Philadelphia Flyers explode for six goals over Coyotes

What has happened to the Philadelphia Flyers? Who are these guys? After falling behind twice early against the visiting Arizona Coyotes, the Flyers exploded for five second period goals en route to a 6-2 rout. The six goals are a season-high, besting three five-goal matches; the last one in December against Columbus.

Since the Christmas break, the Flyers are on a roll. They have won four straight games; their longest streak since January of 2021. Each of those games saw the Flyers score a minimum of four goals. Last night saw the return of Carter Hart, playing for the first time since an injury against the Carolina Hurricanes. Hart was his usual brick wall self, stopping 21 of 23 shots faced.

Arizona struck first. At 13:29, Michael Carcone scored to give the Coyotes a 1-0 lead. They held that at the start of the second period. At 25 seconds into the second frame, Travis Konecny, on the power play, took a pass from Tony DeAngelo while both were on a breakaway. Konecny slid it past Karel Vejmelka to tie the game. For his part, Vejmelka played the entire game and stopped 28 of the 34 shots he faced.

Philadelphia Flyers took care of business against Arizona Coyotes

The Coyotes would retake the lead a minute later when Nick Ritchie found the back of the net. Soon after, the Flyers would dominate the rest of the game.

Joel Farabee got it started. Morgan Frost found Farabee racing toward the right side of the net and fed him the puck. Farabee shot it past Vejmelka to tie the game at two goals each. A few minutes later, Wade Allison powered a shot in the five-hole to give the Flyers their first lead of the game. Not long after, Cam York intercepted a pass and shoveled it over to Kevin Hayes, who flipped it over to Ivan Provorov for a score. Just two minutes later, Hayes scored on another power play (Flyers went 2 for 3 on the power play tonight) goal. James van Riemsdyk would get the final tally in the third period.

Then you have to look at the stats. Frost had an assist on four of the Flyers’ six goals. Hayes and Konecny both had three points, including their goals. Owen Tippet and Tony DeAngelo, both of whom have been hot lately, both added an assist.

This team has woken up to their talents. If this is not a fluke, the Flyers could be a problem for most other teams as the season progresses. Let it roll!