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Intersquad Game Wrapup, Quick Hits |
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Intersquad Game Wrapup
Team White defeated Team Orange, 4-2, in a Flyers intersquad game at the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday evening. Kevin Hayes scored a pair of goals to stake Team Orange to a 2-0 lead at the first intermission. Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Nolan Patrick knotted the game at 2-2 in the second period.
The game was played like a normal one (as opposed to a scrimmage) for the first 55 minutes of play: 20 minute periods, clock stoppages after whistles, power plays rather than penalty shots (actually "head start" breakaways from the red line with defending backcheckers in pursuit), professional officials rather coaches donning the stripes, etc.
The last five minutes of the third period were played like a 3-on-3 overtime, minus the sudden death aspect. During the 3-on-3, Scott Laughton and James van Riemsdyk added goals for Team White for the final 4-2 score.
The game was officially over upon the expiration of the third period clock but a five-round practice shootout was conducted afterwards. Actually, this shootout ended up going to the bottom of the 9th round before either side scored. Finally, Michael Raffl beat Brian Elliott with a full-windup slap shot from the slot.
Carter Hart started in goal for Team White. He stopped 13 of 15 shots through the first 55 minutes. In the 3-on-3, he stopped all four he saw. In the shootout, Hart was 9-for-9.
Brian Ellliott was in goal for Team Orange. "Moose" stopped 26 of 28 shots through the first 55 minutes. In the three-on-three, Elliott stopped two of four. In the shootout. he stopped 8 of 9. Only Michael Raffl scored on his attempt.
First Period
Shots were 12-6 in favor of Team White in this period, as Elliott looked sharp in stopping every shot he faced. Team White had the game's first two shots before Team Orange scored against Carter Hart on its first shot.
At 3:12, a precision passing sequence that started with Joel Farabee getting the puck to Claude Giroux and the Flyers' team captain finding Kevin Hayes. Hayes scored from the bottom of the right circle.
Hayes scored again at 12:21. Farabee passed out from the corner to Hayes, who was on a side angle a few feet from the right side of the net. On a second-effort play, Hayes scored low to Hart's glove side. In a real game this is one that Hart would have liked to have back because he didn't play it very well.
Ivan Provorov took an Oskar Lindblom shot off his foot and hobbled to the bench. He shook it off, though, and was OK thereafter.
Team White got their first and only power play of the game late in the first period. Nolan Patrick made a gorgeous pass to set up Morgan Frost at point blank range, but Frost didn't put the puck where he wanted it (there was room to score), and it went directly into Elliott moving to his right.
SECOND PERIOD
Shots in the middle frame were 11-4 in Team White's favor. Hart was not credited with an early period save on Lindblom on a 2-on-1 rush but it looked from my vantage point that he got a piece of the shot with his extended blocker before it sailed over the net.
At 4:01, Team White cut the deficit to 2-1. Aube-Kubel took a pass from Scott Laughton and sniped a shot upstairs over Elliott from the right circle. Tyler Wotherspoon earned the secondary assist.
The Patrick line was buzzing throughout the second period and finally got a payoff at 12:21 to tie the game at 2-2. Voracek cut across the left circle and over the middle to pass to Max Willman on the right wing. Willman put the puck at the net and Patrick then deftly tipped it through the legs of Egor Zamula.
Hart stopped a Carsen Twarynski breakaway in the latter stages of the period. After a Team White turnover high in the attack zone, Twarynski split the defense and went off alone on Hart.
THIRD PERIOD (15 min. standard play, 5 min. of 3-on-3)
Shots were 10-9 in favor of Team White (including the 3-on-3 portion). There was no scoring this period at 5-on-5. Some of Hart's best and toughest saves of the game came in this period.
Rookie Wyatte Wylie, a defenseman playing forward on this night, got past Phil Myers and had a breakaway. He was awarded a penalty shot after Myers grabbed him from behind. On the ensuing attempt, Wyile cut his left and the right-handed shooter went to his backhand. His old Everett Silvertips (WHL) teammate stayed with him and made the save.
On Team Orange's lone power play of the game (which came about after Raffl accidentally high-sticked Zayde Wisdom), Hart had to make two good saves: Hayes from the left hash marks off a pass from Giroux, and Konecny from the doorstep.
The horn sounded at the 15-minute mark with the score tied at 2-2. Play went to 3-on-3.
At 17:37, Laughton capitalized on a Team Orange miscue and soloed upstairs on Elliott for an unassisted goal that put Team White ahead to stay.
At 18:53, van Riemsdyk added a slick insurance goal. He took a lead pass from Myers, went in alone on Elliott, deked with a head/shoulder fake, pulled the puck to the backhand and slid it
through the five-hole as Elliott scrambled across.
