Flyers can’t keep pace with Winnipeg Jets in 5-2 home loss
Winnipeg took a 4-1 third-period lead after Mark Scheifele scored his second goal of the game. Matvei Michkov and Owen Tippett each scored for the Flyers.
The Flyers went for a spin on Thursday night against the defending Presidents’ Trophy winners, the Winnipeg Jets. And they probably drove coach Rick Tocchet a little wild and a little crazy in a 5-2 loss that saw a combined 32 shots, including 17 by the Flyers.
The Flyers trailed for the first time on home ice when Winnipeg’s Vladislav Namestnikov put the puck past Sam Ersson 5 minutes, 45 seconds into the opening frame.
Jett Luchanko couldn’t control the puck at the blue line, allowing Namestnikov to poke the puck to Gustav Nyquist. The winger fed Nino Niederreiter, who spun in front and got a shot on goal. Ersson made a toe save but Namestnikov snuck in behind Jamie Drysdale, who had his back turned, and buried the rebound.
Winnipeg took a 2-0 lead in the second period after Nikita Grebenkin could not corral a breakout pass by Travis Sanheim along the wall. Winnipeg’s Gabriel Vilardi got the puck and sent it cross-ice to Mark Scheifele, who skated to the top of the right faceoff circle and fired the puck past Ersson’s glove.
» READ MORE: Flyers’ Cam York expected to make season debut Thursday after being activated from injured reserve
The Jets’ Morgan Barron made it 3-1 when his shot went off the skate of Adam Ginning and then Noah Cates in front as he tied up Parker Ford. Scheifele scored his second of the night on a power play in the third period to make it 4-1. Tanner Pearson added an empty-netter.
Owen Tippett got the Flyers on the board to make it 2-1 in the second as he picked up the puck in the neutral zone and started down the right wing before ripping a shot past Winnipeg goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. The goal was his second of the season and 95th of his career.
And in the third period, with 2:21 remaining, Matvei Michkov got his first goal of the season on a delayed penalty. Noah Juulsen dished it over to the Russian winger, who snapped it past Hellebuyck. The assist was Juulsen’s first point as a Flyer.
The Flyers had plenty of other chances — notably off the stick of Travis Konecny, who is still looking for his first goal of the season. If it wasn’t Hellebuyck in net, the winner of the last two Vezina Trophies as the NHL’s best goaltender and last season’s Hart Trophy winner as the league’s MVP, Konecny likely would have buried at least a pair.
» READ MORE: Matvei Michkov not pressing despite pointless start: ‘I’m going to continue working, it will come’
Konecny, the Flyers’ leading scorer over the last four seasons, was robbed in the second period just above the left post off a nice passing play that started with Michkov on the right boards. Michkov passed it to Tippett, who fed Konecny for the one-timer that went off the left pad of Hellebuyck during a Flyers power play. He had another chance on a three-on-two later in the period after a turnover in the neutral zone by the Jets.
The Flyers went 0-for-2 with the man advantage, with Tyson Foerster also getting stopped on a one-timer off a pass from Bobby Brink. The duo, along with Cates, had a good look less than 30 seconds after Scheifele’s first goal when Cates dumped the puck in deep and chased it down. Brink got the puck along the board and fed Foerster for a shot attempt from atop the crease.
Breakaways
Cam York was activated off injured reserve on Thursday and returned to the lineup. The defenseman, who had been out with a lower-body injury, played 22:32. … Luchanko made a nice play in the second period, using his speed to help break up a two-on-one with Sanheim as the only Flyer back. … Sanheim registered one assist, the 162nd of his career. It tied Joe Watson for fifth among defensemen in Flyers history and tied Ivan Provorov for the sixth-most points among defensemen (217).
Up next
The Flyers host the Minnesota Wild on Saturday (7 p.m., NBCSP).