Instant reactions: Travis Sanheim, Dan Vladar HUGE in Flyers OT win

Watch PHLY Flyers Postgame

Before we get into the game, I have to ask, why not wear the purple Hockey Fights Cancer jerseys in the actual game? They’re cool as hell. And you could auction them for a lot more, I’d think. Anyway, it’s the Annual Hockey Fights Cancer Game, and Jason Myrtetus is dropping the puck for the ceremonial faceoff between Flyers captain Sean Couturier and St. Louis Blues captain Brayden Schenn. Jason joked he might try to toss Schenn from the circle. I’m hoping he does it. Damn, he didn’t. Well, still a cool moment, regardless.

After another start to the game that saw the Flyers trailing early, they battled back in, you guessed it… OVERTIME!

Dan Vladar was awesome for the Flyers again, and Rodrigo Abols scored his first goal/point of the season in a game that saw his line with Nic Deslauriers and Garnet Hathaway play pretty well.

There were some tense moments, a lot of sloppy passes, and some head-scratching moments, but ultimately the Flyers came away with a couple of points against the Blues once again. WOOOOO!

First period

Interesting start! The trio of Matvei Michkov, Sean Couturier and Bobby Brink start the game. Coots wins the faceoff but misses a pass from Jamie Drysdale for an icing 10 seconds in and on the ensuing faceoff, Drysdale turns it over in the corner that results in a big chance out front, but Dan Vladar made the save in tight.

Trevor Zegras, Christian Dvorak and Owen Tippett replace them and nearly pick up where they left off last week against the Blues when they accounted for all 5 Flyers goals in regulation and the lone shootout goal, getting a near-chance that Zegras couldn’t quite do anything with. I think we’re looking at another high-scoring affair.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the Flyers are trailing early. Justin Faulk takes a bank-pass off the wall and bombed a one-timer from the right point over Vladar’s far shoulder (did it hit something) to make it 1-0 Blues5:30 into the game. The shot appeared to hit the knob of Vladar’s stick and ricochet into the net. Pretty damn good shot, but maybe not the best goal to allow.

Jake Neighbours nearly made it 2-0 a few seconds later, getting a breakaway on Vladar, but he appeared to lose control trying to go five-hole, but Vladar was closed enough to secure the puck and freeze it. NOT A GREAT START! On second look, it seems like Neighbours was going for the let-it-slide five-hole move where he continues the deke without the puck to open the goalie up. Good move, good save.

This is the 13th time in 19 games Philly has allowed the first goal. Somehow they’re 6-4-2 in the first 12.

Brink draws a penalty battling low in the o-zone. Colton Parayko to the box for hooking… PECOOOOOO!

The Michkov unit had some possession time, but mostly on the perimeter. With 30 seconds left in the minor the Zegras unit got on and got a chance or two but nothing too threatening. The Flyers are now 0-for-21 on the power play in their last nine-plus games against St. Louis, according to Jim Jackson.

Zegras is now headed to the box, and it seems like the refs are going to be calling stick work tight tonight, based on these first two calls. Two minutes for hooking, and here comes the third-ranked Flyers PK. They don’t come through this time, as Neighbours wins a battle, eventually gets the puck back and feeds Faulk for his second of the game and third against the Flyers in under four (regulation) periods since last week.

The Zegras line gets another chance, with Trevor feeding Dvorak in front but Joel Hofer recovered in time to stone him. This line has been on offense every shift it seems, despite being minus-1. The fourth line follows up with a little o-zone time, their second decent shift of the game. They’ve gotta score eventually, maybe tonight’s the night!

Coots gets his stick slashed in half with 1:50 left, and NO CALL!

After a few scrambley moments on defense in the final 40 seconds the Flyers tried to get something going on offense before the horn, but couldn’t break through for a chance, and the period ends. The Blues lead 2-0, but small victory- Philly won the shot battle 12-9(!)

The FlyGuys are 3-2-2 (.571 points-percentage) when trailing after the first, so the possibility of at least extracting a point is very much alive despite yet another early deficit.

Second period

The Flyers have had a handful of scoring opportunities in the first three or four minutes off a few Blues turnovers and a couple nice pass sequences for break-ins, but Hofer and his 4.04 GAA has shut the door. Rodrigo Abols and his fourth line have been on the attack to start this period again, but are yet to convert. They’ve looked pretty good tonight.

The Zegras line takes the fourth line’s lead and has a dangerous shift, eventually forcing an icing, and the Michkov line applied pressure afterwards, but the Blues survived and eventually got a line change.

Philly hasn’t been bad, they just haven’t quite been able to make the one or two plays they need to breakthrough in these first 27 minutes of action. Flyers lead shot battle 17-13 with 12:59 left. The Flyers have also missed the net nine times and have had another 11 attempts blocked so far. They’re spending time on offense, but not getting enough going. Total attempts are now 38-23 in favor of the Orange & Black approaching the halfway point.

