The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Winnipeg Jets, 4-1, at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday evening. A three-goal outburst by the Flyers and excellent goaltending by Samuel Ersson (28 saves on 29 shots) were the keys to victory, along with the team's 11th shorthanded goal of the 2023-24 season.
Travis Konecny registered a Gordie Howe Hat Trick in the first period, fighting Winnipeg defenseman Neal Pionk, scoring his 24th goal of the season, and assisting on Philly's third goal. Ryan Poehling (SHG, 6th) and Morgan Frost (ESG, 8th) also notched a goal and assist apiece, while Tyson Foerster (10th) opened the scoring at 3:37 of the first period. Kyle Connor (19th) broke up Ersson's shutout bid at 14:48 of the third period, but Winnipeg drew no closer.
After playing a generally dominant first period and moving out to a four-game edge early in the second period, the tide turned in a major way. Over the course of the second and third periods, the Jets out-shot the Flyers, 25-8, and out-chanced Philly by a whopping 28-8 margin. The game easily could have turned into a debacle if Ersson had not been so solid in goal.
In many ways, Thursday's win was a bookend to the 2-1 win in Florida on Tuesday. In that game, the Flyers were badly outplayed in the first period but Ersson limited the damage to one goal. Thereafter, Ersson did not see nearly as many shots but was flawless when tested.
Philly went 0-for-4 on the power play, including a failed 5-on-3 in which head coach John Tortorella elected to send out mostly checking oriented players rather than ones who are statistically likelier to score. Philly went 3-on-3 on the penalty kill, including Poehling's shorthanded goal (his second SHG of the season).
For an in-depth period-by-period synopsis, anaysis, stats and highlights from the game, see the Postgame 5 on PhiladelphiaFlyers.com:
Click here.
The Flyers (27-19-6) swept their two-game season series with the Jets (30-14-5, but 0-4-1 in their last five games with a combined four goals scored). Philly will practice in Voorhees on Friday and then host Dave Hakstol's Seattle Kraken (21-19-10) on Saturday.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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