March 18, 2023 – Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia
Introductions
Philadelphia (25-32-11, 61 points, .434 points percentage) is thirteen points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets (21-40-7, 49 points, .316 points percentage) in the Metropolitan division of the National Hockey League's Eastern Conference. The Blue Jackets have the least number of points in the National Hockey League.
The Flyers have the sixth-lowest point total in the NHL, with much-hyped June draft lottery implications. The draft lottery will be held on May 8, with the first sixteen picks being determined that day. Round 1 of the draft takes place on June 28. Rounds 2 through 7 take place on June 29.
Former Flyer Rod Brind' Amor's Carolina Hurricanes (44-15-8, 96 points, .716 points percentage) would likely be the top-ranked team in the NHL in most other seasons. But in 2022-23, the Canes enter the late-afternoon game 11 points behind the Boston Bruins (51-11-5, 107 points, .799 points percentage).
The Montreal Canadiens 1976-77 season (60-8-12, 132 points, .825) produced the greatest points percentage in NHL history. A look at Les Habitants' records in the book-ended seasons of 1975-76 and 1977-78 is astounding.
The Flyers beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-2 in Philadelphia last night, with Owen Tippett netting a St. Patrick's Day hat trick, the first of his career. A variety of hats, including Irish bowlers, dotted the ice after the third goal was netted.
The Hurricanes were beaten by the same score (5-2) on the road against the Toronto Maple Leafs last night. Viewers of that game saw the Leafs wear their glorious green uniforms, with St Pats replacing the traditional Maple Leaf logo.
Anthem - Lauren Hart delivered her standard A+ performance.
First period
Starting goaltenders – Philadelphia – Felix Sandstrom, Carolina – Frederick Andersen
Philadelphia enters the game with a -47 goal differential (having surrendered 47 more goals than they have scored), which ranks twenty-seventh in the League. Carolina has a +51 goal differential (third in the NHL).
Minimal action through the first half of the period. Noah Cates picked a puck out of the air on the fly as he entered the Canes' offensive zone, dropped it to the ice, and attempted to score but was denied. That play pushed the Flyers' shot total to four, which equaled Carolina's tally through nearly nine minutes played.
The mostly filled Center, which will have the 76ers as tenants for at least the next few years, was entertained by Gritty's antics in the stands, as head coach John Tortorella waits for more offensive players to develop and be acquired in coming seasons.
Jalen Chatfield lifted a hard wrist shot that flew over Sandstrom's left shoulder and clanked off the post with approximately six minutes to go.
Carolina took the lead at 14:52 when Sebastian Aho (twenty-eighth of the season) put a wrister past Sandstrom's glove. Assisted by Martin Necas and Brady Skjei.
Skjei (fifteenth of the season) quickly followed with his second point of the period when, at 16:51, he lifted a high wrist shot past Sandstrom's glove. So, the shot location pattern continued.
Shots: Carolina – 8 Philadelphia - 12
Score: Carolina – 2 Philadelphia - 0
Intermission – Mites on Ice delighted the crowd with their energetic play before the second period got underway.
Second period
One of the Flyers' prized prospects, Tyson Foerster demonstrated his strong shot, when whisking a low writer past Andersen at 4:56 to pull Philadelphia within one goal of Carolina. Assisted by Morgan Frost and Brendan Lemieux. It was Foerster's first NHL goal.
Aho netted his second goal of the game and his twenty-ninth of the season, over Sandstrom's glove, at 13:55. From high above in the press level, it is clear that Carolina has identified and aims for that particular spot, possibly because Sandstrom sets low in his crouch and allows a lot of open space to aim at. Assists to Stefan Noesen and former Flyer, Shayne Gostisbehere.
Noah Cates (eleventh of the season) scored from in front of the net, seconds into the power play, at 18:18. He was forced to the ice for his effort and did not care as Philadelphia pulled to within one goal of Carolina. Assisted by Foerster and Owen Tippett.
The development of the future of the Flyers is on display in this game. The Tortorella X-Factor, Danny Briere's
Shots: Carolina - 4 Philadelphia - 13
Score: Carolina – 3 Philadelphia - 2
Intermission – More Mites, with the sequel also being cheered.
Third period
Joel Farabee (eleventh of the season) was positioned in front of the net when Tippett fired a turnaround shot toward Anderson. Farabee took the puck and pushed it into the back of the net at 2:33 to tie the score at 3-3. The other assist was by Cates.
Andersen was behind his net when Frost stole the puck from him and passed it to Lemieux (second of the season) who inserted it into the empty crease at 5:50, giving the Flyers a 4-3 lead. The team's persistence and effort are something Tortorella has been preaching all season.
Carolina's trip out of Toronto and through customs appears to be having an effect at this point in the game.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi's penalty at 12:38 gave the Flyers a chance to push their lead to two goals. They did not capitalize.
