Flyers fall hard after beating best team in NHL
Mar 9, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA;Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson (33) defends the puck from Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman (77) during the first period at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports
After winning a huge game against the Panthers on Thursday, with few inexperienced defensemen, the Flyers got completely blowout against Tampa. The Flyers lost 7-0. On the other hand, this is a huge win for Tampa that is a push for playoffs. Let’s recap the game.
From the start of the game, there was a lot of action. Hedman scores on the first shot of the game. After that, the Bolts didn’t hold on, they scored 3 more goals during that period. From all those goals, there were 2 powerplay goals: one from Point and Nick Paul. Beyond all those goals, Samuel Ersson got pulled after that fourth goal to be replaced by Felix Sandstrom. It’s hard to only put the blame on him because the team didn’t really show up in most of the first, but he allowed some goals that he would like to have back, especially that third goal of the period.
Also, during that first period, John Tortorella was pulled from the game. Apparently, it’s his third time in his career and both of those other pulls were when he was coaching Tampa. He got pulled because he was screaming at one of the refs. There were also some questionable penalties, especially the 10-minute penalty on Hathaway. The Flyers finished the period with a 4-goal deficit: 4-0 Tampa.
Apparently, Wes McCauley pulled Torts out of the game to protect the young ref that he was screaming at per Anthony Sanfilippo of Crossing Broad.
In the second period, the Flyers used a bit of the energy they had in the second part of the first period to put some pucks on net and create chances. Although, this time, Vasilevskiy played a good game and made some good saves. We can kind of say he played better than the last time Flyers played Tampa, a few weeks ago, to win it 6-2. Perhaps, the Flyers didn’t score during that period and Tampa scored late in the period to have a 5-0 lead heading to the third. Duclair scored his first goal in his new organization.
Finally, in the third period, Tampa scored 2 goals: Hedman his second of the night, and Hagel. The Flyers lost 7-0.
Finally, it’s safe to say that the Flyers will have a huge game on Tuesday. I think any team they would play; it will be an important one for the playoff push, but now, facing the Sharks, it’s a most-win game especially since the Flyers will have a 7-game stretch against playoff teams. 2 games against Boston, 2 games against Toronto, one game against the Canes, the Rangers and finally the Panthers.
It is going to be interesting to see how the Flyers will respond, at home, in a huge game against the Sharks on Tuesday.
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