Tyson Foerster scores twice in Flyers much needed victory

After their 32nd victory of the season, the Flyers have eclipsed their win total from last season. But they're in a rebuild, right? Nonetheless, it was an important victory as the teams behind them have again cut the gap. Beating the teams you should beat is something the Flyers will have to do down the stretch. But the road won't get any easier for them.

Ottawa had scored five goals apiece in the two previous games. Thanks to Felix Sandstrom, and a few posts, they only scored twice. The Senators were severely shorthanded. Brady Tkachuk was a late scratch, while both of the team's goaltenders had been called up from the AHL. Mads Sogaard was making his fourth start of the season. The odds pointed to a Flyers victory. But they had to go out and get it.

Joel Farabee Breaks Slump

For the Flyers to make a run, they will need their impact players to step up. Joel Farabee is one of those players and he had been in a tough offensive stretch. Coming into Saturday's game, Farabee had gone 14 games without a goal. And he only had five points in that stretch. He is someone the Flyers rely on and needed to make an impact.

It only took him just over a minute into the game to do that. Sogaard's pass from behind the net was cut off by Farabee thanks to hard forechecking along the boards. He sent the pass to Nick Seeler at the line. Seeler didn't waste much time floating one toward the net. With multiple players in front, Farabee got his stick on it to slowlt deflect it past the moving Sogaard. The Ottawa netminder was expecting the puck to come to his glovehand. Thanks to the deflection, he was in no position to stop the slow rolling puck as it went in.

That was Farabee's 18th goal of the season. He is in line for his second career 20-goal season and first since 2020-21. After a tough season following his neck surgery, Farabee is becoming a key factor to the Flyers success. He is in the second season of a six-year deal he signed during the preseason in 2021.

Tyson Foerster Take Over

There hasn't been anyone as hot as Tyson Foerster. Since coming back from a foot injury, he has scored in every game he has played in. After Farabee gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead, they hadn't been able to beat Sogaard. That eventually allowed the Senators to tie the game four minutes into the second period. Shane Pinto deflected the puck around Ryan Poehling, sending him and Vladimir Tarasenko on a 2-on-1. Carrying the puck in, Tarasenko went out wide toward the right faceoff dot. He fired a backhander on net that missed the glove of Sandstrom and went in.

It looked like the two sides were going to head to the third period in a tie game. Foerster had something to say about that, however. Putting the team on his back, Foerster scored twice in 45 seconds to give Philadelphia a two-goal lead. The first came off a faceoff win in the offensive zone. Foerster. Off the win from Scott Laughton, Foerster took it behind the circle and fired it over the head of Sogaard. It froze Sogaard as he barely reacted to the shot.

45 seconds later, Foerster was in on a breakaway before Pinto was called for hooking. The decision was made to award him a penalty shot, the first of his career. He slowly moved in, showing patience on where he was going to shot the puck. As he got in tight, Sogaard's pads opened up just enough for Foerster to deposit the puck between them.

With that goal, the Flyers made NHL history. They are the first team to convert on five penalty shots in a single season. They haven't missed one yet, going a perfect 5/5 this season. You don't see that happen often.

Felix Sandstrom Shows Confidence

Felix Sandstrom was put into a tough spot at the beginning of the season. He made the Flyers' roster, but it was evident he was not going to play. He practiced with the team and sat as the third goaltender. He was eventually loaned to the Phantoms on a conditioning stint, where he suffered an injury. After returning, he officially made it to the AHL and remained there.

After Cal Petersen's disastrous effort against the Penguins, Sandstrom returned. In his first game this season, he looked sharp. He made 24 saves on 26 shots. He hardly faced any action in the opening period as he saw four shots. Tarasenko's goal was tough as you don't expect a player to go to the backhand that far out. It may have also deflected off Nick Seeler on the way in.

But when the team needed him most, he made timely stops. That was the knock against him previously. He hadn't been able to make those tough saves or backstop the Flyers when they needed him most. While he made the tough saves, he can thank his posts for doing a lot of work. They came in handy late in the game as the Senators were on a four-minute power play.

Seeler blocked three shots during the kill, and Poehling blocked another. The posts blocked three shots of its own. The Senators got within one shortly after the power play, but there was nothing Sandstrom was able to do to stop it. Dominik Kubalik whiffed on a shot from the slot, but the puck took a perfect bounce to Thomas Chabot at the side of the net. With Sandstrom committed to the first shot, all he could do was try and dive over to block it.

In the dying seconds of the game and with the Senators net empty, a shot went off the glove of Sandstrom and the post before the Senators misfired on a pass, sending the puck down the ice. If the puck didn't knick off Sandstrom's glove, this game likely goes to overtime. Cam York would ice it with a shot from between the red line and his blue line.

It was a big win for the Flyers, who have a tough stretch of games coming on. They will welcome in the St. Louis Blues on Monday, a team fighting for its playoff life. They are five points out of a wild card spot in the West.