Tyler Pitlick
With goals from Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier, the Flyers managed to secure their second shootout win in eight days, this time beating the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 in the shootout and 3-2 in the game. Observations from the Flyers shootout win over Toronto.
Sean Couturier had the heroics, scoring the game-winning goal on a shot that leaked through Price in the Flyers 3-2 win over the Canadiens on Thursday night, a just reward for the team that had dominated for most of regulation. Here are some observations from the Flyers overtime win.
A fortunate goal got the score even and somehow the game was tied after one period. From there, the Flyers played the dominant forechecking game they have proven to be capable of and actually kept the game in their favor for some time. They got the game to overtime, earned a solid point in the standings, before falling in a marathon shootout that went 11 rounds in a 4-3 defeat to Toronto.
In two straight games, the Flyers have not been close to competitive and played atrocious defense, certainly alarming signs with more divisional games still to come.
It wasn’t a five-goal rally from down 4-0, but the Flyers’ third-period performance, scoring five goals in the final 10 minutes of the game, helped change the course in a game that would have had a very different result a year ago.
After a fairly sloppy and wide-open first period against the Blackhawks, the Flyers started to tighten things up in the second and third periods, playing a solid all-around game. It’s only the first step to having a better start than in years past, but very early on you saw the potential the Flyers have to offer.
The Flyers final 23-man roster includes three injured players on the non-roster injured list — but not long-term injury list — and 20 active players. There are a total of 11 forwards and seven defensemen on the roster. To complete the final cuts, Joel Farabee and Phil Myers were sent down to the AHL.
There is one final tuneup for the Flyers in the preseason, and this one is a special exhibition. The Flyers will face one of Switzerland’s teams in Lausanne HC to close out the 2019 preseason on Monday afternoon.
The Flyers have a Thursday night meeting with the New York Rangers, where they will dress a lineup very close to what can be expected in the regular season. Game time is 7 p.m.
Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher announced seven additional roster cuts on Tuesday that bring the roster to 27 with just two games remaining in the preseason and two days left until the team heads to Europe.
