Instant reactions: Owen Tippett HAT TRICK delivers HUGE victory in Detroit

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The Philadelphia Flyers needed a regulation win in Detroit, and Owen Tippett was the spark to keep the Stanley Cup Playoff dream alive, and ending their postseason drought before it reaches a franchise record sixth straight season.

It certainly wasn’t easy, as much as it felt like it would be, until the Red Wings woke up with five minutes left, netting three goals in two and a half minutes to make it 4-3, but after a Detroit siege, finally got to a loose puck, fed it over to Sean Couturier who found the empty net with two minutes remaining to restore a two-goal advantage for the Orange & Black.

That was way more dramatic than it needed to be, but what the Flyers needed was to come into Detroit, pick up two points and deny the Wings any, and they did just that.

First period

Highlight: Owen Tippett stays hot, netting his 25th of the season on a break, set up by strong defense from Denver Barkey and Trevor Zegras, with Barkey’s strong positioning leading to a Zegras interception in the neutral zone, then a quick-up to Tippett who got behind the defense and buried the puck five-hole. But it may have been only his second-best play of the period, although this oother ridiculous chance didn’t end with a goal.

What I want to see next period: Match Detroit’s physicality, and get some more rubber on net. The Flyers got a few shots in the final five minutes, but sat around two, three, four shots on goal for the majority of the period. They weren’t vastly outplayed, but the shot disparity was a little disconcerting for most of the frame. But, by the end, Philly actually outshot the Red Wings 8-7, and out-attempting them 15-14. With Detroit having played Buffalo last night, and Jon Gibson making the back-to-back starts, working him more, and hitting the Wings’ on the forecheck, could pay off late in this game.

Second period

Highlight: Dan Vladar STONES Patrick Kane. In the first period, the ABC broadcast could not help but flash back to Kane’s Cup-winning goal in 2010, in service of letting us know Michael Leighton now serves as the Detroit goalie coach. But in the second, Kane appeared to have a slam dunk on the back door during the Wings’ first power play, but Vladar was in perfect position to take the bottom of the net away with his pad, and deny the bid with the heel of his glove.

Owen Tippett netted his second of the game and Noah Cates tallied on the power play to put the Orange & Black up 3-0 in the second half of the period, as well, and this is a very solid performance through 40 minutes in a big spot against an opponent also fighting for the Stanley Cup Playoff lives. There was a scare with 1:16 left in the period, when it appeared Mo Seider cashed in on the power play to make it 3-1, but Alex DeBrincat was offside eight seconds prior, and the goal was disallowed. Near the end of the period, still killing the penalty, Vladar made another big save on a great chance from the slot to keep Detroit without a goal through 40 minutes.

What I want to see next period: Just be freakin’ smart. No dumb penalties, no blind passes. Just get pucks on net and establish the forecheck, after killing the final 19 seconds of Emil Andrae’s tripping minor.

Third period

Highlight: OWEN TIPPETT COMPLETES THE HAT TRICK! Tippett got took a reverse pass from Jamie Drysdale regrouping to breakout on the power play, and #74 took it the length of the ice, threading his way through a soft Red Wings’ defense and chased Jon Gibson with a rip from in-close to put Philadelphia up 4-0 with under 14 minutes to play in the third.

Final note: Really impressive push in the third to not just protect the lead, but add to it. It looked like Christian Dvorak had put the Orange & Black up 4-0 shortly after the leftover penalty minutes from the second expired, but a sloppy pass and entry by Alex Bump, who would’ve got the primary assist on the play, negated the goal after review. But still, I love the aggressiveness, and the Flyers kept it up throughout the period to ensure a BIG win against a Red Wings team also desperate to end a playoff drought.

LOL, I clearly wrote that paragraph before the final five minutes, because…

Unfortunately, they couldn’t keep the pedal to the medal late, surrendering three goals when it all looked over, making the final 3:40 very interesting. But luckily, Tippett and Sean Couturier teamed up for the empty-netter and all is well in Flyers land for at least 20 hours, or so.

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