Flyers Outclass Red Wings En Route To Shutout Victory
The Philadelphia Flyers faced off with the Detroit Red Wings at the Little Caesars Arena.
Rounding out a three-game in four-day stretch following their All-Star Break, the Philadelphia Flyers traveled to the Midwest region to play the Detroit Red Wings. This marked the second of three meetings between the Eastern Conference squads in 2019-20, with Philadelphia getting the first W in November of 2019, and they hoped to take the season series from the Red Wings for the seventh straight year. Brian Elliott received the start from Head Coach Alain Vigneault in net and opposed Jonathan Bernier for Detroit.
The Flyers controlled play through a large half of the first, getting through the neutral zone almost at will and keeping Bernier on his heels with pressure in the Red Wings end. Fortunately for Detroit, the veteran goaltender was able to come through and stop all 12 Philadelphia shots, keeping the game tied at zero through 20 minutes of play. The line of James van Riemsdyk, Claude Giroux, and Travis Konecny was especially good in the period, accounting for seven of their team’s 12 scoring chances at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick.
While the ice wasn’t as tilted as it was in the opening frame, Philly continued to out generate the Red Wings through the early stages of the second and would, finally, cash in on one of their chances. Michael Raffl set up Scott Laughton with a pass into the low-slot, giving the former first-rounder an excellent opportunity to bury his 9th goal of the year and put his side up one. The Flyers went on to hold Detroit to just six shots on goal during the frame and 11 in total through 40. However, they only had a single goal lead to show for it as Bernier didn’t let his lone blemish on the stat sheet phase him.
The Red Wings put a bit of pressure on Elliott to begin the third, looking to gain any bit of momentum they could down one at home. Kevin Hayes quickly shut that bid down, scoring a shorthanded goal in breakaway fashion to double the Flyers lead near the midway point of the stanza. Matt Niskanen followed it up with an empty netter as time ticked away, giving Philadelphia a 3-0 win on the road.
It was great to see the Fly Guys come together for another dominant, all-around performance, even if the competition, in this case, wasn’t the greatest. Detroit could hardly get anything going against a tenacious Flyers fore-and-backcheck, and in the rare moments they did, Elliott came up huge every time, earning his second shutout of the season with a 16 save effort.
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The Flyers are now 29-17-7 on the year! Next game is Thursday against the New Jersey Devils.