Wrap: Flyers Spin Wheels in 5-2 Loss to Chicago
Playing a Chicago Blackhawks team that entered Saturday with a 6-29-1 record on the road, the Philadelphia Flyers stumbled to a 5-1 loss on Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers spent most of the night chasing the game.
The lone highlight for the Flyers: Trailing 2-0 at the start of the second period, Tyson Foerster scored just 17 seconds after the opening faceoff to cut the deficit to one goal. Foerster hit the 20-goal mark in his rookie NHL season. On the next shift, Travis Konecny hit the post.
The Flyers are struggling on both ends of special teams. The PK, at or near the top of the league all season, has had a rut over the last 12 games. The power play, ranked last in the NHL, is too often a momentum killer on top of not scoring. Philly was 0-for-3 on the power play in this game. Needing a strong PK when the Blackhawks finally went on their first power play (1-for-3), the Flyers fell back into a two-goal deficit.
Samuel Ersson had a mediocre night in goal in stopping just 19 of 24 shots. The rest of the time struggled to execute plays on either side of the puck. Overall, it was a poor performance on a night where nothing but two points would suffice.
Chicago got goals from Lukas Reichel (4th), Philipp Kurashev (16th), Nick Foligno (17th), Joey Anderson (4th) and MacKenzie Entwhistle (5th). Arvid Söderblom was credited with 30 saves on 31 shots (final Flyers shot totals were adjusted after the game from 29 to 31).
The Flyers have an off-day on Easter. There was originally a noon practice on the schedule. Practice was also cancelled on Tuesday. The Flyers will host the New York Islanders on Monday evening.
On Saturday night, by virtue of the Washington Capitals earning one point from a shootout loss to the Boston Bruins, the Flyers fell from third place in the Metropolitan Division -- automatic playoff position -- to the lower wildcard seed in the Eastern Conference. The Flyers and Capitals are tied in regulation wins, overtime wins and overall wins. However, Washington holds two games in hand over the Flyers so they moved up in the standings based on points percentage.
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Phantoms Gain a Point
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms trailed the host Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins by a 2-1 score entering the third period before Ian Laperriere's team rallied for two goals on their way earning one standings point on Saturday night. The Baby Pens ultimately forced overtime and won in sudden death, 4-3.
Ethan Samson (2nd), Samu Tuomaala (15th) and Emil Andrae (5th) scored in regulation for the Phantoms. Felix Sandström stopped 31 of 35 shots. The Phantoms were 0-for-2 on the power play and 1-for-4 on the penalty kill.
Corey Andonovski (6th) netted the OT winner for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Radim Zohorna (8th), Austin Rueschhoff (PPG, 10th), and Avery Hayes (1st, scored at 16:28 of the third period) tallied in regulation for the Penguins. Joel Blomqvist made 23 saves on 26 shots.
The Phantoms' regulation tie, paired with the Springfield Thunderbirds losing a 4-3 regulation decision to the Utica Comets on Saturday, gives the Phantoms a two-point lead (with one game in hand) over Springfield in the push for the final Calder Cup playoff spot in the Atlantic Division.
The Phantoms (28-26-9) have a tough schedule upcoming during the week: on the road on Tuesday against the league-leading Hershey Bears (47-12-5), at home on Friday against the Providence Bruins (38-19-7), at home Saturday against the Cleveland Monsters (35-22-7), and then on the road next Sunday with another trip to Wilkes-Barre.
The Thunderbirds (29-30-5) have a Canadian road trip upcoming: Wednesday against the Toronto Marlles (30-22-11), Friday against the Belleville Senators (31-27-6) and against the Laval Rocket (31-27-8) on Saturday.
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