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Chris Jastrzembski

By Chris Jastrzembski

Published:

Photo credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports

Ron Hextall pretty much described the Flyers game for us:

https://twitter.com/CFJastrzembski/status/923718752327340034

The Flyers lost to the Ottawa Senators 5-4. It started off pretty bad. 91 seconds in, Ottawa scored on the power play. That was one of three goals they would score in the first 13:28 of the game.

Philly’s scoring came in short spurts in the second and third period. Jake Voracek got his first tally of the season, while Travis Konecny got his second of the season in the middle period. Ivan Provorov and Sean Couturier both scored late in the third.

Michal Neuvirth did not look good at all. He stopped 23 of 28 shots faced, and despite a good start in his first few games, Neuvirth came crashing down to Earth.

The game could have gone a different way had some calls went in favor of the Flyers. Early in the third, Brandon Manning’s goal was reversed due to Jordan Weal interfering with Sens goaltender Craig Anderson:

https://twitter.com/CFJastrzembski/status/923727607996264448

And as the Flyers decided to wake up and try and get at least a point late in the third, this was not called a goal because the refs deemed the play to be over. Somehow:

https://twitter.com/CFJastrzembski/status/923735292443537408

So of course, this game was a game the Flyers deserved to lose, but should have won, yet didn’t because of the refs. This team is strange. The extraordinary Anthony SanFilippo will have his takeaways from this game later this morning.

They stay in Canada for a couple more days as they take on Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday night.

The Roundup:

The Eagles continue to get ready for Sunday’s game against the 49ers. Lane Johnson will stay at right tackle, while Halapoulivaati Vaitai replaces Jason Peters at left tackle.

Mike Quick believed in Nelson Agholor for a long time, including when he struggled. Now, Agholor’s proving doubters wrong:

It took a while, but it appears the light has finally gone on for Agholor in this, his third NFL season. Through seven games, the 2015 first-round pick is tied with tight end Zach Ertz for the team lead in touchdown catches (5) and third-down receptions (11), is first in yards per catch (15.3) among the starters, second in receiving yards (366) and third in receptions (24).

Quick cited several reasons for Agholor’s not-so-sudden success, including his move to the slot, the additions of Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith and the hiring of a new wide receivers coach, Mike Groh.

But more than anything else, he thinks Nelson Agholor finally just got comfortable with being Nelson Agholor.

“I think just having success [helped],’’ Quick said. “Nelson has spent some time just dealing with Nelson, trying to figure out Nelson, and I think it’s helped him a lot.

With the team dominating in two areas of the game, the Eagles have what it takes to go all the way.

Kevin Kinkead thinks the Eagles can get more out of running back LeGarrette Blount.

Carson Wentz found a way to use one of his old college plays with the Eagles:

Following the spectacular third-quarter touchdown pass to running back Corey Clement against the Washington Redskins — in which Wentz ducked past an initial wave of defenders and tossed a perfect ball to the corner of the end zone while getting hit from both sides — Monday Night Football commentator Jon Gruden focused on the roots of the play while everyone else in the nation was buzzing over the fruit.

“Carson Wentz is unbelievable,” Gruden said. “That’s the same play that they featured at North Dakota State. He went to [coach] Doug Pederson. He said, ‘I want to put this play in our offense.’ They threw it for a touchdown against the Giants, and now they throw it for a touchdown against the Redskins.”

Offensive coordinator Frank Reich confirmed that Wentz championed to have that play from his Bison days added to the Eagles’ playbook.

“That’s accurate. Sometimes plays have a good mojo for you — you’ve had a lot of success, you’ve got a lot of confidence in them,” Reich said. “I think what happens when you run a play over and over again, you see it against all kinds of different coverages, you see it against different coverage techniques and leverage that defenders play, and really good quarterbacks learn how to beat any coverage when they have one play that they really like, and you feel like you can’t stop the play.”

On the 49ers side, the team has switched Eric Reid from safety to linebacker. Some think he’ll be really good.

With Stranger Things 2 coming out on Netflix, Matt Mullin of PhillyVoice.com compares Eagles players to Stranger Things characters.

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Small Sixers news on the day, as Furkan Korkmaz practiced with the Delaware 87ers before being called back up.

If you want to remember Wednesday night’s heart crushing defeat to the Houston Rockets, Kinkead and Kyle have you covered. But don’t worry, there’s some good things from that game!

Kinkead also takes a closer look at the team’s pick and roll struggles, along with selling the contact for some calls.

So who’s better at 2K?

And who lives in Voorhees?

Finally, whoever made this cake and decided to use the “LOVE” sculpture instead of the Sixers logo should never be allowed to make wedding cakes again:

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The Phillies are reportedly down to at least two solid candidates, according to NBC Sports Philly’s Jim Salisbury:

Team officials began the final round of interviews on Thursday. In-house candidate Dusty Wathan and outsider Gabe Kapler have emerged as finalists while former Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell is getting a late look, according to sources.

Major League Baseball frowns on clubs making significant announcements during the World Series, but there is a scheduled off-day in the event on Monday so an announcement could come on that day if club officials wrap up their search. Otherwise, an announcement would have to wait until later in the week.

By the way, Joe Girardi announced he wouldn’t return to the Yankees next season. Bob thinks the Phillies should go after him.

I had differing thoughts:

https://twitter.com/CFJastrzembski/status/923562195606261760

Also, please consider helping Salisbury’s family:

You may have heard by now that Jim’s daughter, Mary, suffered a severe stroke in her spine that left her with a significant spinal cord injury and widespread paralysis.

Mary had recently graduated from Temple University with Honors as she earned a degree in communications. The summer after college graduation should be one of the best summers of a person’s life. New degree, new job, real money, and opportunity to go out and have fun in the city. The summer after graduation should not be spent in the hospital and at rehab facilities. It’s a terrible story, but it’s also one that can have a happy ending with some help.

Freddy Galvis is a Gold Glove finalist.

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In other sports news, the Ravens shut out the Dolphins. Hopefully you didn’t watch. But if you did, Kiko Alonso tried to kill Joe Flacco:

Alonso, who doesn’t say a ton when he speaks, defended the hit:

Blake Griffin for the win:

Giannis tried to kill Aron Baynes:

DeMarcus Cousins was the third player in NBA history to record at least 40 points, 20 rebounds, and five assists in a game. He did that last night against Sacramento, his former team

Philip isn’t a fan of the Zeke Elliott suspension saga.

Jim Tomsula is back:

https://twitter.com/NFL_DovKleiman/status/923556382363803649

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In the news, Philadelphia Police have confirmed that South Philly gunfire from early this morning is connected to the murders of two high school students earlier in the week.

Most of the JFK Assassination files were released, but some were still withheld for at least six months.

iPhone X pre-orders began this morning. They’re already sold out.

Chris Jastrzembski
Chris Jastrzembski

Chris is the Morning Roundup writer on Crossing Broad. He recently graduated from Syracuse University and was the video coordinator for the men's lacrosse team. He's previously covered the Philadelphia Eagles for Philadelphia Magazine’s Birds 24/7 and KYW Newsradio 1060. Chris is also a Production Assistant at ESPN and the Managing Editor for the college lacrosse website College Crosse.

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