The View from Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

Sam Carchidi: Kings bring an end to Flyers’ winning streak

The Flyers, who allowed a handful of two-on-ones and were outshot by a 41-32 margin, put pressure on Jonathan Quick in the final frantic minutes, but the standout goalie stood tall.

Read’s 20th goal, a deflection, woke up the Flyers, cut Los Angeles’ lead to 2-1 and triggered thoughts of yet another comeback victory. Those thoughts grew when Voracek scored his 20th with 11:42 left.

PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS

Frank Seravalli: Kings trump Flyers’ magic

The high from Jake Voracek and Matt Read’s two-goal flurry in the first 10 shifts of the third period lasted a mere 2 minutes and 18 seconds, as Dwight King scored what ultimately ended up being the backbreaker in a 3-2 loss last night.

Behind goals from former Flyers Jeff Carter – in his first game back as a visiting player since his June 2011 trade – and Justin Williams, Los Angeles halted the Flyers’ season-high win streak at five games.

Jake Kaplan: Carter, Richards’ Flyers homecoming

So last night, 33 months after he and Mike Richards were dealt on the same June day, Carter, in his third season with the Los Angeles Kings, made his return to the Wells Fargo Center ice. It marked the first time both he and Richards, who teamed up to help the Kings win the 2012 Stanley Cup, played together as visitors in Philadelphia.

After yesterday’s morning skate, Carter said he was looking forward to the game, an important one for both the Flyers and Kings as the regular season winds down. He scored the first goal of the game in the Kings’ 3-2 victory.

Rich Hoffman: Flyers since the Carter, Richards trades

That the trade benefited the Flyers can be measured in goals and assists and overall bodies (Sean Couturier, Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn, Jakub Voracek and even part of Nicklas Grossmann all arrived, eventually, in the trade). It was a good trade, period. But the Kings are the ones who won a Stanley Cup in 2012 after acquiring Richards from the Flyers and Carter from Columbus, and the symbolism is undeniable.

But what would the Flyers look like without those players? How might they be filling out their lineup if Carter and Richards were making about $11 million combined, as they are today? They would be more top-heavy, less balanced – and how would they be able to duplicate the production? After all, Simmonds, Schenn, Voracek and Couturier combined make more than $1 million less than Richards and Carter.

And the biggest unanswerable: How would Giroux have developed, as a player and a leader, if Carter and Richards and their significant shadows had not been moved out of the way?

CSNPHILLY.COM

Sarah Baicker: Streaking Flyers fall flat in loss to Kings

The players dressed in orange, though, didn’t respond with any aggression. The Kings led 33-18 in shots after two periods.

“The first 40 minutes, we didn’t compete hard enough,” coach Craig Berube said. “We let them outwork us. That was the difference in the game.”

In fact, had Ray Emery not played as well as he did, the Flyers could have been down by a lot more than two heading into the third period. Emery, who stopped 38 Kings shots, suffered his first career regular-season loss to the Kings Monday night.

Tim Riday: Carter makes most of return with Richards

It wasn’t just Carter who was back in town, either. Former Flyers captain Mike Richards, who played just his second game in Philadelphia as a member of the opposition, and Justin Williams were on hand to help the Kings snap the Flyers’ five-game winning streak.

Many Flyers fans can still recall where they were when general manager Paul Holmgren made the difficult decision to trade his two cornerstone players — Carter and Richards — just a few hours apart in June of 2011.

Carter was shipped to Columbus and Richards found a new home in Los Angeles. Carter was here with the Blue Jackets in 2011, but didn’t play against the Flyers because of a broken foot. He would later find himself reunited with Richards just in time to help the Kings hoist the Stanley Cup in 2012.

SB Nation: BROAD STREET HOCKEY

Allison J.: Flyers vs. Kings recap: Win streak broken

The game wasn’t as tight as you would hope, but five minutes into the first period, you could sense pretty well that this game was going to be a loss. The Kings were absolutely dominant in all aspects of the game and really put the Flyers to shame. The Flyers surged in the third period, but it wasn’t enough.

Still, put this loss in perspective. The Flyers won five straight games against really good teams. They were bound to lose at some point, and I’d rather it be at the hands of the Kings (who, for the record, are very good at hockey) than against the Rangers on Wednesday night. The Flyers have been playing very well, definitely above expectations. One loss isn’t super concerning.

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