Three Standout Players In Philadelphia Flyers Loss To Lausanne HC

These three players performed well for the Philadelphia Flyers against Lausanne Hockey Club in Switzerland.

Looking to finish out the 2019-20 preseason with a win, the Philadelphia Flyers traveled to Switzerland to take on Lausanne HC for the 2019 NHL Global Series Challenge. This was the first time the two teams met and served as a tune-up for the Flyers before their regular-season opener. Carter Hart got the start in net for Philadelphia and opposed Tobias Stephan. Hart was hoping to conclude an impressive exhibition season statistically on a strong note and help get his team their second victory of the preseason.

Lausanne got off to a great start, as they scored the game’s first goal just a couple minutes into the opening period. Yannick Herren shot the puck off of Hart’s mask, which led to a rebound that he buried to give his side a 1-0 lead. The Swiss hockey club followed that up with a power-play goal from Cory Emmerton, quickly putting the Flyers in a 2-0 hole.

Lausanne added another tally thanks to a point shot from Joel Genazzi and led the Orange and Black 3-0 after 20 minutes. Not all of these goals were entirely Hart’s fault, though, as the Flyers defensemen did a fantastic job at screening their own goaltender on the final two tallies, preventing him from seeing the puck and making the save.

Joel Vermin extended Lausanne’s lead to four on the power-play, sniping a puck from the left circle passed Hart for the man-advantage tally. This led to Alain Vigneault pulling Hart from the game and replacing him with Brian Elliott. The Flyers were able to get on the board later on, as Claude Giroux cashed in on a rebound to make it a 4-1 contest. Lausanne also made a goaltending change before the middle stanza concluded, putting Luca Boltshauser in for Stephan.

Philadelphia cut into Lausanne’s lead early in the final period thanks to Connor Bunnaman, who got the puck passed Boltshauser in front of the net while sprawling to the ice to put his team within two. The Flyers applied tons of pressure throughout the rest of the third and eventually were rewarded with a goal from the stick of Sean Couturier, but couldn’t get one more puck by Boltshauser as they lost 4-3. Though they failed to get the W, plenty of Flyers players made their presence felt in the game. Here are a couple of names that stood out to me.

Among the players that stood out for Philadelphia was Elliott. Hart clearly wasn’t himself, especially on the final goal he allowed, and the journeyman goaltender came in and provided stability for the Flyers in the crease. Elliott allowed just one goal during his time between the pipes while making some impressive saves to keep Philly alive in the game. This was good to see as Elliott’s notably struggled through the preseason and should provide him with some confidence heading into the 2019-20 campaign.

I also liked what I saw out of the Flyers third line. James van Riemsdyk, Scott Laughton, and Oskar Lindblom had some solid chemistry given they’ve hardly played on a line together before. Though they were split up at the beginning of the third as Vigneault changed up the combinations to try and spark the Flyers to a win, the trio consistently applied pressure in Lausanne’s zone. Even when Vigneault moved JvR up in the lineup, Laughton and Lindblom still performed well together with Joel Farabee by their side.

The Flyers 2019-20 preseason has now ended. Next game is Friday against the Chicago Blackhawks in Prague.