Sam Ersson struggles in his return as Flyers drop third straight game with loss to Utah

Jackie Spiegel, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Dec 8, 2024

Published in Hockey

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PHILADELPHIA — Technically this was the Flyers’ first meeting with the Utah Hockey Club, although the cast of characters are generally the same.

When the Arizona Coyotes closed shop, Utah’s owner acquired all the hockey assets, from the front office to the players on the ice.

One thing that didn’t make the trip to Salt Lake City was the Flyers’ dominating record at the Wells Fargo Center. The Orange and Black had gone 5-0-1 in the past six games hosting Arizona. The Flyers lost 4-2 to Utah in a game that saw the return of Sam Ersson and Jamie Drysdale.

Ersson, who allowed four goals on 25 shots, started his first game since Nov. 11. Drysdale played more than 16 minutes in his first game, including 1 minute, 31 seconds on the power play, and had a plus-minus of plus-1. His last game was Nov. 9.

It took some time — 27:01 to be exact — before the puck started going in for either team.

After the Flyers couldn’t get the puck in deep, Utah transitioned out of their end and Michael Carcone raced down the right wing. Kept to the outside by Emil Andrae, Carcone sent a backhand centering pass to the front of the net from the goal line. The puck went off the pad of Ersson and the leg of Rasmus Ristolainen before finding the back of the net.

Utah’s lead was short-lived because 19 seconds later, Joel Farabee broke his 12-game goal drought. Nick Seeler got the puck and settled it down atop the right face-off circle, holding off Matias Maccelli in the process, and sent a wrister on goal from the circle. The puck popped loose to Farabee in the crease and he buried it for his fourth of the season.

The goals came fast and furious in the second period — which is funny because the Flyers are ranked 27th in second period goals (21) and Utah is 26th (22). But here they were. And for the record, the Flyers have given up the second-most goals in the middle frame (38) and Utah is tied for sixth (33).

Juuso Valimaki scored his first of the season to give Utah a 2-1 lead. After some sustained pressure by the visitors, Mikhail Sergachev put a shot on from above the circle that Valimaki tipped in.

Less than four minutes later, Owen Tippett tied things up at 2. Matvei Michkov picked off an errant pass back to the point by Utah and left a drop pass for Tippett above the right circle. He skated the puck around the net and passed it up to Seeler at the point before the defenseman gave it right back to him. Tippett turned and put the puck on net from above the left circle for his eighth of the season.

Logan Cooley gave Utah a 3-2 lead on the power play with a slick play. Left alone down the left side, he caught a cross-crease pass from Dylan Guenther at the left post and skated across the crease before lifting a backhand over Ersson.

The Flyers thought they tied things up just 2:21 into the third period but Drysdale’s goal was challenged for goaltender interference. The goal was overturned, according to the NHL because “Travis Konecny had a presence in the crease and made contact with goaltender Jaxson Stauber that impaired his ability to play his position prior to the goal.”

Kevin Stenlund then extended Utah’s lead to 4-2 with a shorthanded goal. Drysdale skated and dropped the puck for Morgan Frost in the Flyers’ zone on the power play but Frost overskated the puck as he tried to rush up the ice.

Breakaways

With the return of Drysdale, Egor Zamula was a healthy scratch. … Seeler had a pair of assists. In 22 games this season, Seeler has two multi-point games after notching one in his first 296 career games. ... The Flyers went 0 for 2 on the power play.

Up next

The Flyers travel to Columbus for a matchup with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET, NBCSP).