The Perfect Outcome: Flyers Crush Ducks in Cutter Gauthier’s Philly Debut
Don’t bother turning to the national outlets for postgame coverage of the Philadelphia Flyers and Anaheim Ducks. The crowd at the Wells Fargo Center didn’t give them any cheap reasons to pick on Philadelphia.
The home fans heckled notorious castoff Cutter Gauthier from start to finish in a 6-0 victory for the Flyers.
The fire of the crowd, the lack of incidents from fans crossing a line with bad behavior, a goal from Jamie Drysdale, and the lopsided result all fell into place for the perfect outcome that should make Philadelphia sports fans proud.
Flyers Fans Welcome Cutter Gauthier
Flyers fans gathered along the glass for warmups on the Anaheim side ready to let out the signature Philadelphia greeting as soon as Gauthier and the Ducks hit the ice.
Booooooo!
Wells Fargo Center security confiscated a clever sign from the rowdiest warmup group that read “Cutter is softer than butter,” and the building staff also stopped other fans with signs at the entrances citing building rules that prohibit signs larger than 11 x 17 inches.
A packed crowd of 19,154 lived up to their fiery reputation the moment the puck dropped. “We want Cutter!” rang through the aisles while the Ducks decided not to send out their rookie winger for the game’s first shift.
Gauthier took the ice for the second shift, and a Flyers crowd that hasn’t had enough to cheer about in reason seasons released all their frustration an once.
The Perfect Outcome
The intensity didn’t slip. Flyers fans let out the boo birds every single time #61 stepped on the ice. It was obvious that the rowdy home crowd circled this one on their calendars.
If Flyers skaters took the puck from Gauthier, the crowd cheered. If Gauthier missed the net on a shot attempt, they cheered.
Flyers fans absolutely roared when Rasmus Ristolainen dropped Gauthier to the ice behind the Philadelphia net in the second period (and again when the arena vision later named it the check of the game).
They politely requested Anaheim coach Greg Cronin send out Gauthier at any short lull in the building.
“We want Cutter! We want Cutter!”
The Flyers dominated from start to finish. Morgan Frost got the scoring started just under seven minutes into the first period. Drysdale, Ryan Poehling, Owen Tippett, Matvei Michkov, and Garnet Hathaway followed in the convincing victory.
Drysdale’s goal in the first period set the building on fire. The centerpiece of the stunning trade with Anaheim has struggled in 55 games with the Flyers, but his power-play goal captured the spontaneous euphoria only possible for a Philadelphia crowd that supports the success of its own team above all else.
A blowout score allowed the crowd to concentrate their venom in the third period rather than worrying about the outcome. They threw in some celebratory E-A-G-L-E-S chants to cap off a memorable night at the Wells Fargo Center.
“This building has been energized tonight more than any regular season game I can remember for a long time.” -Tim Saunders on 97.5 The Fanatic
Flyers Celebrate Blowout Win
The music still blared when the media entered the Flyers dressing room. Travis Konecny repeatedly pestered Morgan Frost to hurry through his postgame availability to join a gettogether with Bobby Brink.
It was all smiles after Philadelphia’s most complete victory of the season.
Drysdale couldn’t hold back a grin after his big performance. He remained coy — like most of his teammates — about the motivation to hand Gauthier a loss. He did, however, admit how much fun he has playing against his former team.
The fans celebrated their most satisfying victory in years. A 6-0 slaughter in the anticipated return of their former top prospect reminded everyone how much fun hockey can be in Philadelphia when the crowd has a reason to bring the energy that characterizes the best fan base in professional sports.
John Tortorella wasn’t afraid to state boldly that he’s only interested in seeing that type of energy in playoff series. Young Flyers now have an atmosphere they can picture in future games with high stakes at the Wells Fargo Center.
