The Flyers did not give the Kraken a warm NHL welcome.
In their first-ever matchup with the expansion team, the Flyers pummeled Seattle, 6-1, Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center to pick up their first win of the 2021-22 season.
Eleven different Flyers recorded at least one point and six scored goals: Claude Giroux, Travis Konecny, Derick Brassard, Ryan Ellis, Justin Braun and Joel Farabee.
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Carter Hart spearheaded the performance with a highlight-reel save as the Flyers (1-0-1) spoiled Dave Hakstol's return with Seattle.
The Kraken (1-2-1) are on a franchise-commencing five-game road trip before they hit the ice in Seattle.
The Flyers and Kraken play again on Dec. 29 in Seattle. Should be entertaining.
• Before the Flyers started ripping off goals, the onslaught started with Hart's sprawling save on Jordan Eberle that kept the game scoreless in the opening 10 minutes.
NHL
The crowd fed off of the acrobatic stop and so did the Flyers, who scored three goals over the following six-plus minutes.
Giroux, Konecny and Brassard all did the honors.
Hart's save changed the complexion of the game and the Flyers took off from there.
Hart stopped 23 of 24 shots, none bigger than this one.
More: 'Save of the year candidate' an early boost of confidence for Hart, Flyers
• Once Braun scored the Flyers' fifth goal, the game turned upside down as the animosity spiked during the second period.
Directly off the ensuing faceoff, Giroux and Nathan Bastian exchanged pleasantries.
"That guy went after our captain and we answered the bell," Brassard said.
Not long after, Nick Seeler fought Jamie Oleksiak. If Flyers fans didn't know Seeler, they know him now.
The 28-year-old will be an extra defenseman or on the Phantoms when the Flyers are healthy, but that didn't stop him from fighting the 6-foot-7 Oleksiak. Seeler took some legitimate shots from Oleksiak but he stepped up with Seattle's frustration boiling.
Seeler was fired up after going toe to toe with Oleksiak and the Wells Fargo Center crowd approved.
"He was just sticking up for a teammate, which I get and respect," Seeler said. "I didn’t want to back down. He’s a big boy, so it was a good scrap. That was fun tonight."
Oleksiak logged 15 penalty minutes. Seeler finished with seven and a plus-3 rating.
Bastian and Nate Thompson laughed at those numbers. Thompson hammered Bastian in a third-period fight and wrapped up his night with 25 penalty minutes. Bastian registered a game-high 27 and took a hefty number of punches.
"I was just saying to Seels on the way in that I’ve never heard the building that loud in like a long time," Konecny said. "I don’t expect anything less coming from our fans but the emotion of just being back in Philly and they love us getting into it with the other team. [Seeler] did a great job and then [Thompson] did a good job. You can hear that atmosphere in the rink and that's us on the bench, too, we're feeling that. It was awesome."
• Rasmus Ristolainen has yet to play through two games because of an upper-body injury but he's getting closer to making his Flyers debut.
The 6-foot-4 Finnish defenseman practiced Sunday and took part in Monday's optional morning skate. He also took part in last Friday's morning skate.
Head coach Alain Vigneault said he'll have a better idea on Ristolainen's status for Wednesday's game following's Tuesday's practice.
Ristolainen was one of the Flyers' biggest offseason acquisitions among the seven made by general manager Chuck Fletcher. When healthy, he'll slide onto the Flyers' second defensive pair alongside Travis Sanheim.
"Risto brings a lot to our team," Sanheim said Sunday. "His physicality is definitely one of [those things]. He sets a tone out there, he keeps guys second-guessing. That definitely helps when you've got him on the ice, puts guys on their heels. You need that from time to time."
In other lineup matters, Patrick Brown (COVID-19 protocol) and Zack MacEwen (working on U.S. visa) were also unavailable Monday night. Both forwards were claimed off of waivers last week. Brown projects to be on the fourth line when he's cleared and MacEwen will be in the mix, as well.
• The Flyers practice Tuesday in Voorhees, New Jersey, before continuing their season-opening four-game homestand Wednesday when they play the Bruins (7:30 p.m. ET/TNT).
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