Aho was called for a hooking penalty at 14:54.
The Canes got a few close-in shots on their power kill, as Philadelphia failed to score again on the man advantage.
Carolina called a 30-second timeout at 17:44 and returned with the goalie pulled, to add the extra attacker, as the face-off was in the Flyers' defensive zone.
Scott Laughton was called for hooking at 19:53. Martin Necas scored (twenty-seventh of the season) with 0.3 seconds to tie the game 4-4. An official's review confirmed it, as the fans' enthusiasm evaporated in less than that second.
Shots: Carolina – 17 Philadelphia - 12
Score – Carolina – 4 Philadelphia – 4
Overtime
Aho matched Tippett's St. Patrick's Day feat, by netting his third goal (thirtieth of the season) of the night for the hat trick when scoring 28 seconds into overtime. He moved into the zone, put the puck through Flyers' defensemen Tony DeAngelo's legs, and touched the puck again, putting it over Sandstrom's blocker, over his shoulder on the right side.
The puck clanged off the post as it went in, causing Sandstrom to believe no goal was scored. But the comeback OT victory was complete.
Shots: Carolina – 1 Philadelphia – 0
Final Shot totals: Carolina – 34 Philadelphia - 33
Final Score: Carolina – 5 Philadelphia 4
(All photos courtesy of Sean O'Brien.)
After the horn sounded
The following text is courtesy of Philadelphia's media relations department:
Philadelphia Flyers Head Coach John Tortorella
The team overcame a pair of two-goal deficits and got the lead, and then gave it away at the end. How do you evaluate the highs and lows of this game?
Thought we played really well. Thought we had the game controlled and – I don’t know how to evaluate it right now.
A lot of your multi-point goal scorers, most of them were your 25-and-unders. Is that a positive you look at for this organization?
Encouraging stuff with the kids.
How did you think they handled the power play time? I know you mentioned it last night.
Who?
The younger players?
The one power play, we have most of the kids on it. Thought they did a good job.
Was there anything they could have done differently there at the end?
Not going to replay all that stuff right now. You guys can watch the video yourself.
How did you think Ristolainen played on the power play?
Didn’t get much time. Can’t evaluate him.
Carolina Hurricanes C Sebastian Aho
That overtime goal, you played with Tony, did that go into how he would play that moment where you’re able to get passed him like that?
Not really. I was able to gather a lot of speed. There was an offensive gap there, so I just went for it. You don’t really think about it much when you’re out there. You just to play with your instincts and it worked this time.
I guess you just be happy you got the two points, it’s not the prettiest win.
Yeah exactly. Find a way to win this game, which is huge. We can’t play like this every night. We don’t give our best chance to win these games, but obviously a little bit of confidence boost as well to get the late one there and be able to come out the winner on this one.
What was your view on Martins goal, were you concerned that maybe it came after the buzzer and wouldn’t count or?
Yeah, I mean look up, it’s zeros on the thing so you don’t know. They have those on the bench, behind the bench. You see very clearly that it was a goal, so it was a big one.
Philadelphia Flyers LW Noah Cates
That’s got to be a tough one to take after being ahead twice?
Yeah, you noticed it kind of slips away. This weekend I thought we played really well for the most part and kind of got away from it in the third period against Buffalo and then have a good third period comeback a little bit. Just a last second play like that is pretty tough. You’re thinking about just all the little plays that five, ten, fifteen seconds that could’ve just iced that game. Just definitely hard to look back and kind of see the plays that could’ve been there and just would ice the game.
The little plays like faceoffs, you lost two or three tough ones there that you could’ve gotten it out and that would’ve been it, talk about that a little bit.
I mean just a veteran guy over there. It’s obviously a good opportunity for me to work on it and be out there in a huge part of the game. It just sucks that it kind of slips away. Obviously, if you get three or four opportunities like that, you should at least tie up or win one. It sucks that it kind of came down to that and they put one in late there.
Noah, John told us that he likes to have some of the younger guys together on the power play unit, how do you think you’ve taken advantage of that opportunity.
I think we have nothing to lose. We’re kind of down there in the power-play percentage, so we can try different things. Work off each other, talk to each other, and work with each other. I think we’re a little more comfortable when we’re working with a younger guy and how freely you can talk to them. I think we found some chemistry here this past weekend, so hopefully we can build off of it.
Philadelphia Flyers RW Tyson Foerster
Missed question…
This league’s all about confidence. I feel like mine’s pretty high right now, but I’m just going to look for next game.
In the games you played you’ve shown some progress, from getting more shots on goal, to a point, to now a goal, is that encouraging to you to know that you are obviously adapting to this level?
Yeah, but I also had a couple shots blocked. I got to try and find ways to get those through. All in all, I think I played pretty well.
Carolina Hurricanes C Martin Nečas
Point-three seconds left, what do look at there when that goal goes in?
