Flyers avoid getting shut out in 4-1 loss to Kraken after three-day holiday break
The Flyers had several power play chances against the NHL's worst penalty-kill, but could not get on the board until late in the game on a Carl Grundström goal.
SEATTLE ― The Flyers won’t want to throw it away, all right, but there are parts of this game they’ll prefer not to see again.
In their first game after the NHL’s mandatory three-day holiday break, they fell to the Seattle Kraken, 4-1 on Sunday. The loss snapped a two-game winning streak and is Philly’s third loss in its past five games. They are 5-4-4 in December.
Carl Grundström scored with less than two minutes left in regulation to help the Flyers avoid getting shut out for the second time this season. He beat Philipp Grubauer short-side to extend his goal-scoring streak to three games.
Jordan Eberle gave the Kraken a 1-0 lead 3 minutes, 48 seconds into the second period. The Kraken’s captain snuck down the middle and was left untouched as he received a pass from Kaapo Kakko. A former New York Islander, Eberle now has 12 goals and 30 points in 37 regular-season games against the Flyers.
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Seattle’s Chandler Stephenson made it 2-0 in the third period as he crashed the net. Flyers goalie Dan Vladař played the puck behind the net, and Eeli Tolvanen got it from Travis Sanheim. The Finnish forward sent it to Stephenson in front for the easy tally.
Entering the night, the Flyers’ power play was ranked 24th in the NHL, and it had chances to tie things up. They were facing the league’s worst penalty kill (70.3%), but despite having three-man advantages, they were unable to get on the board with extended offensive zone time.
Across the power plays, Philly had nine shot attempts, with six needing Grubauer to make the save.
On the first one, drawn by Nikita Grebenkin, Jamie Drysdale had a pair of shots off setups from Trevor Zegras. Seconds after Drysdale’s second shot, Travis Konecny received a cross-crease pass from Zegras and was stoned by a sliding Grubauer. That power play started to even the ice as the Kraken came out with their legs.
And then Denver Barkey continued to prove he is an NHLer as he used his motor to drive past Ryan Lindgren for a breakaway. The Seattle defenseman wrapped up Barkey, who still got a shot on goal as he drew the holding penalty.
The best chance on that power play was by Noah Cates from the middle of the ice after good puck movement. And on the final man advantage of the night, thanks to a too many men penalty against the Kraken, the best chance was by Owen Tippett after Barkey made a strong play to get him the puck
The Flyers put 32 shots on goal, including 14 in the third period. The biggest issue for the Flyers on Sunday was the fact that Grubauer was able to see the puck well. Compared to their past two wins, the Flyers weren’t going to the net often enough and even when they did, the Kraken blocked 17 shots — several from atop the crease.
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Breakaways
The Kraken added two empty-netters by Tolvanen. … Zegras had his point streak end at 10 games (five goals, six assists). … Forwards Garnet Hathaway and Nic Deslauriers, and defenseman Noah Juulsen were healthy scratches.
Up next
The Flyers head a few short hours north to Rick Tocchet and Juulsen’s old stamping ground to take on the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday (10 p.m., NBCSP).