The Detroit Red Wings (13-14-4) are trying to claw their way into a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, and they came one step closer to doing that on Dec. 18 against the Philadelphia Flyers (14-14-4). Their 6-4 home-ice victory was a hard-fought one in a back-and-forth contest.
Game Recap
Travis Konecny opened the scoring for the Flyers on a breakaway, with assists coming from Joel Farabee and Sean Couturier. The signs of this one being a goal fest came early, seeing as it took the 27-year-old winger just 1:06 to break the ice.
At the end of the opening frame, the Red Wings responded on the power play. J.T. Compher struck in the second half of a double-minor courtesy of assists from captain Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond.
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Alex DeBrincat gave Detroit their first lead of the night with an assist from Patrick Kane. The latter has had a slow start to his age-36 campaign, although it’s hard to blame him considering his recent injury history. That assist helped him reach his first two-game point streak since October.
The Flyers responded within 25 seconds, however. Noah Cates caught a piece of a Tyson Foerster shot to knot the game up 2-2. Nick Seeler got the secondary assist.
The Red Wings responded in the last four minutes of the second period. Michael Rasmussen struck right off the draw from Compher. Just over a minute later, Joe Veleno doubled the lead off a 2-on-0 feed from Christian Fischer.
Ryan Poehling got the Flyers back in the game in the third period, with assists from Couturier and Travis Sanheim. It took a bit longer than Detroit’s two-goal turnaround, but Philadelphia made it back-to-back tallies in just under two minutes when Owen Tippett made a statement. Scott Laughton and Jamie Drysdale got assists to make it 4-4.
Kane hadn’t scored a goal since Nov. 13 and had one goal since Oct. 24, but he came up big against the Flyers (why does that sound familiar?). His tally put the Red Wings up 5-4, setting up Raymond’s empty-net finisher at 18:48. Moritz Seider got the assist on Kane’s goal, while Larkin notched a helper on Raymond’s.
Kaner. Short side. Game-winner.
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 19, 2024
Our @xfinity game-changing moment! pic.twitter.com/cr0WBDVQPu
It wasn’t pretty between the pipes, but former Flyer netminder Alex Lyon got the job done with 15 saves on 19 shots. Samuel Ersson turned aside 18 of 23 shots on goal for Philadelphia.
What’s Next for the Flyers & Red Wings?
Falling to a .500 points percentage, the Flyers won’t have an easy time picking themselves up in their next match. They face the high-flying Los Angeles Kings on Dec. 19 at Wells Fargo Center. As for the Red Wings, they’ll stay at Little Caesars Arena to face the Montreal Canadiens on Dec. 20.