I don’t know. I was just standing on the back door and the puck just, I don’t even know, somehow show up there. Just bang it in the net, so kind of lucky. I think we were really after those last few minutes where we had a few chances.
They took a look at it, were you worried at all that the light had gone on before you scored?
Yeah, I had no idea I was going right to the bench, and we had a little tv there. It was a good goal.
Maybe not the prettiest win but you’ll take the two points and be happy with it?
Yeah, they played a good game. We were struggling for a bit, especially in the third period. Big win. Sometimes these wins when you got to find a way like that are important and that’s a big one tonight.
Philadelphia Flyers LW Brendan Lemieux
Brendan, is that as frustrating of a loss you can have in the fashion that it happened?
Yeah, it sucks. It’s a bad break. It is what it is. I think just move past it. Unfortunate, I thought we played a really good game, so it sucks.
How important is it to take the positives from it too? I mean, I think there was 5 guys that had multi-point games, including you.
Yeah, I think the more positive thing we take from it is as a group. That’s a good hockey team over there. We were with them all night. We played a good game, so we’re proud of that. Tyson and some of these younger guys that have big nights, it’s good for them and helps build confidence for the rest of this year and moving forward. We’re happy for them.
How much are you able to kind of feed off the energy that they bring given their success at this point in their careers and what they’re doing with this team?
Yeah, it’s awesome. I’m excited for them. I’m excited personally. It’s been a new lease on life for me in Philly, getting an opportunity to play again so I’ve been happy. I’ve been given a great opportunity. I’m just trying to make the most of it individually, but then for the young guys, I’ve been through with basically there teams before where we’ve got to restart and rebuild. I’ve seen it happen. We’ve got some good kids in here and the right pieces to do it. Doesn’t take long, seeing it happen so many times in today’s day and age. These retools, these rebuilds, they happen fast and it starts with the guys you bring up like Tyson. This young group in here, it’s going to be quick and it’s going to be fun to watch these kids grow. We’ve got a lot of skill in here and a good group. I’m excited just to watch sometimes. It’s fun.
Philadelphia Flyers C Scott Laughton
As far as frustration goes tonight, what’s the feeling in the room after the way this one ended?
Yeah, I thought a lot of guys battled hard. We battled back. Get the lead there, take a penalty with seven seconds, they score, and then score first shift of overtime. Yeah, that’s it.
The goal at the end of regulation, what was your viewpoint on that? Did you think maybe it had gone in after the buzzer? What happened there?
No, I thought it went in before. I was sitting in the box there, so had a pretty good idea of it. Did I think it was a penalty? No, but I’m on that side of it so of course I’m probably biased on that side. It’s a neutral zone play. I stick-checked a guy and they called it a penalty. That’s the way the game goes.
Is it even more frustrating Scott as again there were so many positives before that?
Yeah, a lot of guys played well I thought, especially some of our young guys. Foerster, Tipper again, all those guys, Catesy. I know I need to be better, but what are you going to do now? Try and get better for next game. That’s all you can do. The young guys played really well, were patient on the power play, made some good plays, and got us back in the game.
Carolina Hurricanes Head Coach Rod Brind’Amour
No styles points, but are you just happy with the two points today?
Yeah, that’s what we came here to get. It wasn’t the prettiest of games for us. Thought we had a real good start. It was really that offensive zone penalty that we take that leads to the five-on-three, and then they get into the game. Then, we have a terrible start to the third. Give Philadelphia credit, they played hard all the way. We finally were able to break through there and win it.
Despite that second game on a back-to-back you must be happy with the resiliency you saw from your guys late in third.
Yeah, we finally woke up, to be honest with you. We were sleeping through the game. For that third period, and even the second period, we were just going through the motions. Can’t do that in this league. It was a good lesson, and we will take the two points. We need them at this time of the year.
When you see Martin’s goal go in, but you don’t know if it counts. What was your viewpoint there?
Well, you just go right to the monitor that they have on the bench, and you can see the clock there. We had real good luck right before. You set up a little play, and not very often does it work. There it was. The goalie made just an unbelievable save, so you think the game is over. We got a lucky break there, but I’ll take it.
I asked you about Aho, and a few guys stepping up before the game. Have you come to expect that from him?
Well, he needs to. I hate to say that all the time. With the guys we have out now, you just have to count more, and more on your tops guys. He’s one we have left as far as a game changer. Him and Martin Neĉas, they came through. You must rely on those guys.
Sebastian said after the game, “can’t play like this”, meaning the penalties. Do you have to say something to the guys? Is it a discipline issue, is it a positioning issue?
We have talked about it all year. Penalties is number one. You can’t take them, especially O-zone penalties. Those are death. We took a couple of those tonight. We know that. It’s not a lack of effort. Those guys are working hard at it. They just got have to be a little smarter.
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