Speaking to reporters on Friday, John Tortorella said he wasn’t worried about the Flyers getting up to play their last game before the 4 Nations Face-Off break.
After all, the team was on a five-game losing streak and had lost seven of the last eight. Plus, as the coach noted, they were playing their Keystone State rival, the Pittsburgh Penguins.
It wasn’t the prettiest game, but the result is all that matters: a 3-2 win Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
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Things started well: Less than two minutes into the game, the Flyers took a 1-0 lead. Andrei Kuzmenko chipped the puck off the boards in the defensive zone to Scott Laughton, who sent it to Travis Konecny to complete the breakout.
Skating down three-on-two, Konecny sent the puck back to Laughton as he got behind the Penguins defense. Protecting the puck with his leg with three guys bearing down, he scored on the backhand past Joel Blomqvist. The goal ended a five-game drought for Laughton and earned Kuzmenko — in his first game as a Flyer — his first point with the club after being acquired from the Calgary Flames on Jan. 31.
It was one of just two shots the Flyers had in the opening period. Thankfully, on the opposite end, Sam Ersson picked up right where he left off against the Utah Hockey Club — where he had a performance Tortorella called “probably one of the best ones I’ve seen in my career.”
In the first period, the Penguins had 36 shot attempts, with Ersson stopping 10. Ersson made a spectacular save on a tip by Anthony Beauvillier halfway through and stoned Beauvillier and Emil Bemstrom on the doorstep while shorthanded. It got so bad, that during a TV timeout, Tortorella was seen yelling at his team — appearing to gesture toward Ersson.
The second period saw early struggles with the line of Sean Couturier, Rodrigo Ābols, and Matvei Michkov stuck in their end for almost 2 minutes. Pittsburgh had eight shot attempts, including three shots on goal.
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When the puck exited the zone, there was a Bronx cheer from the faithful.
Jacob Gaucher, who was recalled from Lehigh Valley on Saturday, almost made them cheer for real when he got a saucer pass from Kuzmenko for a breakaway but hit the post. Less than a minute later, Pittsburgh’s Erik Karlsson tied the game from the right faceoff circle.
But the Flyers picked up the pace, and despite some defensive struggles, Michkov had more pep to his step for the second straight game. He got a breakaway chance but missed the net on the backhand.
Garnet Hathaway gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead — in an unconventional manner. Skating after a loose puck, Blomqvist also came out and played the puck off Hathaway. It dribbled over the line for the forward’s eighth of the year.
In the waning seconds of the middle frame, Pittsburgh came alive and Ersson made a big-time save on Cody Glass to keep the lead. Early in the third, he got help from Laughton at the left post on a nifty pass and then a goal by Konecny for some insurance.
During a delayed penalty in the Penguins’ end, Ersson went to the bench. No one seemed ready to take his spot — Tortorella said postgame that the Flyers goalie was yelling as everyone was watching the Flyers controlling the puck in the offensive zone — and Konecny jumped over the boards. In quick fashion, he sent a one-timer from just inside the blue line off Noel Acciari and in. Konecny now has 61 points in 57 games.
Pittsburgh cut it to 3-2 on a goal by Kevin Hayes. After being stopped by Ersson at the left post, the puck sat between his pads and he jammed it in. Initially, the referee on the ice said no goal due to goaltender interference, but the Penguins challenged, and the goal was awarded to the former Flyer.
Breakaways
Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen was a game-time decision but did not play due to an upper-body injury suffered against the Colorado Avalanche. … Forward Jakob Pelletier did not play. … Sidney Crosby did not play for the Penguins. … With the NHL on break, the Flyers assigned Ābols, Gaucher, and defenseman Emil Andrae to the Phantoms. The team has five games between now and the Flyers next game.
Up next
The Flyers take a two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off. They return for three straight days of practice on Feb. 19 before a matinee matchup with the Edmonton Oilers on Feb. 22 (1 p.m., NBCSP). Konecny and Travis Sanheim (Canada), Ristolainen (Finland), Ersson (Sweden), and Tortorella (USA) will be participating in the tournament that features the best players in the NHL. The first game will see Canada face Sweden on Wednesday (8 p.m., TNT, max, truTv) in Montreal. The marquee matchup of Canada against the United States is on Saturday (8 p.m., ABC, ESPN, ESPN+).