Flyers Fan Reaction (FFR5) Gm 2: VAN 2, PHI 3 – Phight On

Flyers Fan Reaction (FFR5) Gm 2: VAN 2, PHI 3 – Phight On

The beginning of Saturday afternoon could have been the precursor of bad things to come for the Philadelphia Flyers. The Wells Fargo Center was understandably baren, as the Flyers’ second game of the 2022-23 season fell during the Phillies NLDS-clinching win just across the street. Despite playing a strong first period, outshooting Vancouver 14-4, the Flyers trailed 2-0 after 20 minutes. “It’s easy to say, ‘Oh shit, we’re screwed, it’s not our night,'” center Kevin Hayes said after the game concluded with a much different final score. And no one would have blamed the Flyers if that nihilism had set in. Or if the Flyers engaged in a valiant comeback attempt that came up short.

But neither of those things happened. Instead, the Philadelphia Flyers WIN, 3-2, over the Vancouver Canucks, improving to 2-0-0 on the young season, pulling out a victory in eerily similar fashion to their first game of the season. In both contests, the Flyers outplayed their opponent significantly in the first period, but to maintain that success. Carter Hart struggled out of the gate in both contests. However, the Flyers found ways to be opportunistic. Their special teams came through again Saturday, tying the game on second-period goals scored on the power-play and penalty kill.

Maybe this is just regression to the mean. The Flyers’ power play wasn’t going to score on 12.6% of its chances, like it did last season, forever. Travis Konecny, who scored on 13.8% of his shots from 2017-18 through 2020-21, probably wasn’t going to repeat his 7.3% clip for long. Carter Hart recorded a .915 save percentage in his first two NHL seasons essentially fresh out of the CHL. It wasn’t likely for him to fall to a .895 mark for good, even though he’s been mired there across the last two campaigns.

All you can really ask for from the 2022-23 Flyers is progress and excitement. They proved the latter with some clutch goals; Scott Laughton‘s short-handed equalizer was particularly stellar, set up by a perfectly calculated bank pass by Konecny. Nicolas Deslauriers did his job, winning a scrap in emphatic fashion. Each side racked up 17 penalty minutes apiece, and the Flyers survived two potentially costly ones racked up with 1:58 left when Laughton went off for hooking. They limited an elite quintet of Brock Boeser, J.T. Miller, Elias Pettersson, and Quinn Hughes to a combined one assist. And in a third period that was up for grabs, the Flyers took the game by the horns, generating just a 57.76% expected goals share.

Sure, maybe the Konecny winner came off a bit of a fluky bounce. But the Flyers earned their luck on Saturday afternoon. They did the right things for large parts of the game. And when they didn’t, Hart was there to bail them out. Do more of that, and the Flyers can have a clear path toward returning some of the goodwill and respect the last two seasons have stripped them of.

Lindies

First things first — I need to start this section with a “for those who are new” disclaimer for the second straight game of the season. Generally, these recaps will come out within two hours of the final horn. But between the Phillies postseason run and life as a college student (which this weekend featured a home football game that I’d prefer not to talk about and a flight home for fall break) will sometimes affect that. It may also affect the length of these, which explains the short recap for this game. My apologies when it does.

The Flyers have now picked up at least a point in their first two games in four straight seasons. They started 2-0-0 in 2019-20 and 2020-21 and 1-0-1 last season. In fact, Philadelphia’s first game last year was exactly one year before this one, a 5-4 shootout loss on Oct. 15, 2021.

Since 2020-21, the Flyers have scored eight short-handed goals as a team. After scoring one Saturday, Laughton now has half of them — two last year, plus the team’s lone shortie two seasons ago.

It’s easy to overreact to early-season trends. But it helps to take a step back and see if there’s a reason for them. For example, Hart has allowed three first-period goals this season, all three of which were stoppable. Two of them — the opening strikes by Alexander Holtz on Thursday and Kyle Burroughs Saturday — were simply bad goals. But remember, Hart didn’t play at all in the preseason due to injury. It would make sense for a player who hasn’t played a full game in six months to need some time to get their feel back. If this is still an issue in a few weeks, that’s one thing. For now, Hart has earned the benefit of the doubt with his play in the rest of the Flyers’ first two games.

Travis Sanheim Signs 8-Year, $50 Million Extension With Flyers

Hart will likely start Philadelphia’s next game on Tuesday. But his run will almost certainly come to an end with the Flyers playing the very next night in Florida. However, it won’t be Samuel Ersson in net Wednesday, even though he made the team out of camp. Instead, Felix Sandström was activated off IR, with Ersson sent to the AHL as a result.

Ultimately, Sandström was always the likeliest option to get the first crack behind Hart. He’s only 25 years old, has upside, and looked good in 5 NHL games last year, stopping 5.2 goals above expected (per Moneypuck.com). His first test will be an extremely difficult one, coming against a Panthers team that scored the most goals in a season last year since the 1995-96 Penguins.

3 Stars

3rd: Tony DeAngelo (PHI) – Goal (1), 3 SOG, 3 Blocks, 27:11 TOI

2nd: Scott Laughton (PHI) – Goal (1), 5 SOG

1st: Travis Konecny (PHI) – Goal (3), Assist (1)

Next

VAN: 10/17, 7 PM @ WSH (1-2-0)

PHI: 10/18, 7 PM @ TB (1-2-0)

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All Advanced Stats are 5v5 only and via Natural Stat Trick unless otherwise stated