The Philadelphia Flyers blew out the Detroit Red Wings in their Black Friday matchup.
Coming off of a 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday, the Philadelphia Flyers aimed to extend their point streak to five games as they faced off against the Detroit Red Wings at the Wells Fargo Center. The Red Wings, on the other hand, entered the game riding a seven-game losing skid and got shutout by the Toronto Maple Leafs in their last contest. Philadelphia had to take advantage of this down-on-their-luck team and walk away with two points when all was said and done. Carter Hart received the start in-net, opposing former Flyers goaltender Calvin Pickard, and Shayne Gostsibehere entered the lineup for Philippe Myers on the blue line.
The Flyers got the game’s first goal fairly quickly into the game after a brief feeling-out process between the two sides. Matt Niskanen sprung Scott Laughton for a breakaway opportunity that the 25-year-old took advantage of, going five-hole on Pickard to give Philadelphia a 1-0 lead. Hart made a tremendous save on Tyler Bertuzzi that helped spring the play, using his pad to deny the Detroit forward.
Robby Fabbri knotted the game back up soon after, blasting a puck passed Hart from the slot to make it a 1-1 contest. The Flyers still found a way to walk away from the period with the lead as Gostisbehere deflected a shot off of a Red Wings defender on the power-play for his second goal of the year and first point since November 9th. Though they had the lead, Philadelphia got outplayed by Detroit through most of the stanza, trailing in shots (13-9) and scoring chances (10-9) after the first 20 minutes.
The Flyers and Red Wings each had their own power-play early on in the second, with neither being able to convert with the extra man on the ice. The two squads continued to trade chances as the period went along, and just when it seemed like the score was going to stay the same after two, Sean Couturier cashed in on his own rebound to give his side a two-goal lead heading into the third. Niskanen, who was playing with a full cage after taking a shot up high in the first, made another excellent pass to set up Coots for the initial chance and eventual goal.
Kevin Hayes and Oskar Lindblom added to the Flyers lead within the first minute of the third, scoring goals precisely 30 seconds apart from each other to put the Fly Guys up by four. James van Riemsdyk would finish off the route with a tally of his own, breaking a ten-game goal-less drought in the process and securing a 6-1 victory for Philadelphia.
While the offense was obviously the story here, as they exploded on the Red Wings, you can’t overlook the play from Hart between the pipes. The 21-year-old netminder settled in after allowing an early goal, making some critical saves in the first and second periods that helped lead Philly to their offensive onslaught in the third. His calm, cool, collected, and confident demeanor was on full display this evening and played a massive part in why he was able to make 32 saves on 33 shots.
The Flyers are now 14-7-5 on the season! Next game is Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens.