In an uproar of productivity from young, key players and exceptional goaltending, the Flyers defeated the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night 6-3. The game was promising all around, as there was lots of success from players that have stalled, many of it coming from our recently horrific first period.
To quote myself last week, the Flyers needed to “look for a stronger first period to prevent the chase” that has set us back recently and pushed us into overtime 9 times this season. Boy did they accomplish this. After an early power play goal following a hooking call against Cam York, Noah Cates kicked off the scoring for Philadelphia after taking advantage of a rebound from Travis Konency, who did not earn any points on this officially unassisted goal. Cates has had an exceptional year, largely due to his ability to read a play and adapt to such, as seen in this goal. Following a few attempted shots, he was able to position himself in a way to handle the rebound in the best way possible.
A little over three minutes later, Matvei Michkov earned his fifth goal of the year and began a series of historic goals for Philadelphia. After a pass from Couturier at the Flyer’s blueline, Michkov took the puck from center ice to the goal, creating a high-pressure situation and throwing Devils’ goalie Jake Allen off the play. A simple shot from Michkov earned his fifth of the year and reinvigorated a hope for his exceptional goal scoring capabilities. Just nine seconds later, Tyson Foerster increased the Flyers’ lead 3-1. Konecny was able to earn a secondary assist on this goal, passing the puck to Cates for his second point of the night, a backhand pass across the ice to Foerster, whose one-timer snap shot went top-shelf. Foerster and Cates were back at it just 17 seconds later. Cates in the middle of the action in front of the goalie passed the puck to Foerster in the wing and generated the perfect opportunity for a successful slapshot. The chemistry and talent between Cates and Foerster is undeniable. Between Cates’ ability to read and create plays, and Foerster’s intelligent plays and exceptional goal-scoring capabilities, the Flyers led the game 4-1.
These 2 out of 3 goals Foerster’s last 2 games set a franchise record for the Flyers, as his 2 goals and Michkov’s 1 were only 26 seconds apart.
Image courtesy of @philadelphiaflyers on Instagram
A mid-second period goal from Bobby Brink gave the Flyers a 5-1 lead. Two unanswered goals from the Devils across the second and third period finished their scoring at 3 goals for the night. This gave Dan Vladar 32 saves on 35 shots, making his season average this far 2.42 GAA and a .912 SV%.
Trevor Zegras’ goal late in the third was his 7th of the year, his 21st point overall. This allowed him to join impressive company between Danny Briere (24) and Peter Forsberg (36) for most points in their first 20 games with Philadelphia.
With tonight’s game in Tampa, the Flyers begin a tough road trip of games Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday to close out November. Luckily, travel is limited between Monday and Wednesday, as they travel from the Lightning to the Panthers, and then back up to the east coast against the Islanders on Friday and down to face the Devils again on Saturday.
The Flyers only have two less wins than Tampa this season, are not far behind them leading goals scored, and actually have the advantage on most assists by a single player. They very much are in the game for tonight’s 7pm puckdrop.
Philly's Next Shift 