Flyers Postgame Report: Sloppy Play Hurts Flyers in Loss to Utah

After playing with the lead for the last two games, the Flyers spent most of Sunday night trying to come back. Twice, they did, erasing goals from Utah. The third goal of the second period for Utah proved to be too much.

Sloppy play headlined the night, as the Flyers fell for the third straight game, 4-2, to the Utah Hockey Club on Sunday night at Wells Fargo Center.

The first period featured one power play for the Flyers and two for Utah, as neither team could find a way to get on the board.

Through 20 minutes, shots were 12-7.

Just over seven minutes into the second, the ice was broken on the goal-scoring, starting a period that featured five goals. Utah struck first, as Michael Carcone fired from an angle. Sam Ersson made the save, but the rebound banked off of Rasmus Ristolainen and went in to make it 1-0.

The Flyers answered right back just 19 seconds later on a bounce of their own. Nick Seeler‘s shot was stopped by Jaxson Stauber, but the rebound bounced into the crease and Joel Farabee batted it home to snap a 12-game goalless drought with his fourth of the season.

Utah cashed in again at 9:42, capping a prolonged shift in the Flyers zone with a deflection goal by Juuso Valimaki for his first goal of the season.

Again, the Flyers had an answer at 13:34. Owen Tippett fired a shot from the top of the left circle to make it a 2-2 game with his eighth goal of the season.

Utah got the lead again on a power play with 4:30 remaining in the period. A defensive breakdown allowed Logan Cooley to go the front of the net alone, scoring his seventh goal of the season.

Through two periods, shots were 20-16 Utah.

The Flyers appeared to tie the game early in the third, as Jamie Drysdale slipped a shot through the legs of Stauber. But the goal was disallowed after a coach’s challenge for goalie interference.

With under six minutes to play, the Flyers got a power play with a chance to tie, but a costly mistake ended their chances. Morgan Frost overskated the puck in his own zone, and Kevin Stenlund stole it away, scoring on the shorthanded breakaway to make it 4-2 with 4:17 to play.

Ersson made 21 saves on 25 shots in the loss. Stauber made 20 saves on 22 shots in the win.

Seeler had two assists. Cooley had a goal and an assist.

The Flyers are back on the ice on Tuesday night, taking on the Columbus Blue Jackets at 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• No Scoring

2nd Period

• UTA Michael Carcone (2) (Robert Bortuzzo) 7:01
• PHI Joel Farabee (4) (Nick Seeler, Travis Konecny) 7:20
• UTA Juuso Valimaki (1) (Mikhail Sergachev, Logan Cooley) 9:42
• PHI Owen Tippett (8) (Seeler, Matvei Michkov) 13:34
• UTA Cooley (7) PP (Dylan Guenther, Clayton Keller) 15:30

3rd Period

• UTA Kevin Stenlund (3) SH (Unassisted) 15:43

Game Statistics