Hockey fans in the Pacific Northwest could be forgiven for taking Monday night off. On paper, a regular season game for the Seattle Kraken against a middling, cross-country opponent such as the Philadelphia Flyers doesn’t hold a candle to the Seattle Mariners’ first Game 7 and the pursuit of their first World Series berth in nearly 50 years of existence.
However, those who did fixate on the action at Xfinity Mobile Arena were treated to some excitement. 2024 top-10 pick Berkly Catton made his NHL debut with Jared McCann out of the lineup due to injury, jumping right onto the top line with top-10 selections Matty Beniers and Jordan Eberle. But ultimately, fans were better off switching to the baseball once it began early in the second period. Two goals separated by just 33 seconds helped the Flyers gain control of the game. The Flyers prevailed by a 5-2 final, winning three of four games in their first homestand of the season.
Game Recap
After consecutive games in which the Flyers allowed fewer than 20 shots, Monday’s game got off to a surprisingly wide-open start. Turnovers and rush chances were plentiful before the first TV timeout, with players up and down both lineups coming close to capitalizing. But the biggest turnovers, both of which resulted in each team’s first tally, were from the goalies.
One game after setting up an overtime winner by keeping a puck in his glove in play, Dan Vladař made an ill-advised backhand pass right to Catton just over seven minutes in. Seconds later, Vladař was fishing the puck out of his net, as a seeing-eye shot from Cale Fleury bounced off of Eberle, giving Seattle the early lead and Catton his first NHL point via secondary assist.
Even though Christmas is still two months away, Joey Daccord decided to join his fellow netminder in the giving spirit. While Vladař was too quick to move the puck, Daccord’s gaffe came from excess patience, as Sean Couturier practically swiped the puck right off his stick. It slid to the left point for a Nick Seeler shot that was partially blocked, but not enough to keep it from finding the red-hot Owen Tippett. Moved up to the top line with Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny, Tippett lit the lamp for the fourth straight game by chipping the puck in on its way to the cage, tying his career best goal streak (set from Nov. 10-18, 2023).
Tyson Foerster, perhaps not appreciating someone already passing his season-opening three-game stretch for longest Flyer goal-scoring streak of the season, gave the Flyers the lead a few moments later with a power-play goal. But don’t think all is well and good for Philadelphia on the man advantage; they spent 2:29 at 5-on-4 in the period and, while they did score, also managed to take a penalty, allow a 2-on-1, and allow a breakaway. Vladař was able to bail them out on the two chances (as well as a bouncing puck eluding John Hayden’s reach), but it wasn’t pretty.
However, only one of the teams was able to carry their strong offensive play into the second period. The Flyers hounded the Kraken out of the break, with Tippett and the vaunted Foerster, Noah Cates, and Bobby Brink line generating early chances. But it was the Flyers’ two slumping Russians, Matvei Michkov and Egor Zamula, that really made things happen. Two cross-ice passes on the rush between the two led to a backdoor goal from Travis Konecny, a three-way spell of catharsis. Zamula had been healthy scratched in two of the previous three games. Michkov has been benched in tight third periods and overtimes frequently. Konecny’s goal-scoring woes from last season’s second half were carrying over to the new campaign. Then, in one gorgeous sequence, all of that frustration dissipated.
Instead of responding with offense, Seattle went back to the penalty kill less than 30 seconds later when Hayden took a roughing penalty in the middle of this rather physical contest, which included a spirited scrap in the first period between Fleury and Nikita Grebenkin. This time, the Flyers scored a goal that required no caveats; they quickly gained position and extended the lead to 4-1 on a Noah Cates deflection.
Not to be shown up, Seattle’s man advantage had a quick response of their own. Jani Nyman had been robbed on a power-play one-timer in the first period thanks to a great lateral push by Vladař, but he had no chance on this occasion thanks to a silky dish by Matty Beniers. However, the Flyers kept their foot on the gas, restoring their three-goal lead on Tippett’s second tally of the night. Yes, this one did have a bit of odor on it, as Daccord certainly could’ve come up with the short-side wrister that barely crept across the goal-line. But someone who shoots as often as Tippett is bound to catch some breaks, especially when he’s hitting the net and especially with the heater he’s on right now.
The third period featured some fireworks, namely a Ryan Lindgren-Travis Konecny fight after Tye Kartye was stung by a big hit from Tippett. But the Kraken never threatened the Flyers’ three-goal advantage, allowing the home side to skate away with its most dominant performance of the young season.
There’s still plenty of home action on the horizon for the Flyers, but they will make a quick detour north on Thursday to play the Ottawa Senators. Seattle, which suffered its first regulation loss in this game, has a fast turnaround as they face the Washington Capitals Tuesday night, the fifth contest of a season-tying long six-game road trip.
