Pigeon Coop Postgame: Flyers International Win

October 4th, 2019 – Flyers 4/ Blackhawks 3

Flyers hockey is back baby! This season started with the Flyers playing their first-ever game outside of North America as part of the NHL Global Series in Prague, Czech Republic. They faced off against the evil Chicago Blackhawks (let’s be real, none of us have forgiven them for or forgotten the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals). The time difference forced us East-Coasters to watch a 2 PM matinee matchup, not that we minded because we’re just happy hockey is back.
Following a very disappointing friendly exhibition against Lusanne HC where they gave up 4 consecutive goals and fought back but still came up with a 4-3 loss, the Flyers came out strong against the Blackhawks. Early in the first period, Travis Konecny opened up the scoring by stealing the puck from the Blackhawks at their own blue line as they tried to go for an offensive break. The unassisted snipe was a very promising start to the game. Less than 2 minutes later, however, Alex Nylander would score to tie it up for Chicago.
Around five minutes into the second period, Duncan Keith took a tripping call and give the Flyers their first power play of the season. Oskar Lindblom made him pay and put the Flyers back on top with an unassisted power-play goal. The 2-1 go-ahead goal went off the crossbar then bounced in off a defender, but Lindblom still gets the credit. After one unsuccessful power play, they got a third opportunity late in the second period on a cross-checking penalty by Andrew Shaw. This man-advantage chance doesn’t last long as Claude Giroux took a smart penalty stopping a breakaway giving us our first 4-on-4 of the season seconds after the start of the power play. With just under 2 minutes left in the second, Konecy gets a beautiful feed crossing the offensive blue line, toe-drags around Duncan Keith, and rips a spicy backhander past Corey Crawford to give the Flyers a 3-1 lead. The 2-goal lead again doesn’t last long as Alex Debrincat rockets a one-timer feed from Patrick Kane past Carter Hart with 12.2 seconds remaining in the second.
The third period starts with good chances on both ends but both Hart and Crawford stand tall against the chances. Almost halfway into the final stanza, Michael Raffl pots a wrap-around to take back the 2 goal lead. Play continues after that and the Flyers get a few great chances, Konecny was hungry for a hatty but Crawford stoned him on a breakaway, preventing that chance. With time winding down and the goalie pulled, it’s the Blackhawks who score next as Kane shoots one through traffic to make it a one-goal game with 2 minutes remaining. The Flyers are able to tighten ship and close out the tilt for a 4-3 victory to start off the year.
3 Keys to the game:

• Travis Konecny with a 2 goal affair showing that, like Allen Iverson, he doesn’t need no stinkin’ practice (training camp).
• Secondary scoring- goals by Konecny(2), Lindblom(1), and Raffl(1) rather than the usual scorers: Giroux, Jake Voracek, Sean Couturier, or James Van Riemsdyk
• A full 60-minute effort. It appears that the slow-starts seasons past are gone. The boys skated hard from the first faceoff to the final buzzer, something fans have been waiting years for.