The first game of Philadelphia’s back-to-back weekend ended in a shootout win against St. Louis. Although the 6-5 win was exciting to watch, what could have been a blowout win for Philadelphia ended up as a model for poor goaltending and defense.
Philadelphia should have had this game in a landslide. Yet as I mentioned earlier this week, their first period has been a challenge. Friday night was no different, as a turnover from Zegras allowed a Blues goal 1:19 seconds in. On the broadcast, Brian Boucher questioned how a guy like Zegras could come back from a disappointing moment like that early on, and Zegras was up for the challenge. Just a little before the halfway point in the first period, he earned his first of three points for the night with a wrist shot, with assist points going to Dvorak and Sanheim.
Then the first-period-plague came back with a turnover from Travis Konecny allowing Jimmy Snuggerud the goal for St. Louis. The Blues ended the first period with a 2-1 lead after a disappointing performance from the Flyers’ defense. Most of the period was spent playing catch-up and overall slow hockey. As the Blues maintained overall possession for a majority of the first, many Philadelphia forwards faced long shifts, with Konecny even being on the ice for more than 2 minutes at one point.
The second period turned things around. After an early goal from St. Louis, Dvorak caught up under a minute later. His second point of the night was earned after a messy attempt by Juulsen, allowing Tippett to take a shot, and the rebound to earn Dvorak his first goal of two for the evening. After an offensively dominant play, completely opposite to the first period, Zegras tied things up deep in the period. The Flyers outshot the Blues 11-4, gaining significant momentum heading into the third.
The third period began just as worrisome as the first. The Blues regained the lead only 40 seconds in, Ersson failing to stop the puck over his shoulder. They earned their final point of the night early in the period as well, giving them the 5-3 advantage over Philadelphia. Yet both Dvorak and Zegras weren’t done yet, along with some help from Owen Tippett. Dvorak earned his third point of the night after a backhand pass from Tippett. Tippett responded three minutes later with the tie goal after Zegras’ 13th assist of the season. Although Philadelphia continued to outshoot St. Louis 6-4 this period, it wasn’t enough to catch up from the first period slump and St. Louis’ successful third period. For the 7th time this season, they would be going to overtime.
The Flyers continued to outshoot the Blues 6-1 in 5 minutes of overtime play, yet still sent the game to a shootout.
After 6 goals on 16 shots, Ersson managed to shine in the shootout. He saved the shots of Robert Thomas, Jimmy Snuggerud, and Dylan Holloway for St. Louis. Although Matvei Michkov had his shot blocked as well, a backhand shot from Zegras won the game for Philadelphia. Their 5th overtime win of the season leaves them tied for most overtime wins in the league.
Defensively, Philadelphia struggled throughout this game against St. Louis. However, some key forwards continued to shine in Philadelphia, and I’m incredibly optimistic towards Christian Dvorak’s future. His play alongside Couturier and Zegras has earned him 5 goals and 7 assists so far this season, placing him one goal behind Philadelphia’s leader, Owen Tippett.
Dan Vladar will be back in net tonight for an 8:00pm puckdrop in Dallas. I’m hoping to see similar productivity with an improved defense tonight. Be on the lookout for Dallas powerplays, as their #2 ranking in the league will put our #2 penalty kill up to the test.
Philly's Next Shift 