Pigeon Coop Postgame: Flyers Sweep Chicago Series

October 24th: Flyers 4/Chicago 1

Thursday night, the Flyers headed to Chicago looking to build on their win against the Las Vegas Golden Knights and sweep their series against the Blackhawks (two games) for the second season in a row. Since losing to the Flyers in Prague, the Blackhawks have had difficulty coming by wins in their seven-game long homestand.

Early in the first period, Brian Elliott, in his second straight start, was tested with a few dangerous chances by the Blackhawks from Dominik Kubalik and Andrew Shaw. The Flyers backup was solid in the first keeping out all seven Chicago shots on goal. Overall, Elliott stopped 23 of the 24 Chicago shots on goal in the Flyers 4-1 win.

On the other end of the ice, the Flyers were able to open up the scoring when Kevin Hayes deflected a Joel Farabee shot at the net, giving the Flyers a 1-0 lead for a few seconds before the play was challenged by the Blackhawks. After a video review, the goal was called back as Hayes was a step ahead of Farabee entering the zone. That wouldn’t be the only time in the game that Hayes’ speed got Farabee’s first NHL point taken back.

With seven minutes left in the first, Oskar Lindblom scored the Flyers’ first actual goal after taking advantage of a Chicago turnover that resulted in a two-on-one with Travis Konecny.

While the first period was somewhat even, the Flyers dominated the second period starting with Claude Giroux’s first goal of the season in the first minute, a deflected shot from Travis Sanheim. Through two periods and three powerplays (5:27 specifically), the Blackhawks hadn’t registered a single shot on the powerplay but HAD earned the boos of their fans.

In the third period, the wheels started to fall off with Brandon Saad cutting the two-goal lead in half. The Flyers were outshot in the third 16-5 but outscored the Blackhawks with two goals.

Kevin Hayes padded the lead with a goal that counted, assisted by Farabee and Scott Laughton, giving Farabee his first (actual) NHL point. Two minutes later Farabee scored his first NHL goal, which was promptly overturned after a review showed Kevin Hayes unable to exit the zone before Farabee entered, making the play offside.

James Van Riemsdyk scored the Flyers’ final goal, his first of the season, after intercepting an Erik Gustafsson pass, securing the Flyers win.

Cage Cleaning:

• Joel Farabee had an excellent second NHL game, putting up three potential points and one actual point.

• Earlier on Thursday The Hockey News podcast tweeted out a segment answering a fan question about Claude Giroux. The hosts decided that since Travis Konecny had been performing well, Giroux had become expendable. This lead to the annual swell of fans calling the Flyers captain underperforming and agreeing that he should be traded based on his lack of goals this season. Giroux haters quiet down.
• JVR sat at the top of the league with the most shots on goal without a goal before this game. Much like Giroux, JVR had been struggling offensively; in fact, the whole top line has been.