The Philadelphia Flyers lost 4-2 to Minnesota at home on Tuesday night, a tough pill to swallow after they battled back to make it a one-goal game. That loss totally negated a strong last 40 minutes, completely overshadowed by a seriously shaky opening 10.
Early Holes and Missed Opportunities
The story of this game, honestly, started and almost ended in the first period. After the Flyers built a one-game winning streak, they really needed to show the effort against Utah wasn’t a fluke. Instead, things went sideways fast. Trevor Zegras almost got one in the first minute against Kirill Kaprizov’s stellar line, but then Travis Konecny hit Quinn Hughes, and Minnesota went to work. Matt Boldy opened the scoring at 4:06. Just 31 seconds later, Michael McCarron took advantage of a bounce off Porter Martone’s skate and beat Dan Vladar. Two goals in 31 seconds, and suddenly it was 2-0 Wild, who, by the way, are unbeaten this year when scoring first. The Flyers looked absolutely drab in those first 10 minutes, like their jerseys had cracks in them. They even had to kill a penalty shortly after that, showcasing the Wild’s lethal puck movement, though thankfully, Minnesota didn’t score there. But the damage was done early. Joel Eriksson Ek added another for Minnesota at 0:42 in the second, making it 3-0.
You Can’t Score if You Don’t Hit the Net
You can’t score if you don’t hit the net, right? And that’s where this game really fell apart for Philly. Early in the second period, Tyson Foerster had a chance, but he shot the puck wide, missing the net completely. That wasn’t an isolated incident. The team had already missed the net a staggering 10 times in the opening frame alone. That’s a recipe for disaster when you’re already starved for goals. The Flyers finally got on the board when Foerster scored at 14:24, with assists from Jamie Drysdale and Matvei Michkov. Then, early in the third, Denver Barkey cut the lead to 3-2 with a power play goal at 1:48, assisted by Porter Martone and Trevor Zegras. They were battling, for sure. But even then, they kept missing. Michkov fed Porter Martone in close, and his shot went wide. Zegras was in close early in the third and… missed the net. That was the fourteenth miss at the net in 40 minutes and change. Minnesota finally sealed it with an empty netter from Danila Yurov at 18:36, making it 4-2. The Flyers outshot Minnesota 25-22, but those misses, man, they tell the story.
With only four wins through 16 games, the Flyers are clearly fighting an uphill battle. They need a whole lot more wins to even think about getting back into that playoff chase. You can’t negate a strong second and third period by playing a disastrous first, and you definitely can’t do it by missing the net 14 times. They need to figure out how to put the puck on frame, or it’s going to be a long season.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Broad Street Hockey.
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