The Philadelphia Flyers got back in the win column with their 6-3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks. This marks the second win in the Flyers’ last seven contests, becoming a necessary victory for them to start changing the tides of their season. What were some of the takeaways from the game?
Foerster Starting to Emerge
It hasn’t always been rainbows and sunshine for forward Tyson Foerster this season, with him entering this game having no goals and two assists in 12 games. It has certainly been a struggle, but he is showing signs of turning a corner. With an assist in this game and him generating chances offensively, it could be argued that he had his best game of the season.
Foerster had pretty lofty expectations entering the season, primarily due to him scoring seven points in his only eight games of NHL action last season. The points haven’t been easy to come by so far, but it seems as though he is starting to emerge as a solid player for the Flyers.
Related: Flyers Should Keep Foerster in the NHL… For Now
Foerster is still just 21 years of age, so his early dry spell might be nothing to worry about. Improvement is the biggest thing to look out for, and his forechecking this season has only continued to get better. His relentlessness offensively helped the Flyers score a goal, and he had a good match beyond that. It shouldn’t be long before he comes across his first goal of the season with signs of some early progression beginning to show.
Ersson Has Found His Game
After a slow start to the season, goaltender Sam Ersson has had three solid starts in a row. This one might have been his best, and is indicative that this is the play that he is capable of moving forward. His effort against the Ducks might have been his best of the entire season, trending him in the right direction.
He wasn’t even meant to play in this game, but it was announced that there would be a change in plans due to Carter Hart coming down with an unexpected illness. Ersson took that opportunity and ran with it, being one of the Flyers’ best players in this game.
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Ersson had his work cut out for him with all the quality chances he faced. His 35 saves on 38 shots don’t truly indicate how great he was in goal, as he faced very dangerous chances including multiple 2-on-1 opportunities. He had to be sharp for the full 60 minutes with the Ducks pushing until the very end. They would score a goal in the last two minutes to put a dent in his final stats, but it was still very clear that he was a difference maker for the Orange and Black in this one.
Sanheim Continues to Produce Offensively
Travis Sanheim has been one of the most improved Flyers of the season, showing his value on the offensive side. With only seven players in the entire league having more assists than him, it has been an offensive explosion for him thus far. He has truly turned the page on a rotten season in 2022-23, and is now having arguably the best season of his entire career.
Sanheim became a victim to trade rumors in the offseason, but that has seemingly lit a spark under him. He is producing the most offense that he has ever seen, while being solid in his own end, too. It is not easy to come back from a down season, but he has done so with flying colors. He has become a reliable first-pairing defenseman, and nothing has suggested that his play will fall back to where it was just a few months ago.
Sanheim’s point production as a whole may be unsustainable, scoring another three points and adding a brilliant goal to his highlight reel. He is sitting at 14 points in 14 games which likely doesn’t continue for him, but his play has been much more than fluking into a few points. Helping set up numerous Flyer chances this season, there has been a reason why he has come across such a high quantity of production. Head coach John Tortorella has preached aggressiveness out of the team, and that is exactly what he has done. It has resulted in his best start to a season of his NHL career.
Discipline Must Be Improved
The Flyers played a solid game, but their discipline was certainly an issue. Taking five penalties in the second half of the game, they nearly cost their goaltender what was a very impressive effort and arguably his best game of the season. Anaheim struck twice on the man advantage, making Ersson suffer the worst of anyone.
The Flyers didn’t necessarily do a bad job on the penalty kill, but a kill rate of 67 percent isn’t necessarily the best. The quality of the Flyers’ play shorthanded wasn’t the issue, but rather, the quantity at which it was happening. They took a few needless penalties, which is something that cannot continue to happen in the future. Their poor discipline didn’t haunt them here, but it will end up mattering if they cannot improve upon it.
The Flyers haven’t been the most disciplined team in the league, but it also hasn’t really come back to bite them, either. Their penalty kill has been a strength, but taking unnecessary penalties could detract from that. It didn’t cost them the game, but it should still be a teaching moment.
The Flyers are back in action on the road against the Los Angeles Kings on Nov. 11 for a back-to-back. The team that defeated them 5-0 in their last matchup, the Orange and Black will be looking for revenge.
