The Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins had a rematch of their first game of the 2020-21 season. In the second game, there were some key takeaways that can affect the rest of the season.
Hot Start for the Philadelphia Flyers
The first of the key takeaways from the game was how the Flyers started the game. They started the game on fire. They opened up a three-goal lead in the first 12 minutes of the game. Travis Konecny opened the scoring by converting on a power play with 12:33 remaining in the first period. Konecny tapped in a one time pass from Jakub Voracek to give the Flyers the goal lead.
Two minutes later, Travis Konecny buried his second goal of the game. It was not the prettiest goal Konecny has ever scored but the play started with Nolan Patrick driving the net hard and putting the puck between Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry’s legs. The puck squirted through Jarry’s legs and into the middle of the crease. Two Penguins defenders and Konecny crashed into the crease and ultimately he was able to put the puck in the net for his second time to give the Flyers the two-goal lead.
To cap off the impressive start to the game, Ivan Provorov scored his first goal of the season. Jakub Voracek set up his second assist of the game by sending a cross-ice pass the Provorov as he returned the offensive zone. Provorov accepted the pass and took a wrist shot to beat Jarry over the right shoulder. With 8:30 remaining, the Flyers had opened up a three-goal lead and the Penguins replaced starting goalie Jarry with Casey Desmith.
Travis Konecny Was on Fire
As previously mentioned, Travis Konecny started the game off on the right foot as he scored two quick goals in the first period. He continued his hot streak as he got his third goal of the game during the third period. His third goal was very similar to his first goal as he crashed the net and slapped in a one-time pass from Kevin Hayes.
It was Konecny’s first NHL hat trick of his career but more importantly, he gave the Flyers a 4-2 lead. If Konecny continues to play at the level, the Flyers will have a very impressive season.
What Does the Sean Couturier Injury Mean for the Flyers?
The Philadelphia Flyers also experienced some negatives during the game. The third key takeaway from the Flyers actually happened early in the game. Flyers forward Sean Couturier was checked hard into the boards by Jared McCann of the Pittsburgh Penguins and appeared to injure his shoulder.
Hopefully, this injury is not serious and we can see Couturier back on the ice very soon. If in the unfortunate event that Couturier is sidelined for a longer period of time then the Flyers might be in trouble. Couturier is perhaps the Flyers best player and if he is out then they will need players such as Nolan Patrick to step up and help replace Couturier’s production. While he is out with his injury the Flyers will miss his leadership and skill on the ice.
Is Tristan Jarry the Problem for the Penguins?
The Penguins only had negatives to take from this game. For starters, Tristan Jarry had a disappointing game again. During the Penguins first game of the season, Jarry had a terrible game as he allowed six goals on 25 shots against.
Normally, a player that has a disappointing game would rebound and have a positive impact on their next game. This could not be farther from the truth for Jarry in his second game of the season. In his second game of the season, Jarry played only 11:30 and allowed three goals on six shots. The back-to-back horrible games do not look good for the Penguins. If Jarry can’t fix these problems, then the Penguins season will be doomed.
Penalty Trouble
The other negative key takeaway from the Penguins vs Flyers game is that Pittsburgh needs to fix their discipline issues. The Penguins took six penalties in the game. Lucky for them, the Flyers only scored one power-play goal on their six opportunities. If the Penguins continue their lack of discipline then they will have a miserable season. Eventually, an opponent will take advantage of those powerplay opportunities and win a game just off of their power-play goals. Teams will take advantage of this and be able to defeat the Penguins.
Conclusion
The Flyers had lots of positive key takeaways from this game to build off for the future. Travis Konecny, Jakub Voracek, and Nolan Patrick all had strong contributions to the game and they will be important pieces to the Flyers success this season. For the Penguins there are almost all negative key takeaways from the game. Tristan Jarry and the Penguins discipline were issues that need to be fixed if the Penguins dream to return to the Stanley Cup champion form they had in 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons.
