Wrap: Flyers Tie SHG Record, Drop OT Decision in Dallas
The Philadelphia Flyers came away from an entertaining and resilient -- but sometimes maddening -- road game against the Dallas Stars on Saturday night with one point. Tying a franchise record for shorthanded goals in a single game, the Flyers scored three times at 4-on-5 (including twice on the same third period PK) to erase deficits of 2-0 and 4-2. Ultimately, though, the Stars won in overtime.
Saturday's game marked the fourth time in Flyers' franchise history that the team scored three shorthanded goals in a single game. The most recent previous occassion was on April 16, 2006, against the New York Islanders.
Travis Konecny tallied a pair of shorthanded goals -- one in the first period, the other in the third -- for the Flyers. Sean Walker scored his second shorthanded marker in as many games. Joel Farabee scored an even strength goal. Noah Cates had two assists. Making his first start of the 2023-24 season -- he last played in the Oct. 2 preseason game against Boston -- Ersson stopped 20 of 25 shots.
Ersson looked rusty over the opening 40 minutes, struggling in particular on stick-side shots fired just above his pad. He settled in during the third period, including stopping a pair of breakaway or partial-break challenges.
The Flyers got off to a slow start in falling behind 2-0 but when on to control the majority of the opening stanza. In fact, Philadelphia had the better of the play for much of the game overall but found themselves playing from behind again for much of the second and third periods. That is, until Konecny and Walker went back-to-back with shorties at 11:58 and 12:45 of the third period.
Bobby Brink had another strong game for the Flyers including a heads-up assist on the Farabee goal. Brink collected a bad rebound allowed by Dallas goalie Scott Wedgewood and, instead of shooting, pushed a quick pass over to Farabee for an easy goal. On the blueline, Cam York turned in another strong all-around performance. So did veteran partner Travis Sanheim, minus a third period turnover in the neutral zone that turned in a Matt Duchene. Ersson made one of his best saves of the game on the play.
For Dallas, five different players scored once apiece: Wyatt Johnston (one goal, two assists), Tyler Seguin, Roope Hintz, Jamie Benn and Joe Pavelski (overtime). The Flyers peppered Wedgewood with 40 shots, of which he stopped 35. The Stars struggled mightily with puck management for much of the game and were charged with 13 giveaways overall.
In overtime, after a Flyers icing, Pavelski won a right circle faceoff against Sean Couturier. Johnston claimed possession and Pavelski moved to the net, untouched. The veteran forward ended sudden death with a backhander past Ersson.
The Flyers' went with the same forward personnel and line combinations for the third straight game. Morgan Frost was once again a healthy scratch. On the blueline, with Marc Staal out for a reported four-to-six week span and Rasmus Ristolainen still on IR, both Egor Zamula and Emil Andrae were in the lineup. In goal, Carter Hart was given the night off. Felix Sandström backed up Ersson.
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Phantoms Lose in Hartford, 5-1
In the second game of their weekend three-in-three gauntlet, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms dropped a 5-1 road decision to the Hartford Wolf Pack on Saturday evening. Olle Lycksell, coming off a hat trick in Friday's 5-2 victory in Springfield, notched the lone Phantoms goal against Hartford.
In all four games the Phantoms (2-2-0) have played to date, Ian Laperriere's club has fallen behind 2-0 in the first period. They've overcome it twice but went on to lose the other two games.
Against Hartford on Saturday, the Phantoms seemed to have left their skating legs on the bus after Friday's game in Springfield. Apart from building a 2-0 lead in the opening stanza, the Wolf Pack won the vast majority of foot races and puck battles on the way to racking up a 16-6 advantage in shots and (by my count) a 9-3 edge in scoring chances.
The Phantoms improved a bit as the game moved along and gave themselves a chance heading into the third period. At the 19:58 mark of the middle frame, Lycksell scored a power play goal off the rush with a missile from the left circle. The assists went to Tanner Laczynski and Garrett Wilson after Louie Belpedio connected with Wilson on an initial lead pass.
In the third period, the Phantoms racked up a 17-11 shot advantage but the Wolf Pack pulled away on the scoreboard with three unanswered goals.
Cal Petersen (31 saves on 36 shots) took the loss in goal. Dylan Garand, who played in Rookies Series against the Flyers prospects back in September, earned the win with 32 saves on 33 shots.
The Phantoms have another tough test ahead: Playing their third game in less than 72 hours, Lehigh Valley will rematch with Springfield at the PPL Center for a 3:05 p.m. EDT game on Sunday. Look for Parker Gahagen to make his second start in net for the Phantoms.