Ivan Provorov
In almost a carbon copy of the first meeting between the two teams in November, the Flyers somehow managed a frantic rally to get the game tied after trailing by three goals and earn a point. But, yet again, they coughed up the chance at the second point almost immediately, as Alex Killorn scored 18 seconds into overtime to give the Lightning a 6-5 win on Thursday night.
If the Flyers did everything they could to eliminate chances in front of Carter Hart in the first two games of his career, they didn’t do him any favors in his third game. Hart was left in difficult position, needing to recover from the shortcomings the Flyers had early in the season, in a 4-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
With one second left, Ryan Johansen put a shot off the post, securing the second straight win for the Flyers by a score of 2-1 over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night at Wells Fargo Center.
A clean slate for the Orange and Black rings in a new era for the team, one where they can hopefully move on from the identity of inconsistency. It won’t happen overnight, but the many changes — and the magnitude of them — ushers in a new era for the team as they begin the road ahead under GM Chuck Fletcher and interim head coach Scott Gordon.
If the five-game road trip was going to be an evaluation period for new GM Chuck Fletcher, he should have all the answers he needs. It’s time for changes to happen and they could be coming soon.
With little to cheer for Philadelphia, the Flyers’ new GM might look to swap players around as everyone is under surveillance during this evaluation period. The question is, how long will it last and who will be gone?
The game turned in the second period as the Flyers applied more pressure and got the game tied. In the third, four more goals contributed to a big day on the scoresheet for the Orange and Black in a 6-2 win in Buffalo.
Buffalo entered the game with a 12-0-3 record when scoring first, but the Flyers handed the Sabres their first regulation loss in that category, scoring six unanswered goals, including four in the third period, to get a 6-2 victory to open a five-game road trip.
The Flyers did salvage a point out of this game against the much superior Columbus Blue Jackets, but it wasn’t the type of performance that will keep the new GM from action.
In Pittsburgh, though, the Flyers had one of their better wins of the season. It wasn’t a pretty win, but between Anthony Stolarz’s strong play in net and contributions up and down the lineup, the Flyers managed to hold off the Penguins and steal a win in a time when nothing is coming easy and emotions are certainly high.
