hbh-11.20

The Flyers went up against a Carolina squad Wednesday night that is not only a very good team, but one that played a very good game. Their neutral zone forecheck was especially effective in this contest, and it gave the Flyers a great deal of difficulty getting the puck out of their zone and getting the offense going. As such, the first couple entries in this one are plays that weren’t completed, but deserve a look nonetheless.

Matvei Michkov found himself in a 2-on-1 situation late in the second period that Carolina recovered to break up, but not before Michkov made a remarkable pass to Joel Farabee. The skill needed to lift this puck and place it in exactly the right spot over the defender’s stick is reserved for a select few. Only a great backcheck from Tyson Jost prevented this from becoming a quality scoring chance.

Matvei Michkov makes a nice pass to Joel Farabee

The next couple are also the latest installments of Look What Travis Sanheim Has Been Doing Lately. First off is a stretch pass that unfortunately didn’t quite work, as it hopped over Sanheim’s stick and went for an icing. But what’s notable about this is Rasmus Ristolainen is feeding a stretch pass ahead to Travis Sanheim. You don’t often see D-to-D stretch passes up the wing, but that’s the mode Sanheim is in right now.

Rasmus Ristolainen fires a stretch pass to Travis Sanheim

Later in the period, Sanheim is at it again, this time taking a cross-ice pass from Ryan Poehling and skating the puck up the left wing before ending up behind the net for a good wraparound chance. Again it’s not usually the defensemen that are taking breakout passes and attempting wraparounds, but Sanheim is doing it all at the moment.

Travis Sanheim tries for a wraparound attempt