The first 40 minutes went Philadelphia's way. The periods were 1-1 after the 1st, and the Flyers outscored Calgary 2-1 in the 2nd to lead 3-2 at the second intermission. That was the attack the preview counted on now that Travis Konecny and Owen Tippett are back off injured reserve, and it put up 3 for the 2nd time in this 5-game stretch. The box score we could reach didn't list the goal scorers, so we can't say who did the scoring, but the top 6 looked like it does again with those 2 back.
The defense didn't change. Philadelphia, still without Rasmus Ristolainen, didn't score after the 2nd period and gave up 1 goal in the 3rd and the winner after regulation. That makes 6 straight games with at least 3 goals allowed, including tonight's 4. Leading by 1 with 20 minutes to go was the Flyers' best chance on this trip, and they couldn't protect it.
Calgary's line score reads 1, 1, 1, 1, which is a team that kept coming back and never took the lead until the end. The preview worried about a lineup that had scored 2, 2, 1 and 3 in its previous 4, and this was the team's best night in that stretch, playing on the day it learned Kevin Bahl is done for the season with a ruptured Achilles. Brennan Othmann was also out, Connor Zary and Sam Honzek are still missing, and Brayden Pachal came up from the AHL to fill Bahl's spot on the blue line. A shorthanded group that had blown a 3-1 lead to Anaheim held on in a 1-goal game this time.
We couldn't confirm who played goal for either team, so Dustin Wolf's bounce-back after the Anaheim collapse and the Flyers' netminding both stay unconfirmed. Jonathan Huberdeau was still on injured reserve, as expected, so his return will have to wait.
Philadelphia leaves with 1 point at 4-10-5, has lost 3 straight and is 1-4 in its last 5. The offense is better than the record suggests, but the Flyers have lost the only stat that counts after 2 periods twice in a row. Calgary moves to 8-9-1 and gets a win it needed, though it will spend the rest of the season without Bahl.
