Philadelphia Flyers Successfully Comeback on Wings: Stats and Notes

The Philadelphia Flyers overcame a bad start to win for the first time this season when trailing after the first period, beating the Wings in overtime

Another game, another deficit after the first period for the Philadelphia Flyers. At this point we all know about the Flyers’ first period struggles, and their second period comebacks. One thing many don’t realize is that for all those “comebacks,” they had yet to actually win a game that they were trailing after the first period.

This changed last night against the Red Wings. Truthfully, the Flyers didn’t get dramatically outplayed in the first, but the Red Wings got 2 quick, soft goals in the midst of a sleepy first period. The Flyers pushed back hard, carrying the action the rest of the way and piling up 40 shots on goal in total

It took 59 minutes, but the Flyers came all the way back from to force overtime. Once there, the Flyers survived a very shaky first shift, before the terrifying trio (for opponents) of Ghost, G and Jake nabbed 2 points for the Flyers.

Forwards

• Balance to the Force. This marks the second straight game where we see more even deployment of the Flyer lines in terms of ice time. Even better, the bottom lines scored the first 2 goals of the game.

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• Highlight Goals. Speaking of those goals from the bottom lines, Chris VandeVelde’s goal was a beauty.  A Hartnell-esque goal –aggression, surprising skill, belly-flop finish.
• First Roman. Roman Lyubimov scored his first NHL goal, as well. Lyubimov also got a little bit of PK work, as he is carving out a role on this team.
• Tough Night for Couts Line. I say this in terms of being on the ice for the first 2 goals. I wouldn’t heap too much blame on them for either goal, and by the end their possession was very good and they created the most offense of any line.
• Low Quality Night for Giroux. Giroux led the forwards in ice time, and picked up an assist on the overtime winner, but his line didn’t have much going tonight. They had the lowest expected goals rate of all forward lines (bubble size shown above).

Defense

• Gudas Busy. Gudas put in a lot of hard work last night, leading the Flyers in ice time. Matched up against the Wings’ top line, he made 7 hits and blocked 6 shots, while losing the possession battle.
• Manning Too. Manning had a similarly busy night. Playing with Gudas, Manning led the team with 5 shots on goal, while also getting in a fight with Steve Ott.
• Amac and Ghost. Of course one day after I write that we’ve seen enough of this pairing, MacDonald plays 21 minutes and this pair has a decent night. They finished a combined +3, as Ghost had 8 shot attempts and this pair was on the ice for the most Flyers chances.
• Streit with Highs and Lows. I am not crazy about the pinch Streit made that led to the Wings 2nd goal, but he turned it around as the game went on. He finished with a goal and assist, including the crucial last minute, game-tying goal.

Special Teams and Goaltending

Not much to say about special teams in this one, with few power plays and no goals.

Regarding goaltending, Neuvirth had a decent game. Neuvirth fought a huge screen on a dramatically re-directed shot on the Larkin goal, so you can’t blame him there. He should’ve done better on the Wings’ second goal, but played fairly well thereafter.

Next: Flyers Betrayed by Presume Strength in Goal

Up Next

The Philadelphia Flyers are right back at it tonight, with a game at the Islanders tonight at 7. This season has not been terribly kind to the Islanders, as they are near the bottom of the division with 8 points in 10 games. They are also 25th in the league in goals against, so we might have some goals in store tonight.