The Philadelphia Flyers entered Thursday night in a state of turmoil. With starting goaltender Sam Ersson already out due to injury, Alexsei Kolosov left the team’s morning skate early and was ruled out with a lower-body injury (day-to-day going forward). That meant Ivan Fedotov, owner of the league’s second-worst save percentage entering Thursday for goalies, was called into action for the first time since Oct. 23.
Yet somehow that wasn’t the biggest controversy around the Flyers’ lineup on Thursday. After alluding to the possibility several times, head coach John Tortorella decided to pull the trigger on healthy scratching Matvei Michkov. The 2023 No. 7 pick and Calder Trophy front-runner scored nine points in the first eight games but has just one in his last five and one 5-on-5 point all season. Anthony Richard (recalled Wednesday when Ryan Poehling was placed on injured reserve) made his Flyers debut in Michkov’s absence.
Despite all that, and spending most of the game trailing, the Flyers pulled out their most impressive win of the season. They drove play against the Bolts and didn’t get frustrated by a quality effort from Andrei Vasilevskiy, who was looking for his 300th victory. It will have to wait, as the Flyers prevailed over the Lightning by a 2-1 final, improving to 2-0 in the shootout this season.
Game Recap
The first period was largely quiet. The teams combined for just one shot through the first eight minutes and for 15 over the first 20 minutes (8-7 Lightning). There were a couple of good saves — Fedotov robbed Connor Geekie at the end of the period’s lone power play roughly eight minutes in, and Vasileskiy denied a breakaway bid from Joel Farabee late in the frame.
But all Nikita Kucherov needs is the smallest opening to make his mark. He sensed that on a 1-on-2 rush with the extra Flyer back a forward (albeit a great defensive one in Sean Couturier). That didn’t stop Kucherov from blowing past Rasmus Ristolainen and beating an out-of-position Fedotov on a wrap-around to give the Lightning the lead with 45 seconds remaining.
Tampa Bay controlled play early in the second period, outshooting the Flyers 9-2 through seven minutes. To the Flyers’ credit, they settled things down from that point and delivered a much more threatening attack. Bobby Brink and Emil Andrae both caught iron, and Noah Cates had the team’s second breakaway of the game (this one coming shorthanded, nonetheless). Yet Vasilevskiy had all the answers, although he wasn’t relied upon much during the Flyers’ first power play after going 1-for-13 in their last five games.
A second Flyers power play early in the third produced some chances, but they failed to light the lamp. Owen Tippett became the third Flyer of the night to hit the post halfway through the period. But just when it felt like the Flyers were going to run out of time, a rising backhander by Tippett snuck past Vasilevskiy for his second goal in as many games.
The game nearly ended in regulation on a last-minute breakaway for Richard, but he couldn’t beat Vasilevskiy. A back-and-forth, up-tempo overtime also solved nothing, sending the Flyers to their first shootout since their season opener. It went as well as it could — Travis Konecny and Tippett scored on glove-side snipes and Fedotov denied a pair of low shots from Gabriel Goncalves and Victor Hedman to secure the victory.
Philadelphia will finish a three-game southern road trip on Saturday against the Florida Panthers. Florida smashed the Nashville Predators on Thursday by a 6-2 score, dropping the Predators (4-9-1) below the Flyers (5-8-1) for the league’s worst record. The Lightning can enjoy the beach for a while, though, as they won’t play for exactly a week when they welcome in the league-leading Winnipeg Jets.
