Flyers Survive Visiting Kraken, Win Third Straight, 3-2

The Philadelphia Flyers clearly weren’t happy with how they finished their game against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night. The Seattle Kraken, who played their first game since Jan. 30 – a 2-0 loss to the San Jose Sharks, lost, 3-2, at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday night.

Scott Laughton had a first period to remember. Laughton, linked in trade rumors for most of the month, was everywhere, blocking shots, gassing it to get a breakaway at the end of a shift, and eventually going bar-down on a one-timer from the right circle to give the Flyers a power play goal and a 1-0 lead.

This was probably the best game I’ve seen from No. 21 since the late fall.

Cal Petersen made his first start for the Flyers since Nov. 11 and looked rather strong in the crease in the opening frame. The 29-year-old was, however, unlucky to have been beaten on the Kraken’s first goal. Tomas Tatar’s shot from the high slot beat him through traffic, though Philadelphia had a case for offside and John Tortorella challenged the goal. The goal was awarded after several minutes of review, though the ruling truthfully could have gone either way.

Flyers’ Power Kill Returns

With the game now tied 1-1 and the Flyers playing short-handed for the failed challenge, the vaunted power kill stepped back up and into the spotlight once again. Ryan Poehling scored his second shorty in as many games, giving Joey Daccord the snake eyes before flicking a hard, low shot through the five hole. With his goal, Poehling tied his career-high in points, with 17.

“I actually love that move. I think I tried a lot in the summertime and actually scored last year on the PK against San Jose,” Poehling said of his goal. “So just making it look like you’re gonna pass and you got nothing on it, just throw it five-hole and worst case, you got to rebound. So, I’ve been doing it for a bit and it worked out there.”

The middle frame featured more back-and-forth play from the two teams, though the Flyers again had the better share of chances. To be certain, Philadelphia could have added two or three more goals. The first line of Owen Tippett, Sean Couturier, and Travis Konecny had an excellent shift that ended in an easy Daccord glove save.

Daccord lost his stick a few shifts later, but the Flyers failed to get a shot on goal during those few seconds. The Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, and Cam Atkinson line also had their way with the Kraken on the cycle, but Daccord just got a blocker to Sean Walker’s shot from the high slot and knocked it up into the safety netting.

Closing Out Games

Given their dominance, it seemed the Flyers were destined to close this one out with relative ease. That is, until Sean Couturier fell asleep in the D-zone to allow the Kraken to gain possession, and then deflected Jared McCann’s shot past Petersen to tie the game at 2-2.

Philadelphia spent the next five minutes mostly scrambling in their own zone like they had ants in their pants. Adam Larsson’s giveaway at the blueline sprung Joel Farabee loose down the left wing for a 2-on-1, but Daccord made the stop. On the ensuing faceoff, though, Sean Couturier deflected a Travis Sanheim point shot to atone for his mistake and restore the Flyers’ lead at 3-2.

Konecny drew an interference penalty to give the team an opportunity to put a nail in the coffin with just under 10 minutes to go, but the Flyers instead moved to 1-for-4 on the power play. Philadelphia was subsequently forced to rely on their forecheck and puck management to kill off, which they did so successfully.

The Flyers won, 3-2.

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