Flyers-Florida: 5 Observations; Philly Wins Ugly Behind Hart and Climbs into First Place

It was Throwback Thursday at the Wells Fargo Center, as the Philadelphia Flyers paid homage to their teams from the 1960s and 1970s with videos, appearances by former players, and music that had understandable lyrics. (Damn, I sound old.)

On the ice, the Flyers looked like a version of the 1969-70 team (17 wins in 76 games) in the opening 20 minutes Thursday, as they allowed a season-high 19 shots in the period and were badly outplayed and outhustled.

But they recovered, cashing in on their few chances against Sergei Bobrovsky.

Final: Flyers 4, Florida Panthers 3.

Somehow.

The Flyers (5-2) are in first place. The Flyers are in first place. The Flyers are in first place.

They took over the early Metropolitan Division lead despite getting outshot, 51-22.

Repeat: 51-22.

Carter Hart made a career-high 48 saves to spark the Flyers, who have comeback wins in four of their five victories. Philly also received nine blocks from revived defenseman Ivan Provorov (plus-2).

Florida (4-3-1) got to within 4-3 when Brandon Montour scored on a power-play rebound 36 seconds into the third period. But Hart was spectacular the rest of the way.

“We had 104 shot opportunities,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that. The story is their goalie.”

Here are five quick observations.

1. Travis Konecny and Kevin Hayes played well in their first game since their third-period benching Sunday.

Konecny made two great passes to set up first-period goals, and Hayes also had a pair of helpers. They were on a line with Joel Farabee (goal, assist).

“I wanted to respond right away,” Konecny said. “It wasn’t a good effort for me in the previous game  — the last two games, actually — and I wanted to make sure I was doing as much as I could to help the team tonight.”

Coach John Tortorella said he has never had an issue with how hard Konecny plays.  Konecny was sloppy with the puck in the Sunday’s 3-0 loss to San Jose.

“I thought he played really well (tonight). I thought Kevin played really well, with a lot of ice time,” Tortorella said.

Konecny played 22:14, Hayes played 19:55.

TK with another eye-opening assist. https://t.co/GRT94xnSlp

— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) October 28, 2022

2. Carter Hart rebounded from a rough first period.

Hart has been one of the NHL’s best goaltenders early in the season, but he will not put Thursday’s first eight minutes on his highlight reel.

He fought the puck and didn’t have his bearings, allowing Gustav Forsling’s shot to squirt through him, then giving up a fat rebound that Josh Mahura deposited from a difficult angle.

Hart entered the night among the NHL’s leaders in wins (4), GAA (1.75), and save percentage (.949).

To his credit, Hart (5-0) rebounded superbly Thursday, and finished with 48 saves on 51 shots. Florida had a shooting gallery over the last part of the third period.

“He made some big saves at key times,” Tortorella said.

Said Hayes: “Hartsy’s been our backbone the whole year. We’ve got five wins and he’s the main reason for all of them. ”

Draws big roar at WFC. #Flyers #Phillies pic.twitter.com/8yX1LsiOXM

— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) October 28, 2022

3. Philly has been good in the second period so far. Honest.

A year ago, the Flyers frequently collapsed in the second period and did not recover. They were outscored, 103-71, in the second.

In a small sample size, there’s been a revival so far through seven games this season. The Philadelphia Flyers have outscored their opponents, 8-4, in the second. They took a 4-2 lead Thursday with a 2-0 second period.

Zack MacEwen (tip-in of Nick Seeler’s shot) and Farabee scored 1:12 apart to snap a 2-2 tie.

4. Right winger Owen Tippett and defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen shook off the rust.

Both returned from injuries. Ristolainen played for the first time this season, while Tippett returned for the first time since the opener. They both had uneventful first periods, but got better as they game progressed.

Tippett contributed an assist, and Ristolainen had some big hits.

5. You won’t see a prettier goal than the one scored by Tony DeAngelo.

A slick passing play from Farabee and Konecny led to DeAngelo’s second goal of the season, knotting the score at 1-1 with 13:19 left in the first. Konecny took a feed from Farabee and put a backhanded pass to DeAngelo (four blocks, seven shot attempts), who had an open net from the left circle.

Breakaways

Florida’s Alexsander Barkov (15) and Matthew Tkachuk (14) combined for 29 shot attempts. … Defenseman Justin Braun got hit with a puck and went to the locker room for repairs early in the third period. He returned to the ice about five minutes later. … Nick Deslauriers delivered six hits for the Flyers. … The Flyers played seven defensemen. … Philly had 32 blocked shots. … The Panthers defeated the Flyers, 4-3, on Oct. 19. … The Flyers host Carolina on Saturday.

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