Sloppy start and finish burn Flyers in ugly home loss to Ducks

Sloppy start and finish burn Flyers in ugly home loss to Ducks originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Flyers had a big-time clunker on their home ice Saturday afternoon, falling to the Ducks, 7-4.

Fans at the Wells Fargo Center exited early once the Flyers fell behind by four goals for the third time.

Entering the day, the Flyers (4-3-1) had allowed only three goals through a perfect 3-0-0 start at home.

Anaheim more than doubled that total.

For the Flyers, Travis Konecny scored a pair of goals, giving him eight through eight games. Cam Atkinson and Joel Farabee netted the club’s other markers.

Bobby Brink had two assists after scoring two goals Thursday.

But the Flyers played a messy, undisciplined game.

John Tortorella’s club visits the Ducks (4-4-0) in 13 days to wrap up the two-game regular-season series.

• The Flyers had a sloppy start and it was costly.

Anaheim pinned them in a four-goal deficit by the halfway mark of the game.

Travis Sanheim, arguably the Flyers’ best player through first two weeks of the season, committed an uncharacteristic mistake that led to a Ducks goal in the opening minute. He flubbed a pass at the defensive blue line and Anaheim pounced on the turnover.

Later in the period, Ryan Poehling sent the puck into the stands for a delay-of-game penalty. The Ducks scored with about four seconds left on their power play to take a 2-0 lead into first intermission.

“We whiff on one, ends up in our net. Throw the puck out of the building, they score on the power play,” Tortorella said. “And the whole complexion changes.”

The Flyers didn’t answer until Frank Vatrano scored his second of the day and Adam Henrique his first of the season.

Atkinson and Konecny scored goals within a span of 46 seconds to cut Anaheim’s lead in half and bring the crowd to life before the third period.

But not long into the final stanza, the Flyers had more self-inflicted issues. Brink was whistled for crosschecking a little over a minute into the period and the Ducks capitalized on their power play. Konecny had a turnover as the Flyers were looking to exit the defensive zone and strike for a shorthanded goal.

Not even a minute later, Anaheim scored again to push their lead back to four.

A week ago, the Flyers erased a 4-2 third-period deficit in Dallas with back-to-back shorthanded goals. Their penalty kill finished with three markers that night in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Stars.

“Those plays worked a few nights ago when we scored three,” Tortorella said. “There were a lot of almost plays that didn’t work.”

Vatrano had himself a day, punctuating a hat trick with a shorthanded goal to put the Flyers down 7-3.

• Samuel Ersson was making his second start of the season and finished with 18 saves.

He was far from his best but the Flyers also didn’t help him at all.

When Ersson made a save during the third period with the game out of reach, some fans applauded him sarcastically.

“What Sam had to go through a little bit with the Bronx cheers out there … bulls–t,” Tortorella said. “The game does not fall on one guy, on the goalie. It belongs to all of us.”

Anaheim netminder Lukas Dostal stopped 27 of the Flyers’ 31 shots.

• Tortorella stayed with the same lineup from the Flyers’ 6-2 win Thursday over the Wild, making Morgan Frost a healthy scratch for a sixth straight game.

• Two hours before the game, the Flyers unveiled the Zack Hill Media Center, honoring their former longtime and award-winning public relations maven.

Hill, a beloved and invaluable person in the organization for 30 years, retired last year.

Former broadcaster Steve Coates, general manager Danny Briere and vice president of public relations Joe Siville all shared messages of gratitude about Hill’s impact. Briere called Hill a Flyer for life.

“I’m so fortunate to call all these folks at the Wells Fargo Center and the Flyers’ organization my second family,” Hill said. “I’ve been here over half my life and it is absolutely the most thrilling thing that has ever happened to me. This is a day that I will always cherish and never forget. Thank you from the bottom and the top of my heart.”

• The four-game homestand (1-1-0) continues Monday when the Flyers host the Hurricanes (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).

“We play a pretty good team Monday,” Tortorella said. “I’m not sure what happens but I know that we’ll be ready to play. These are all things, as we go through the growth of this team, that come your way. This is what we have to pay attention to — how we handle situations. But I think they’ll have an aggressive mindset come Monday.”

Subscribe anywhere you get your podcasts: 
Apple Podcasts | Youtube Music | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | RSS | Watch on YouTube