clear pregame in response to the purpose behind it… “process… just the process.”
In his return, Michkov scored a goal and had the primary assist on the Flyers power-play goal in the 1st period. It was his 6th multi-point game this season.
Travis Konecny extended his point streak to four games with the power-play goal in the 1st period. His 8th goal of the season was his team leading 5th on the power-play.
It was the Flyers first power-play goal in three games and just their second in their last eight games. Over the past eight games, the power-play is just 2 for 21.
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The Sharks would tie the game with three straight goals. Two of which came in a span of 3:04 late in the 2nd period.
Matvei Michkov and Travis Konecny would both score in the shootout to give the Flyers the 4-3 win.
Samuel Ersson made 28 saves, including both shootout attempts, to win his fifth game of the season.
The Flyers improve to 6-8-2 on the season. Next up, the Ottawa Senators Thursday night in Ottawa at 7:00pm.
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