After a hard-fought 5-3 victory to open the two-game series, Philadelphia defeated New Jersey again last night by a score of 3-1. However, just as I mentioned in my last piece how the Flyers’ record may be deceiving, I share that sentiment with this score-line.
The orange and black were outshot 2 to 1, with the Devils peppering Carter Hart with 34 shots compared to Philly’s 17. Clearly, the team across the Commodore Barry had their opportunities.
Unfortunately for the Devils, this game saw a laser-focused Hart in net. While the Flyers were working to try and find the go-ahead goal, Hart kept the game tied in what very well could have been a different outcome. A strong performance to follow up Brian Elliot‘s strong game this past Tuesday, very nice indeed. Here he is stacking the pads, you gotta love old-school goaltending:
Another development coming out of this matchup is the play of Nate Prosser, who fellow teammate Travis Konecny dubbed “The Prossenator” in camp. Prosser had not played an NHL game since his time in Minnesota, which was during the 2018-2019 season. He then managed to nab his first goal since the 2017-2018 season in his first shot as a Flyer, what are the odds.
He seems beloved in the locker room as well; it will be interesting to see if he fits into the makeup of this team throughout the next few weeks.
I mentioned above how the Flyers were outshot, but I thought they played strong in the third period to close out the game. The fourth line of Michael Raffl – Connor Bunnaman – NAK managed to score a greasy goal after the official missed a tripping call on Bunnaman.
Speaking of Bunnaman’s line, Alain Vigneault really liked what he saw from the bottom six last night:
Four minutes later, Claude Giroux found himself having to retrieve his stick, reposition himself and then deflect in his first goal of the season. Had to feel good for the captain after his first goal was reassigned to TK a few days ago. Just look at this effort:
Giroux’s reaction after the goal says it all, he was playing with a snarl last night. “G” has led the team by example so far this season, giving great effort on both ends of the ice. Vigneault has praised Giroux so far this season as well, and we know he is not one to give unearned praise.
Philadelphia is clearly still missing the presence of 2020 Selke-winner Sean Couturier. That cannot be understated. Thankfully, Coots has started skating and defenseman Phil Myers sounds like he will be back in the team soon. As of today. Prosser has been loaned back to the Taxi Squad so maybe Myers is in this weekend? We will find out within the next day or so.
Up next, the Flyers have a 2020 Eastern Conference Semifinals rematch with the New York Islanders. This is not the Islanders team that caught fire in the playoffs last season, they currently sit in seventh place in the Eastern Division with a record of 3-4-0. Once again though, it is important to note that the Flyers’ record is not exactly a picture of how they really have played all season so far.
Philly looks to make it 3 wins in a row, lets go Flyers!