LINE COMBINATIONS
ORANGE
Lindblom-Couturier-TK
Giroux-Hayes-Farabee
Morin-Andreoff- Twarynski
Wisdom - Wylie
Provorov-Braun
Zamula-Friedman
Bigras - Pouliot
Elliott
[Lyon]
WHITE
JVR-Patrick-Voracek
Raffl-Laughton-NAK
Bunnaman-Frost-Sandin
Foerster - Willman
Sanheim-Myers
Hägg-Gustafsson
Wotherspoon-Prosser
Hart
[Sandström]
Shootout Report
Round 1
Sean Couturier (Orange): Shot over the net.
Nolan Patrick (White): Wrister over the net.
Round 2:
Claude Giroux (Orange): Didn't put his shot where he wanted it, puck went wide.
Jakub Voracek (White): Robbed by a sprawling Elliott's glove. Best save of the shootout.
Round 3:
Kevin Hayes (Orange) Moved slowly to the right, denied by Elliott.
Morgan Frost: (White): Moved left, stopped by the pad.
Round 4:
Travis Konecny (Orange); Failed to beat Hart over the glove
James van Riemsdyk (White): Shot over the net.
Round 5:
Oskar Lindblom (Orange): Moved left, ran himself into a tight angle and denied by Hart.
Scott Laughton (White): Moved left, slid the puck through the crease.
Round 6:
Joel Farabee (Orange): Denied by Hart's pad.
Nicolas Aube-Kubel (White): Shot off Elliott's glove.
Round 7:
Carsen Twarynski (Orange): Shot into Hart's midsection.
Linus Sandin ( White): Quick snap shot beat Elliot cleanly but hit the post and stayed out.
Round 8:
Ivan Provorov (Orange): backhander stopped by Hart.
Connor Bunnaman (White): Wrister stopped by Elliott.
Round 9:
Andy Andreoff (Orange): Moved left, Hart stopped him cold.
Michael Raffl (White): Ripped a slapshot past Eliott for the only goal of the shootout.
********
QUICK HITS: January 11, 2021
1) Scott Gordon and Kerry Huffman were behind the benches for Sunday's scrimmage. Alain Vigneault was upstairs with the Flyers assistant coaches and general manager Chuck Fletcher.
After the game, Vigneault spoke remotely to the media.
"There are a few guys tonight that we have to make decisions on whether starting with our group and starting in the taxi squad. We just had a brief conversation, my coaching staff with Chuck and Brent and Barry. We are going to sleep on it. We have a couple of decisions. I do not want to get into any specific names, but I really thought for the first time, a real game condition, this accomplished everything that we wanted. Guys came here, we had our morning skate this morning. We had our meetings tonight. The game got better as the periods went by. For our group and our assessment, this is definitely going to be beneficial," Vigneault said.
2) For an intrasquad game at the end of a short traing camp, the tempo and caliber of play on Sunday was pretty good. It wasn't a very physical game for the most part (the second and especially the third scrimmages in Voorhees were far more physical) but the two sides competed and there a few bodychecks. Sam Morin had two in one shift, although he certainly wasn't trying to crush anybody.
3) All in all, I think the abbreviated training camp went well. Most of the players you'd want to see step up or show further improvements from last season did so in the camp setting. The only real downer was that Shayne Gostisbehere missed Saturday's practice and the intersquad game for an as-yet-undisclosed reason. Wade Allison (suspected lower body injury) had to leave Friday's practice and did not play in the scrimmage. He joined Tanner Laczynski (core muscle surgery rehab, skated on his own during camp but did not practice or play), Isaac Ratcliffe (fractured rib) and Kirill Ustimenko (hip surgery) on the sidelines.
4) The Flyers have an off-day today with training camp officially over. As Vigneault indicated, he and Chuck Fletcher will make decisions today on who makes the opening night roster, who is assigned to the taxi squad (waivers are required for non-ELC players) and who will be assigned to the Phantoms for the AHL season when it finally begins.
5) Perhaps the most encouraging aspect of camp: Nolan Patrick. He seems to be in the best physical condition of his young life and was attacking the ice throughout camp, making some high-skill plays look easy and being physically engaged. There was a nervous moment in the mid-week scrimmage where he collided heavily with teammate Sam Morin after Morin attempted a hit on another player, but he was fine afterwards.
6) Vigneault hit the nail right on the head last night after he was asked to assess Morin's camp. It's a trial-and-error process. He's done some good things, made some mistakes in trying to do too much at times (whether in the physical game or with the puck), and his conditioning is coming back. Overall, it's still very much a work in progress.
Vigneault: "For a young man like that to play out of position basically, part of his game is being physical, it is a challenge. It is not easy. You don’t want to run over your teammates. I thought for the most part he did well. I’ve been impressed by him [Wisdom]. His skating ability, his feistiness in one on one battles. We saw a lot of that tonight. I liked what this young man has brought on the ice every time. Obviously very young player. He has come here and worked extremely hard and is competing."
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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