Quick Hits: Nov. 7, 2021
1) Playing an outstanding opening 40 minutes and then hanging on and getting outstanding goaltending the rest of the way, the Philadelphia Flyers skated to a satisfying 2-1 road win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday evening. Second period goals by Derick Brassard (2nd) and Sean Couturier (5th) held up. Martin Jones turned back 31 of 32 shots including 14 of 15 in a fast and furious third period. The Flyers got yeoman work from the defensive pairs of Ivan Provorov and Justin Braun along with Travis Sanheim and Rasmus Ristolainen. Up and down the lineup, it was an excellent team effort.
For analysis, highlights and more from Saturday's game, see the
Postgame 5 on the Flyers official website.
The Flyers return to practice at the FTC in Voorhees on Sunday. They will have an off-day on Monday, practice on Tuesday and then host the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Wells Fargo Center the next evening to start a three-in-four gauntlet.
2) Opening a set of back-to-back games at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms were on the wrong end of a 7-3 whipping by the Charlotte Checkers on Saturday night. The Checkers scored on their first shot of the game, and scored both during and a few seconds after a five-minute power play to jump out to a 3-0 lead and an initial 11-1 shot advantage by the time the first period was halfway through.
Twice, the Phantoms scored goals to make headway on the scoreboard and then got scored against on the very next shift. On a power play, Morgan Frost had a moment of indecision near the offensive blueline and then stumbled and fell which led to a Charlotte breakaway shorthanded goal. Further adding insult to injury, former Phantoms/Flyers winger Carsen Twarynski notched of the Checkers' three goals in the second period, putting the game realistically out of reach for the Phantoms.
The highlight of the game for Lehigh Valley was a shorthanded breakaway goal by rookie Jackson Cates; his first career AHL goal. The Phantoms also got a rebound goal from Isaac Ratcliffe in the first period to get him off the schneid with his first tally of the season. Max Willman buried a mid second-period goal for the Phantoms (3rd of the season) but it wasn't nearly enough on this night.
Felix Sandström had been consistently strong in his previous starts this season but he had a rough night on Saturday. At least two the goals he allowed were stoppable ones and his night ended after two periods with seven goals behind him on just 22 shots. Kirill Ustimenko mopped up in the third period, and will be in goal for the 1 p.m. rematch on Sunday.
3) Congratulations to the Flyers Warriors Tier 3 squad for winning their tier championship at the 2021 USA Hockey Warrior Classic at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees. The Flyers Warriors Tier 1 and Tier 2 teams have also advanced to their respective championship games on Sunday and will try to duplicate the feat.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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