More Pain: Flyers drop season opener to Panthers 2-1
As if the Phillies and Eagles weren’t enough pain and suffering for Philly sports fans, the Rick Tocchet era is officially underway for the Flyers and unfortunately, that already looked like a mess too.
Against the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, the Flyers came out Thursday night looking like they were still stuck in preseason drills. Five penalties, 34 shots allowed, only 20 of their own, and a 2-1 loss in Sunrise to start the year 0-1-0.
The only reason it wasn’t a four-goal blowout is Dan Vladar.
Making his Flyers debut, the 6’5” goalie stopped 32 of 34 and bailed out his teammates early when they couldn’t stay out of the box.
He even lost his mask on one save and still kept his composure. Signed in the offseason to push Sam Ersson and maybe steal the No. 1 job, Vladar looked the part. If this game is any sign, he’s going to be busy.
It took 44 seconds for the Flyers to take their first penalty.
Matvei Michkov tripped up Carter Verhaeghe, and the parade to the box was on from there. By the time Trevor Zegras committed the third penalty of the night, Florida finally cashed in, with Anton Lundell left wide open in the slot for a power-play goal.
The Flyers tied it later in the second with a gritty play from Noah Cates crashing the crease after a Tyson Foerster shot. Cates’ stick flew one way, the puck another, and the game was even at 1-1. Outside of that, there just wasn’t enough offense to pull out a win.
Noah Cates Goal
Bobrovsky Closed the Door, Flyers Stayed Clueless
Ex-Flyer Sergei Bobrovsky barely broke a sweat. Travis Konecny came close in the third, but Bobrovsky flashed the leg pad and slammed the door.
Brad Marchand (yes, now somehow a Panther) scored the eventual game-winner from the boards — a goal Vladar probably wants back, but one that came after the defense left him hanging most of the night.
Florida leaned on suffocating defense to lock things down. The Flyers pulled Vladar late, but Foerster took a dumb interference penalty on an offensive zone draw that killed whatever chance they had left.
Only one game but that’s just hockey in Philadelphia. Bad discipline, nonexistent offense, and a goalie left standing on his head just to keep it respectable. If Tocchet’s era is going to be anything more than John Tortorella 2.0 with a new nameplate, the Flyers need to figure out how to score and stay out of the damn box.
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