Picking favorite moments so far of 2019-20 Flyers season

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Going End to End today are NBC Sports Philadelphia's Brooke Destra, Katie Emmer, Taryn Hatcher and Jordan Hall.

The topic: Picking our favorite moments so far of the Flyers' 2019-20 season.

Destra

One of the best moments of the season had to come on Oct. 26 in the third period when the Blue Jackets came to Philadelphia for the first time of 2019-20. The season was young and the Flyers had already gone through two crazy road trips just eight games in. 

This matchup, one of the first against a division rival, had the potential to help define exactly what this new Flyers team was all about. Of course, the Flyers went on to sweep the season series against Columbus, but it all started here. 

A 7-4 victory in which they took their final lead with just 5:36 left in the game. In the midst of five unanswered goals, the Flyers managed a shorthanded goal from Kevin Hayes (the go-ahead goal) and a power play goal from Travis Konecny (to officially put the Blue Jackets away for the night). 

The pace of the game changed in an instant and a late-game surge like that had not been seen from the Flyers in quite some time. It was the first real moment of the season where it felt like things could be different compared to seasons in the past. 

Emmer

While I love to constantly say my favorite moment of the season so far was seeing Brad Marchand miss the puck in the fifth round of a shootout on Broad Street to hand the Flyers a win in front of their home crowd (it will truly never get old), I do have another favorite part of the season.  

Nov. 29 the Detroit Red Wings were in town and as many hockey fans that have kept up with the standings this season would know, the Red Wings were a must-win. The Flyers, of course, did just that in a 6-1 blowout, but away from the win was another positive — the fact that Matt Niskanen still had all of his teeth after taking a shot off the face. 

I couldn’t believe my eyes in postgame seeing him on the screen. At first, I was thinking, “There’s no way we hear from this guy … he’s probably busy looking for his teeth on the ice. He probably can’t even talk, that had to be so painful.”

I was wrong.

Trust me, I knew the “hockey players are tough” mantra but I learned Niskanen’s toughness was on another level after that game.  

Not only did he talk with the media with two nose plugs in and a major cut, but he also told us, “It’s not as bad as it looks.”  

I was like … “WHAT?!” 

In all seriousness, it was one of my favorite moments of the season because I believe the fans really knew he was a player they could lean on. He proved he was Philly tough.  

Hatcher

This is tough.

I was tempted to say Ivan Provorov’s overtime goal in Montreal, solely because that thing was an absolute beauty. 

But, it’s got to be the Flyers’ shootout win over Boston back in January. It wasn’t just that Marchand whiffed on that puck in the shootout, it’s how the team battled in that game and what that stretch of games meant to the Flyers in the grand scheme of the season so far.

Within that contest, the Flyers were down 3-1 less than a minute into the second period, and 5-2 before the midpoint of the game. Not only did they dig their way out of that hole, but that game was also a perfect example of the resiliency this team has developed throughout the season. 

That game was just about the midpoint in a two-week stretch during which the orange and black picked up wins over the Caps, Bruins, Blues in St. Louis and Penguins ahead of the All-Star break and bye week. 

It laid the groundwork for the hot streak that would follow after returning from break. Also, that Marchand whiff was really funny.

Hall

No one will remember the score of the Flyers-Lightning game Jan. 11 at the Wells Fargo Center.

Everyone will remember the standing ovation for Oskar Lindblom, the Flyers' 23-year-old forward who is battling Ewing's sarcoma.

Lindblom received his cancer diagnosis in mid-December and had just begun his treatment when he was shown on the Jumbotron during the first period of the Flyers' 1-0 loss to Tampa Bay.

The ovation from Flyers fans lasted nearly a full minute. To see Lindblom's face, to see him wave, to see him feel that support was everything.

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