Carter Hart, Philippe Myers Lead Flyers To Win vs Maple Leafs

The Philadelphia Flyers kicked off a three-game homestand by hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Wells Fargo Center.

Hoping to extend their point streak to seven, the Philadelphia Flyers met the Toronto Maple Leafs for the final time of the 2019-20 campaign. Each team has walked away with a shootout victory in their previous two meetings, making this game the rubber-match that’ll decide a season-series winner. The Flyers dropped the three-game set with Toronto in 2018-19, so they’ll hope to avoid dropping a regular-season series for the second year in a row. Carter Hart received the start from Head Coach Alain Vigneault and opposed Frederik Andersen in-net for the Leafs.

Toronto tested Hart early, putting six shots on the young netminder within the first five minutes of the period. The former Everett Silvertip stood tall on each one he saw, which included shutting down John Tavares on a shot in close to keep everything tied at zero. The Flyers got a couple of chances on Andersen, too, but neither side could muster up a goal as the opening frame came to a close, which was surprising given how fast the pace was for both teams. Hart saw a majority of the shots, though, making 15 saves through 20 minutes.

After another short stint of back-and-forth hockey between the two clubs, the Flyers were finally able to score the game’s first courtesy of Scott Laughton. Kevin Hayes showcased a beautiful display of puck-protection on the play, keeping the biscuit away from Justin Holl and Auston Matthews near the boards, eventually making his way towards the net and finding Laughts in front of the crease for the tally. Philadelphia had two power-play opportunities later on, which gave them a chance to extend their lead but couldn’t capitalize on either of them as the score stayed 1-0 after 40 minutes of work.

The Leafs and Flyers took part in yet another edition of back-and-forth hockey, trading chances through the early-goings of the third. Unfortunately, the ensuing goal would go to Toronto, as Travis Dermott potted his third of the year to knot things up at one. Hart made the save initially but had the puck pop up on him and make its’ way into the back of the net. Claude Giroux quickly broke that tie, scoring just 1:11 after Dermott’s tally to put the Flyers back up by one. Philippe Myers made a tremendous pinch to keep the puck in the zone, which found its way to Travis Konecny who made an excellent, no-look pass from behind the net to find G in the slot.

TK, then, took matters into his own hands, sniping the shot passed Andersen on a 2-on-1 break to double the Philadelphia lead. Myers made yet another great play, making an outstanding pass to spring Konecny and Giroux for the odd-man rush. Joel Farabee would go on to score an empty-netter, Shayne Gostisbehere blasted a one-timer by Andersen, and James van Riemsdyk scored on a partial-break to seal a 6-1 victory for the Orange and Black.

I mean, how much freaking fun was that? The Flyers did a good job of not letting Dermott’s game-tying goal get to them, and didn’t let up one bit until the clock hit zero. I thought the Ghost-Myers pair, Giroux line, and Hayes line all had exceptional showings tonight, but I’ve got to give the player of the game nod to Hart. The 21-year-old goalie nearly had himself a shutout, saving 27 shots on 28 attempts en route to his ninth win of the year. The Flyers don’t have the third period they did without Hart making some tremendous stops through the first 40 minutes and it’s safe to say the 6’2 netminder is at the top of his game right now.

The Flyers are now 16-7-5 on the season! Next game is Thursday against the Arizona Coyotes.