Flyers Notes: Owen Tippett Shines, Mind-Blowing Injury List Grows

The Philadelphia Flyers’ losing streak stretched to six straight Saturday night in Montreal.

Don’t blame Owen Tippett.

The big right winger played the game of his life.

Tippett had a pair of goals and a staggering 17 shot attempts (six on goal) in the Flyers’ excruciating 5-4 shootout loss to the Canadiens.

Acquired last season in the deal that sent Claude Giroux to Florida, Tippett has six goals in 13 games this season. A year ago, he scored six goals in 42 games with the Panthers

Saturday marked the first multi-goal game of his career.

“It’s frustrating when you lose six in a row,” Tippett, 23, said after the Flyers slipped to 7-7-4. “The work ethic is there, and you just don’t get the results you want. It’s tough and it’s frustrating, but I think as a team we come to work every night, and we know that it’s going to turn hopefully soon.”

Montreal (9-8-1) sent the game into overtime when Cole Caufield scored with 1.9 seconds left in regulation. Caufield had two goals and an assist. The Flyers bypassed on him twice in the 2019 draft.

By the way, one of Tippett’s goals was scored on a faceoff. Check it out:

Sneaky, sneaky. #PHIvsMTL | #FueledByPhilly pic.twitter.com/Wu3Vq51tnj

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) November 20, 2022

Road trip numbers

The Flyers went 0-1-2 on the road trip, one in which they lost Travis Konecny and Scott Laughton to injuries. They were outscored, 13-9 on the trip, and went 2 for 10 on the power play and just 4 for 8 on the penalty kill.

They now are missing six of their top forwards: Sean Couturier, Cam Atkinson, Konecny, Laughton, James van Riemsdyk, and Wade Allison.

Scotty Bowman would be hard-pressed to win in this situation.

Konecny appeared to injure his right hand, and Laughton has an apparent head injury. The Flyers haven’t announced how much time they will miss.

Hart needs help

Carter Hart allowed 13 goals over the three-game road trip, but didn’t get much support from his teammates. He was hung out to dry way too often.

Hart was among the NHL’s leaders in several goalie stats in the season’s first month, but his numbers have dropped considerably. He is now 6-3-4 with a 2.65 GAA and .922 save percentage.

Frost makes strides

Center Morgan Frost (plus-1) started the Montreal game on the top line with wingers Joel Farabee and Tippett. He had his second straight strong game as he was active down both ends of the ice in 23:13 of playing time. In the shootout, he beat goalie Jake Allen, but both posts denied him of a goal.

In the previous game, a 4-1 loss in Boston, Frost had four shots and won eight of 12 faceoffs. Baby steps.

Breakaways

The Philadelphia Flyers are 7-7-4 and have lost six straight; they were 8-6-4 at a corresponding point last season and in the middle of a 10-game losing streak. … Kevin Hayes has a five-game point streak, during which he has three goals and three assists. … The Flyers won just 34.6% of the faceoffs in Montreal. … The Habs won despite having 26 giveaways — 21 more than the Flyers. … In Saturday’s game, Tony DeAngelo played a career-high 31:24. He became the sixth defenseman in franchise history with two or more games with 31-plus minutes, joining Matt Carle (2), Eric Desjardins (9), Derian Hatcher (2), Kim Johnsson (4), and Chris Pronger (3), per the Flyers.

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