The Flyers finished their short yet successful road trip with a 3-1 victory against the Nashville Predators. After a less than ideal first period, they came together for a solid game both ways. Their powerplay was more stagnant than usual, yet they generated chances regardless. Goalie Dan Vladar had a successful game after a challenging night on Tuesday.
The first period started out rocky, with Nashville getting on the board 1:44 in. Drysdale honestly could have gotten the assist if he wasn’t wearing orange, as the shot from Ryan O’Reilly bounced off his shoulder and over Vladar to give Nashville the early 1-0 win. An unfortunate start for Philadelphia, made worse by the slow start to the night. Nashville outshot the Flyers in the first period 10-7, and just overall dominated the play. When Philadelphia is playing well, they have become very acquainted with maintaining possession, the same skill that’s allowed our powerplay to improve significantly this year, although they did not close on Nashville’s penalty late in the first. Where they don’t shine is playing catch-up, which is what we spent most of the first period doing. They were messy and uncoordinated on all aspects. Our defense especially seemed to leave opportunities unguarded for Nashville, especially early on.
The second period was far stronger, with Matvei Michkov putting the Flyers on the board early. After a messy play, Cam York secured the puck and offered it to Michkov, whose simple slapshot broke his nine-game no goal streak. He wanted that goal and positioned himself to do so, something we haven’t seen much with his slow start to his sophomore season. It was good to see him have some of the vigor he was known for last season, and I hope to see this fuel some momentum for the young forward.
Cates scored his fourth goal of the year on the rebound from Drysdale’s shot deep in the second. Cates has strong positioning skills, frequently setting himself up to either provide a solid assist or give himself scoring chances. This continued last night with this play, as he took advantage of the shot from Drysdale regardless of the hectic play.
Travis Konecny earned the third and final goal of the night, and his fifth of the year, late in the third with an empty-netter.
Dan Vladar also had an exceptional game, only allowing one of the Predators’ 24 shots. He would have likely recorded his first shutout with Philadelphia if it wasn’t for the unfortunate play by Drysdale in the first period. This gives hope that his questionable performance in his last two games was simply a rough stint.
The Flyers are still without Tyson Foerster. He was initially expected to return for next Wednesday’s game against the Oilers, but it now appears that he will join the team for their back-to-back road trip against both St. Louis and Dallas.
The Flyers are back on home ice for their second meeting with the Senators on Saturday at 1:00pm.
Philly's Next Shift 