Sam Ersson returns, Joel Farabee finishes

SUNRISE, Fla. — The Flyers could have gone one of two ways on their three-game road trip.

They could have continued to fight and not earn a point, or they could have found their game and walked away with six points. Instead, they hit a lane right down the middle by playing significantly better and getting three out of six points, including one in the Saturday’s shootout loss with 4-3 to a Florida Panthers squad riding a six-game winning streak in which they outscored opponents 30-13.

“The biggest thing for the coaching staff is that every day we’re just trying to get back to how we’re supposed to play,” coach John Tortorella said. “The type of attitude, the type of personality we need to show as a team.”

Here are three stars from the Flyers’ hard-earned points Saturday night.

First star: Sam Ersson

After missing the past two games due to a lower-body injury he suffered a week prior, the Flyers’ top goaltender was back between the pipes.

“It’s just something that happened. We took care of it” Sam Ersson said. “It feels good and it was very easy. It was a couple of days here and nice to be back.”

Ersson was really back. He stopped 28 of 31 shots and never seemed to miss a beat. His only shortcomings were two goals – the third was one that even Bernie Parent couldn’t have stopped, as Sam Bennett was left all alone at the right post.

The first shot attempt he faced, by Aaron Ekblad, went off the crossbar 4 minutes, 2 seconds into the game. But the first save he made wasn’t until 5:49, stopping Tomas Nosek.

One of the best saves Ersson had was in the third period, when he slid over to stop Anton Lundell. It was a critical game with the Flyers down by a goal – but 13 seconds later, Garnet Hathaway scored anyway.

Then, with about 5 minutes left, the Panthers tried to pounce. They had four shots on goal in a 14-second sequence that had the netminder stopping at both posts. He stopped Lundell on a wraparound; Jesper Boqvist on a deflection; Eetu Luostarinen on tip-in; and Luostarinen again on a wrist.

“He’s calm. He’s a good guy. You want to play in front of guys like that,” forward Scott Laughton said. “He works at his craft and he’s amazing. Glad to have him back.”

Second star: Joel Farabee

On Friday, Tortorella had praise for Joel Farabeeand said he “was one of our better offensive players” in the win against the Tampa Bay Lightning the night before. But, he added, he would “like to see him finish.”

Check that box, Torts.

Farabee has played well in recent games. His play in the top flight was rewarded with his first non-empty goal since the second game of the season; he scored an empty netter in the Flyers’ 2–0 win against the Boston Bruins on October 29.

“That line has been good, Laughts, him and Bobby (Brink),” Tortorella said Saturday. “Beezer (Farabee), last game, had a number of goals, or at least involved in scoring chances. Played another good game tonight.”

Really.

Speaking to The Inquirer on Oct. 25, Farabee was blunt when asked where he watched his game. “Not very good. I feel like my game has been pretty (expletive),” the winger said.

Since then, he has four points (two goals, two assists) in eight games, including four even points, with a plus-minus of minus-1 in 15:21 of ice time per game. He has also put 15 shots on target with a shooting percentage of 13.3% and, according to Natural Stat Trickhas created four rebounds at five on five. Prior to that, he had a goal and two assists in seven games, with 10 shots on goal and a 10% shooting percentage. He was minus-8 while averaging 12:56.

The goal Farabee made is something the Flyers have settled on with him – going to the middle of the ice. He went straight down the middle to the net and was able to bury the chip by Laughton.

“It was huge,” Laughton said. “He and Bobby read each other well. It’s easy to play with those guys. They always support the puck and play … they’re always looking for each other, looking for me. So we were on the ice a couple, but I thought we created a lot of chances and could have had a couple more.”

Farabee had a tip-in chance with 2:55 left in the second period that just missed from in front. In overtime, he had two chances, including a breakaway shot from 15 feet that Sergei Bobrovsky had his hands on.

Third star: Garnet Hathaway

Garnet Hathaway may play on the fourth line, but there’s no denying what he brings to the Flyers.

The fierce winger has tenacity and grit as he throws around his body and provides intensity. A solid forechecker, wreaking havoc on the opposition, he also brings some skill.

According to Natural Stat Trickin 15 games this season, five-on-five, Hathaway has the fourth-best shooting percentage (11.11) on the team, the eighth-most individual shot attempts (30), and has drawn eight penalties. When he is on the ice, per Natural Stat TrickThe Flyers have a Corsi For percentage of 45.86%, the fifth best, and he has the best Goals For percentage (54.55) on the team.

He’s also a key cog on the Flyers’ penalty kill, which is 89.8% efficient, and was 2-for-2 against a Panthers power play ranked in the top 10. Hathway is also one of three players on the Flyers with a positive plus -minus on the team (plus-2); the other two players are his linemates Ryan Poehling, who is on injured reserve, and outfielder-now-center Noah Cates.

On Saturday, Hathaway also brought speed and a nose for the net — and not just to get under the goalkeeper’s skin.

“I thought we dictated the speed of the game tonight and it’s kind of like when we play to our identity, that’s what we do,” he said. “I think you saw that a lot last year and I think right now it’s about finding that play and understanding what it takes to start a game with that mentality. Going at them.”

He walked towards them, okay. Hathway got the puck and skated through the Panthers, including around Selke winner Aleksander Barkov, showing a shift the speedster Owen Tippett had with him all night.

His cross ended up going in from Uvis Balinskis to tie the game at 3.

“I didn’t do it on purpose but I think that might have been the only way to beat (Bobrovsky) tonight,” Hathaway told The Inquirer after the game. “I thought he was incredible. You could see it in overtime, chance after chance, and he was on his head. That’s how he plays a lot of the time. But it just happened to be a good bounce going my way tonight, but usually he stops them.”

Honorable mentions

Travis Sanheim skated 30:19 and came close to winning the game in overtime on a breakaway.

Emil Andrae once again played a solid game, seeing his ice time jump in the third period from about 5:30 in each of the first two periods to over eight minutes in the third. He also received an overtime shift. “He deserves the time he gets,” Tortorella said.

As mentioned, Tippet picked up his pace on Saturday night and put a season-high seven shots on goal. He also had a chance in overtime and kept the shootout going with another goal; he had the winner in the shootout on Thursday against the Lightning.

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