Denver Barkey’s Two Goals Lift Flyers Over Blue Jackets In Back-And-Forth Thriller
Flyers forward Denver Barkey scored two goals in a game for the first time in his young career. Sue Ogrocki / AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki
Denver Barkey’s second goal of the night came at just the right time to help complete the victory for the Flyers.
It’s been 11 days since the last Flyers home game, as the team has packed their bags and headed out for a five-game road trip. The stretch included a trip to the Big Apple before heading west for three games north of the border against Calgary, Vancouver, and Edmonton
Philadelphia returned to the States to close out their trip, heading back east to take on a fellow struggler in the Metropolitan, taking on the Columbus Blue Jackets. While the Flyers have been bad this season, the Blue Jackets have somehow been worse
While it was anyone’s game late, a beautiful third-period goal from Denver Barkey ended up being the difference maker as Philadelphia pulled off the 4-3 win. This is the first winning road trip of the season for the Flyers, going 2-2-1 during the five games.
Dmitri Voronkov didn’t waste much time getting the Blue Jackets on the board, scoring the opening goal on an early faceoff. A minute later, Columbus doubled their lead after a shot from Matthew Knies snapped past Joseph Woll. The Flyers got one back before the first intermission after a perfect pass from Tyson Foerster set up Trevor Zegras for his fifth goal of the season.
In the second period, Matvei Michkov picked the pocket of Adam Fantilli and put one past Jet Greaves to tie things up at two. Minutes later, Owen Tippett got in his first fight in the NHL, but also drew a penalty, giving the Flyers a power play opportunity.
On that power play, Porter Martone found Denver Barkey, and Barkey sniped it past Greaves, giving Philadelphia a 3-2 lead. Unfortunately, that lead was short-lived as Fantilli got his lick back after causing the Michkov goal, tying the game on a wrist shot in the middle.
Midway through the third, Noel Acciari pressed the offensive zone and made an outlet pass to a falling Barkey, who managed to bury his second goal of the night to put the Flyers ahead. With the lead, Philadelphia was able to hold the line over the final eight minutes of action, hanging on for the 4-3 win.
Flyers Power Play Stays Scorching Hot
What once was arguably their biggest concern, the Flyers’ coaching staff has quickly found a way to turn around the once dreadful Philadelphia power play. This power play unit has now scored 11 goals in 13 games, as with the success of the power play unit comes more success in the win column.
After Matvei Michkov tied the game, frustrations were mounting for the Jackets after Owen Tippett threw a clean shoulder check on the boards to Kent Johnson. Dante Fabbro took exception and pulled Tippett into a fight, and the ensuing penalty shifted the momentum for the entire game.
The Flyers used that power play to keep the puck in the zone and gave Jamie Drysdale a chance to press the zone, getting the puck to Porter Martone, who was able to set Denver Barkey for a flawless turnaround shot.
The Grit Is Back For The Flyers
Columbus came out firing Saturday evening putting two goal up in just the first four minutes of action Saturday evening., but even after spotting them two goals, the Flyers still managed to find a way to dig their way back.
In a matchup between the two lowest-scoring teams in the NHL so far this season, this felt like a recipe for disaster. In previous games, the Flyers would get down in these moments, but the body language never looked deflated.
The third period has been brutal for Philadelphia this season, but in Columbus the Flyers found the grit that was the calling card of this team after the Olympic break last season. They played all game physically and didn’t collapse in the third despite making several mistakes at key moments.
On a play where Kent Johnson was coming in after picking Oliver Bonk’s pocket, Jamie Drysdale laid out to block a shot to pick up Joseph Woll, who was slightly exposed. This grit hasn’t been there all season, and it appears that the Flyers are using the outside noise to bring themselves together.
Exercising Close Game Demons
One Achilles ‘ heel of the Flyers this season has been their struggle in one-goal games, as they’re 1-4-6 in their first 11 games decided by one goal.
Taking a couple of those games could have changed the start of the season, but the lack of intensity and grit was something that cost them. Part of this issue has been sloppy passes, and in the third period with the score tied at three, right before Barkey’s goal, there was a two minute stretch where the Flyers had three turnovers giving Columbus an extended look.
The other issue over this 11-game stretch was that when the Flyers play with a tie or with the lead, they tend to get passive and try to play not to lose, instead of staying aggressive
This looked to come back in the third period, when Rick Tocchet made a coaching decision to pull Martone off the power play and play with Travis Sanheim. This completely changed the aggressiveness of the power play, making them play keep-away, forgoing their normal pressure.
These have been the type of decisions that have not worked out well for Philadelphia so far, but in this case, the Flyers survived a situation that has haunted them this season to close out their first winning road trip of the season.
Steve Hamilton
Steve may have been born in California, but don’t let that fool you. After dating a local woman and clashing with her and her family over sports for decades, he has an affinity for Philly sports. Balancing love for Philly and Bay Area sports teams may seem impossible; we can all agree that the Cowboys are the true evil.
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