Despite back-to-back frustrating late-game losses to the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins, the Philadelphia Flyers received some good news before Sunday night’s game with the Utah Hockey Club: Defenseman Jamie Drysdale (out since Nov. 9) and goaltender Samuel Ersson (out since Nov. 11) were both activated from injured reserve and suited up, giving the team a welcomed boost.
However, the visitors dictated play for most of Sunday night’s game, the second half of a back-to-back for both. Utah gained the upper hand in a high-scoring second period and kept the Flyers from turning the tide in the third, winning both games on their brief two-game road swing. After defeating the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 yesterday, the Utah Hockey Club prevailed in their first trip to Philadelphia by a 4-2 final.
Game Recap
After an early flurry of chances, the two teams largely settled into their games in the first period. Utah finished the first on a solid note but the game remained scoreless after 20 minutes.
The Utah Hockey Club would take their game to the next level early in the second period, although they were a bit fortunate to grab the first goal when a Michael Carcone centering pass bounced in off Rasmus Ristolainen’s skate. But the Flyers weren’t phased, with Joel Farabee ending a 12-game goal drought by burying a rebound 19 seconds later.
The teams traded goals once more in the middle period. Juuso Valimaki scored his first of the season to regain the lead, with the defenseman deflecting in a shot by his partner Mikhail Sergachev. This time, Owen Tippett would return fire, burying a long-range wrister for his fourth goal in as many games after tallying the same amount of goals in the team’s first 24 games.
But after a big save by Jaxson Stauber on a short-handed break for Scott Laughton, the Utah Hockey Club finally grabbed a lead they could sustain. A quick centering pass from Dylan Guenther turned into a beautiful backhand goal by Logan Cooley, deftly darting around Ersson and sliding the puck in for a power-play goal, the seventh surrendered by the Flyers in their last four games.
Philadelphia appeared to tie the game on a goal by Drysdale early in the third, but goaltender interference on Travis Konecny took it off the board. Then, the Flyers handed the game away in the late stages when Morgan Frost missed a drop pass resulting in a short-handed breakaway for Kevin Stenlund that he did not miss on.
Suddenly, the Flyers have gone from one of the league’s hottest teams to losers of three straight, with third-period faceplants in each game. The Flyers will now go on the road for three of their next four games, although only one (Saturday at Minnesota) is against a playoff team. Utah briefly returns home Tuesday against those same Wild before another two-game road swing.
