On the heels of dominating Boston, the Flyers took home the Humble Duck to a 5-2 win Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
With an empty netter, Kevin Hayes punctuated his hat-trick. Rasmus Restolainen and Morgan Frost also provided the goals.
Samuel Erson netted and beat Anaheim for the second time this month.
Hayes put the Flyers in complete control with his second goal 2:30 minutes into the third period.
Along with Hayes, Ristolainen (1 goal, 1 assist), Travis Konecny (2 assists), Scott Laughton (2 assists) and Wade Allison (2 assists) had multi-point performances.
The Flyers (19-19-7) improved to 8-2-0 since the NHL-mandated holiday break. They did not lose consecutive games during this stretch.
Both defeats were blowouts in the first match of a straight set. Each time, the pilots responded well into the next night to restore some order.
For an organization that recently went on a separate losing streak of 13 games (0-10-3), 10 games (0-8-2), and 10 games (0-7-3) in just over a year, Seeing these responses to a couple of ugly defeats is positive.
“I think that’s part of the growth we’ve had with the team,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. “I hope that continues. I don’t know if that’s the case, I don’t know what will happen here in the next 30 years [games].
“But these are the things we demand as we grow as a team. I think when you start to think you’re a good team and you’re growing, losing two teams in a row is just not acceptable. You need to find a way to win next time so you don’t get into those streaks.”
The pilots took Monday’s 6-0 rout of the NHL’s best Bruins. They were able to rise again.
“I think you can convince yourself to get tired,” Tortorella said before the game. “Everyone talks about back-to-back games, the schedule – with back-to-back games. For me, I think if you sign up right away, I think your second wind will start, and I think you’re feeling better. Thinking. It’s another game and a game I want to see our team pick up after our game against Boston.”
The Flyers swept the Ducks (12-28-5) in the two-game regular season series by a score of 9-3.
Anaheim has the worst goal difference in the NHL at -85.
• The Flyers turned the page the way Tortorella had hoped.
He said there was “absolutely nothing” that the Flyers could take from the lopsided loss in Boston.
“They’re professionals, it’s been a good room all year long,” Tortorella said just hours before the disc fell. “There is no point in thinking about that match. It’s just looking forward and preparing for this match.
“When you have a loss like we just went through, the players want to play. Just try to get back to the way we were playing.”
The Flyers needed to do it against an inferior team and they did.
“I think every single person in this room wants to win every night,” said Hayes. “It’s not a team or organization that we expect to lose. We’ve obviously had some bad streaks, but the guys in this room show up every night… Things have been going our way lately.”
• Ristolainen made his presence felt with the game-changing sequence of events during the second period.
He put bruised defenseman Max Jones with a clean bunt along the sideboards.
Just over a minute later, he scored a shorthanded goal with a good backhand shot to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead. This was Ristolainen’s first goal of the season.
“I love [being on the] “Penalty kills,” said Ristolainen. “I love when we have a lead, the end of the game, we play 5v6 or whatever, I take a lot of pride in that. Tonight it worked well.”
The Flyers lead the NHL with nine shorthanded marks. Good job by assistant coach Brad Shaw in charge of the penalty kick.
• With less than a minute left in the second half, Frost delivered a great goal to reduce the Flyers’ lead to 3-1.
He did it in a highlight reel fashion. In conclusion, the 23-year-old skilled center maneuvered the puck through his legs and lifted the top shelf.
• Erson, who beat Anaheim earlier this month with a 28-save effortThis time, he denied 25 rounds.
The second goal he allowed was a sign of strength with a minute-plus left in the third period.
The 23-year-old has been really good for the Flyers, pushing their record to 5-0-0.
Anthony Stollers, formerly of the Flyers, was in the net for the ducks. The 2012 second round draft pick stopped 34 of his 38 shots.
• Hayes lost the puck in a 5-on-3 power play during the first period, leading to an unsuccessful Anaheim breakaway.
The next drive, with the man advantage at 5 on 4 and fans clamoring for the Flyers to shoot, Hayes ripped one at the back of the net.
• Ivan Provorov, unexpectedly, was not on the ice to warm up. However, the 26-year-old defender played.
His omission from warm-ups was puzzling given that Provorov rarely misses a match and has a strict pre-season routine. Tortorella also said in the 5 p.m. ET media availability before the game that there will be no lineup changes from Monday’s game.
Provorov missed only three games in his seven-year NHL career. He expressed his frustration When those three games in a row came last season due to the NHL’s COVID protocol. He ended Provorov’s iron streak at 403 games, a race dating back to the beginning of his career as a 19-year-old starter.
Provorov played 22:45 minutes Tuesday night and finished with a plus-1.
There has been no official word from the team as to why Provorov missed the warm-up.
to update: Provorov chose not to warm up because of the Flyers Pride Knight jersey
• After the day off on Wednesday, the Flyers are back in action on Thursday when they host the Blackhawks (7pm EST/NBCSP).
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