The Flyers snapped Pittsburgh’s eight-game point streak against them, squeaking out a 3-2 win Saturday night at Wells Fargo Center. Despite being outshot, the Flyers thanks to Sam Ersson held on for two points.
The basics
First period: 1:44 – Scott Laughton (Travis Konecny, Andrei Kuzmenko)
Second period: 4:19 – Erik Karlsson (Matt Grzelcyk, Rickard Rakell), 12:26 – Garnet Hathaway (Unassisted)
Third period: 4:27 – Travis Konecny (Cam York, Travis Sanheim), 5:42 – Kevin Hayes (Denton Heinen, Andrew Beauvillier)
SOG: 20 (PHI) – 34 (PIT)
Some takeaways
Kuzmenko’s debut
Finally, one of the guys played! Andrei Kuzmenko found himself on a line with Scott Laughton and Travis Konecny to start the game. And while Jakob Pelletier still finds himself waiting on paperwork completion, Kuzmenko didn’t waste two minutes making an impact. Kuzmenko made a nifty little pass in his own zone to Travis Konecny. Konecny then fed Scott Laughton who beat Joel Blomqvist rather easily for an early 1-0 lead.
Philadelphia goal!
Scored by Scott Laughton with 18:16 remaining in the 1st period.
Assisted by Travis Konecny and Andrei Kuzmenko.
Philadelphia: 1
Pittsburgh: 0#PITvsPHI #LetsGoFlyers #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/mScbxDMRCo— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) February 9, 2025
Kuzmenko fed Jacob Gaucher in the second on a breakaway attempt but Blomqvist made his second save of the game 25 minutes in. The Penguins quickly thereafter went up ice and finally tied things up on an Erik Karlsson shot on a sharp angle over Ersson’s left shoulder. Late in the second Kuzmenko fed Cam York with a pass that York hit iron on. He was also on the first unit of the Flyers first power play of the game midway through the third.
Pens-lite
The Penguins entered the game without Sidney Crosby (causing 4 Nations Face-Off organizers to sweat depending on his availability), Evgeni Malkin, and Bryan Rust. So although the warhorses are long in the tooth, they still make up a healthy share of Pittsburgh’s production. Meanwhile, having Blomqvist in the net didn’t help their cause much. However, they kept the Flyers hemmed in for a few shifts following Laughton’s opening goal. The defensive pair of Emil Andrae and Erik Johnson looked out of sorts early.
Philadelphia looked sloppy but fortunately Sam Ersson was as good as he was against Utah. The crappy style of play wasn’t lost on coach John Tortorella, who had some choice words for the team during a television timeout. The Flyers were getting outworked and had just the one shot on goal. They were rarely clearing the zone successfully on the first try and sparingly making two tape-to-tape passes to get through the neutral zone. The period’s final shift exemplified the piss poor attempted clears while Laughton and Konecny looked gassed as the buzzer sounded.
Konecny with a bounce
In the third the Flyers got a fortunate bounce when, on a delayed penalty, Konecny came out as the extra attacker. Konecny got enough wood on the shot from the point and it bounced off a Penguins player to put Philadelphia up 3-1.
Travis Konecny’s shot from the blue line was redirected by Noel Acciari and finds the back of the net, 3-1 Flyers.
Goal: Konecny (22) Assists: York (9) Sanheim (21)
pic.twitter.com/5KE4E07ywk— Andrew Coté (@acote_88) February 9, 2025
The Penguins looked like they scored a goal but the officials blew the play dead. The ruling on the ice was the referee thought there was goalie interference on Pittsburgh. The Penguins challenged and the call was overturned. The goal confused a lot of people as many thought the goal was called off because the referee had the intent of blowing his whistle. The call was never announced which only added to the confusion. Regardless, the goal stood, making it a one-goal lead for Philadelphia.
Something else happening this weekend?
The Flyers had the lead but already fans at the Wells Fargo Center were shouting chants for the Philadelphia Eagles given the big game tomorrow night. The second biggest ovation was a Bronx cheer for the Flyers when they finally cleared their own zone early in the second after a handful of chances to get it out. It almost looked like the team except for a few players had mentally checked out, awaiting the two-week break.
Heading into the rink the Flyers were sporting Eagles jerseys to show their support for Jalen Hurts and company against the Chiefs.
Michkov gets clipped
Matvei Michkov drove to the net but took some aluminum to the face, dropping to the ice. Officials blew the whistle but decided the high stick wasn’t a high stick, leaving the Flyers without a power play. Michkov went up ice in the second similar to the Washington goal he scored on a breakaway. His attempt missed the net. It was nice to see him take the risk versus be safe and not create a scoring chance.
A great bounce
The Flyers haven’t gotten many good bounces this season. The goal Garnet Hathaway scored was one of them. What appeared to be a nothing play suddenly emerged into Blomqvist getting to the puck before an approaching Hathaway. However Blomqvist’s shot bounced off Hathaway and found its way back to the Penguins net. A fluke? Yes. They all count. Even Hathaway got a chuckle from it.
Garnet Hathaway scores one of the…goals of all-time 💀 #LetsGoFlyers | #PITvsPHI pic.twitter.com/paFJ3t2fa9
— Maher Media (@MaherMediaCo) February 9, 2025
From there the Flyers seemed to get a bit of life and the Penguins, playing the second of a back-to-back, looked to have a little less gas in the tank.
Ersson keeps them in it
Sam Ersson had another strong night in goal in what should be a confidence boost heading into the 4 Nations Face-Off. Ersson stood tall late in the game, battling the traffic in front and making some key stops as Pittsburgh played with the net empty. The fact the Flyers blocked as many shots as the Penguins got through meant it was pretty much busy in one end of the ice most of the night.