The Flyers took a COVID reshuffled roster into Anaheim looking to regain their point grabbing swagger. They lost key players in Claude Giroux and Ivan Provorov, who both entered protocol. There was some good news as Carter Hart and Scott Laughton returned to action. Tonight’s game also saw the season debut of Cam York, playing in his home town of Anaheim
First Period
CF:13 CA:18 CF: 41.94% SF:6 SA:8
The game started and the teams exchanged possessions, with the Ducks generating chances on the rush each trip. Conversely, the Flyers seemed content to just get the puck out of their end. And they would concede a goal early. The Ducks swarmed the zone, aided by the sluggish defensive pairing of Sanheim and Ristolainen. Hart appeared slow, as an errant shot ricocheted from behind the net, coming out the other side to a waiting Hampus Lindholm. Lindholm shot it goal wards. Hart squared to the shot but was beaten to the short side as the puck deflected off Troy Terry.
Though the puck went in, play continued. The puck hit the pipe, then the goal cam and rocketed out, fooling the goal judge and the officials. A quick replay remedied the situation and the clock was set back to 16:39,with the Ducks staked to a 1-0 lead.
Things would get worse for the Flyers’ top defensive pairing of Sanheim and Ristolainen as Troy Terry would undress both of them, by himself, in transition. Ristolainen was slow to get back in support, but Sanheim was turned around by a pretty simple fake to the outside, allowing Terry back to the center. Hart was unable to stop Terry’s deke to backhand finish. The Ducks were up by two.
The Flyers were able to claw back on a nice deflection in the slot by Cam Atkinson, converting on a perfectly weighted feed from Joel Farabee. It was a pretty goal that temporarily halted the Ducks momentum. The period ended with the Flyers trailing 2-1.
Second Period
CF:15 CA:12 CF: 55.56% SF:6 SA:6
The Flyers forfeited the early momentum in the period. Abad drop pass inside the offensive zone by Laughton destroyed an aggressive and clean zone entry by York. It then created a dangerous three-on-two for the Ducks, which Hart was able to spoil.
Minutes later JVR was able to come in on a clean break away on John Gibson. The Anaheim keeper was able to thwart JVR’s deke to the five hole. It was a good move and a better save by Gibson.
Sanheim’s rough night continued. First after a deep pinch, he passed back to a vacant point as Zac MacEwen failed to cover. The Flyers would recover deep in their own end, with Sanheim eating a huge corner hit in the process. The Flyers defender retaliated moments later with a cross check right in front of the official, inviting a Ducks’ powerplay. Fortunately for the Flyers, Farabee was able to draw an interference penalty to cut the Ducks’ powerplay short.
After the kill, the Flyers seemed to be getting the better of the chances until Morgan Frost took a bad goaltender interference penalty. The Ducks would happily take the gift and convert on a nice cross ice feed to Sonny Milano who slid it by a down an out Hart. To make matters worse, head coach Mike Yeo made an unsuccessful challenge, claiming interference against Hart. The Flyers would survive the penalty assessed on the challenge and would finish the period down by two.
Third Period
CF:15 CA:17 CF: 46.88% SF:9 SA:10
The start of the period saw an initial push by the Flyers, generating offense in their first shift, but then reverting back to their familiar pattern. They were unable to advance the puck out of their end under control. The Ducks would convert this into sustain zone time where the Flyers’ defensive coverage would break down and lead to chances that tested Hart.
As time in the period shortened, the Ducks eased their offensive pressure, allowing the Flyers to test Gibson several times. They controlled play aided by the Ducks many icings. Philadelphia pulled Hart during a 4 on 4 and came close to converting, dominating the puck in the Ducks zone for most of the matching minors.
Eventually the Ducks were able to break free from their zone, sending a couple of chances at the empty net, forcing an exhausted Keith Yandle into a tripping minor. Troy Terry would complete his hat trick into the open net on the powerplay giving the Ducks the 4-1 win.
Conclusion
CF:42 CA:48 CF: 46.67% SF:21 SA:24
It was not the worst effort in the context of this season, especially considering the number of quality players that were not available to team. On the other hand, players like Hayes, Frost and Sanheim did not play well. The Flyers will need more from veteran core players if there is to be any hope for the playoffs.
Cam York was extremely solid in his first call up this season and could be useful in solidifying the bottom six, perhaps displacing Seeler or Connauton. The team returns home to face the Pens on Thursday.