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With a dress rehearsal on Sunday night, the Flyers played their first game at Wells Fargo Center in 10 months.
The club’s 2021 training camp is over and some decisions must now be made before the regular season opens on Wednesday.
Team White beat Team Orange, 4-2, in an intrasquad match.
The goals were scored by Kevin Hayes (two), Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Nolan Patrick, Scott Laughton and James van Riemsdyk.
The Flyers, who had 41 players in the camp, need to assemble their 23-man squad and taxi squad before the real thing starts when the Penguins hit town.
Alain Vigneault and the Flyers coaching staff watched the fray from above in one of the team management suites with GM Chuck Fletcher and the front office. Phantoms head coach Scott Gordon was behind the bench for Team Orange and Phantoms assistant coach Kerry Huffman led the White team.
The last five minutes of the third period were played in overtime 3v3. Laughton scored the game winner on a breakaway during this game, while van Riemsdyk also scored one on a breakaway. The two beat Brian Elliott on their moves.
The night ended with a nine-round shootout. Michael Raffl scored on a slapper. The guards were good.
• Speaking of good. Good for Patrick.
He scored a goal for the White team to tie things up, 2-2, in the second period. He was seen smiling, he looked at ease. He hasn’t been able to do so since April 2019. Sunday was his first game against the Flyers teammates in 649 days after missing all of last season, which was cut short and restarted, as he recovered from a disorder migraine.
After finding answers and making progress throughout the offseason, Patrick was a full participant in this camp and one of the Flyers’ best players throughout it, Vigneault said on Sunday morning.
At the start of camp, Patrick said he was going to tackle things one day at a time and see what he felt at the end of camp. If he plays in Wednesday’s regular season opener, here’s what the Flyers might be looking at in the middle.
Sean Couturier
Kevin hayes
Nolan patrick
Scott Laughton
Lots to love there with four tough crosses to play. Laughton led the team in goals in the 24-team NHL return-to-play tournament this summer.
“Our forward depth is probably among the strongest I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” said Laughton, who made his debut for the Flyers in 2012-13 on Sunday morning. “I can’t wait to get started.”
• Lindblom was also a sight to see on the ice. He played with Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny.
He said his goal was to play opening night and he looked like he was ready to go.
The 24-year-old winger was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma in December 2019. After completing his radiation treatments in July and being free from cancer, he returned for two games in the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs .
A full offseason has been great for him. A great story too.
• In a November game last season, Farabee was demoted to a lower line and barely played in the third period due to unusual turnovers. The 20-year-old winger, who can be so good and smart with the puck on his stick, quickly gave up that night and coaches told him afterward.
In year two, Farabee wants to show more patience and courage when the puck presents itself.
“I’m confident about my game on the ice,” Farabee said Tuesday. “I think last year I felt like I got rid of the puck a lot when I didn’t need it. So I just focus on just hanging on to it, maybe just waiting for a game to open and stuff like that.
He showed it on Sunday.
Farabee, Hayes and Claude Giroux’s line clicked from the start, producing the first two goals of the game to give the Orange team a 2-0 lead.
Farabee and Giroux played a great two-man game to prepare Hayes for the first goal. Farabee kept that line buzzing later in the period with a nifty pass along the back wall to Hayes, which marked his second.
Clever and unhurried readings by Farabee.
Good stuff from that line and expect to see it on Wednesday in the opener.
• Dawn-Kubel put Team White on the field with a bad shot, reducing Team Orange’s deficit to 2-1 in the center frame.
You know what you get with Aube-Kubel: a relentless pre-failure and an opportunistic scorer.
• Jakub Voracek assisted on Patrick’s goal. It was a nightmare for 20-year-old defender Egor Zamula.
Voracek is a tall guy who can protect the puck and the skinniest Zamula couldn’t stop him.
It will be interesting to see if the Flyers decide to keep Zamula on the taxi team. Not sure they will.
• Intrasquad crisis avoided.
Ivan Provorov was shot Lindblom in the foot or leg and fell in a heap.
He stayed in the game, not even leaving the bench to go to the locker room … anyone surprised?
Provorov has yet to miss a game of his NHL career, playing a total of 315 in his first four seasons.
• Moving from defender to left winger, Samuel Morin had a good chance to score in the third period and hit the iron. He competed hard and did what he said he would do, which was to finish his checks. He even broke his stick on one of the hits.
• Talented prospect Morgan Frost had a few chances and posted a good second effort. He seems to be a clear candidate for the taxi team.
“I’m going to continue to work hard and do what I can to try to be a part of the roster,” Frost said Sunday night. “I want to be on the Flyers so that’s the only thing I’m thinking about.”
The Flyers won’t play Frost in the fourth row center. Given how deep the team is at the post (at least right now on paper), Frost could be a candidate to play the left winger at some point if needed. He had reps on the left side during the camp.
• Raffl was called for a penalty in the third period.
Konecny looked like cheerfully chirping at his buddy as Raffl watched him walk towards the box.
Mid-season form for No. 11.
• Carter Hart and Elliott both played the full game and were in good shape. No problem there.
• Shayne Gostisbehere and Wade Allison were unable to play for the second day in a row. When the list is announced, we will have a better idea of their status.
• Here are the front lines and the defensive pairs. Some of them will probably stay on Wednesday. The Flyers left Monday and practice Tuesday.
• The Flyers begin the regular season Wednesday night by hosting the Penguins at the Wells Fargo Center (5:30 pm ET / NBCSN).
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