Another chance for Abols with the fourth line in transition, but Hofer gloves it. Rodrigo has three SOG to lead the Flyers with 9:23 left in the period. After the whistle Garnet Hathaway stirs things up after the whistle, maybe that’s the shift that gets the rest of the boys going.

Noah Juulsen got burned in the neutral zone, allowing Alexey Toropchenko to get in alone on Vladar off an outlet pass, but Vladar was there and the attempt seemed to go wide. Vladar has allowed the two goals, but he’s erased a lot of big mistakes, as well.

Outside of another short foray into the offensive zone by the fourth line, it has been all Blues since the midway point of the period. St. Louis is even with Philly in shots this period (7-7), but have definitely been carrying play much more than in the first.

RODRIGO ABOLS SCORES! Getting some time, apparently, with Zegras and Owen Tippett, the wingers make some plays to hold possession and work it down low, and a nice feed from below the goal line from Tippett finds Abols in front for his first goal of the year. After Abols scored he was joined by his regular linemates and nearly set up Nicolas Deslauriers with the game-tying goal, but they couldn’t connect.

And after building that momentum, Emil Andrae loses control of the biscuit and recovers by hooking Pavel Buchnevich to send the Blues to the power play. A much more aggressive PK kills the first half of the penalty to end the period, and now will have to finish it off with 47 seconds of PK time to start the third.

Shots were nine a piece in the period, with Philly holding a 21-18 advantage for the game. Shot attempts favor the Flyers 45-32. This game is once again well within reach, but they have to test Hofer, who entered the game with a .867 save-percentage (sixth worst for goalies with at least five appearances) more than they have. Twenty-one shots is a good number for this team through 40 minutes, but far too many attempts haven’t reached Hofer.

Third period

St. Louis was credited with another SOG at intermission, so it’s 21-19 for Philadelphia. Vladar probably appreciates the slight save-percentage bump.

The Flyers kill the final 47 seconds of penalty time and almost get something going with Zegras breaking in and dropping to Tyson Foerster, but Colton Parayko made a nice play to get back and take away Tyson’s stick before he could catch the pass.

Forty-six minutes into this game, Matvei Michkov has played 11:35 and has no shots on goal, and only one missed attempt. Michkov, Coots and Brink have played 6:37 together at 5v5, and have been out attempted 8-5, and have an xGF% of 25.10. Not ideal.

What is ideal though is a PECOOOOOO POWER PLAY! Pius Suter tripped up Zegras and now the Flyers have a chance to tie the game with 12:54 left in regulation.

Philly won the opening draw back to Drysdale who teed up a one-timer for Zegras, but he caught iron. That would have been sweet.

Zegras nearly tied it again, but this time Hofer ROBBED him! Brink walked out front and fed Zegras on the backdoor, but somehow Hofer got over and got enough of his glove on the puck to direct it into the post and out of danger, then getting the whistle. Damn, man. Sometimes it just isn’t your night, I guess. Some great chances, but no goal on that power play. Let’s see if they maintain momentum.

After the penalty the fourth line gets their regular shift, and as good as they’ve been tonight, I want Zegras back out there after the Michkov unit got the final 30-or-so seconds of the penalty. He was SO CLOSE, get him another shift. I assume he’ll be out there after the break, but now it’s a d-zone draw after Vladar takes his second shot of the night off his mask, forcing it off for a stop.

TYSON FOERSTER TIES IT! Emil Andrae makes a nice play to keep a puck at the top and dish it quickly to Foerster who uncorked a one-timer from the LW circle to beat Hofer and erase a third two-goal deficit against the Blues in a week. Foerster needs more of those trigger-man opportunities from his off-wing. He can be deadly if he gets more shots from that spot.

That’s TyFo’s first goal since he got hurt on November 1st.

Vladar, and Andrae in front of him, combined to stop St. Louis from going ahead with about three minutes left, with the netminder making a pair of saves in tight, and Andrae blocking a third rebound attempt that leaked out to the far side. Vladar has been excellent since the first period, and Andrae has been noticeable all night.

In the final minute, TK somehow missed a gaping net, after Hofer went behind the net to stop a dump-in but bounced weird off the glass right to Konecny in front, but the rolling puck hit the side of the net. Un-f’n-believable.

Overtime

Of course we’re in OT. This is Philly’s fourth OT game in their last five, and ninth in 19 games overall.

The Blues played a lot of possession without any chances early, but it opened up, and luckily Vladar is really good. He robbed Jordan Kyrou on a cross-crease feed to keep the game tied.

TRAVIS SANHEIM WINS IT!

The Flyers finally get the puck back, Sanheim broke it out to start a 2-on-1 and he kept it the whole way and ripped a wrister by Hofer for the win. I assumed Coots was offside, but nope, Flyers win after trailing again!

Watch PHLY Flyers Postgame