By Noam Gumerman
The Carolina Flyers took care of business and dismantled the Houston Havoc at home 32-11 Saturday night. It was as dominant a performance as you may ever see in the UFA from the Flyers. The O-line wasn’t broken and turned the disc over just twice. The Flyers as a team turned the disc over eight times while forcing Houston into 30 turnovers in the 21-point win. Also notably impressive was the Flyers' red zone efficiency, converting 21/23 opportunities into scores.
Standout performances were the baseline across the entire Carolina roster. There were 11 Flyers that finished the game with a perfect completion rate on at least ten attempts. Elijah Long and Tobias Brooks were the two Flyers who had the disc in their hands the most all night, and both finished the game with zero turnovers. That kind of efficiency will be difficult to repeat against better teams, but coming anywhere close to that level of play from your two highest-volume players will take any team very far. Neither Brooks (2A/377Y) nor Long (1G/1B) stuffed the stat sheet, but their ability to reset, distribute, and function as hubs for the Flyer offense is a really encouraging sign moving towards playoff time.
You cannot tell the story of this game without Matt Tucker, however. Tucker was a force Houston was not prepared to handle. He finished the game with 1A/5G/4B and no turnovers to lead the team in +/- with +10. He accomplished all of that while playing D-line exclusively, creating opportunities for himself to score rather than getting the disc pulled to him. Tucker’s defensive effort was nearly matched by Will Coffin’s three blocks, along with a goal and an assist on the night. And in yet another encouraging sign for this Carolina team, Zeke Thoreson continues to settle in to this Flyers team with a 3A/2G night, while Jacob Fairfax continues to quietly put up some of the most productive numbers across the UFA with 2A/4G/0T and nearly 500 yards of offense.
This win moves Carolina to 7-2, trailing only the Austin Sol at 7-0 in the South Division. A huge matchup between the two awaits in July. The stakes will be incredibly high, as Austin has a tougher schedule down the stretch than Carolina, and the two teams could very well find themselves playing a winner-take-all game for the division.
The Flyers host Las Vegas this weekend, and look to join the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes in asserting their dominance over Sin City. A win against the Bighorns would clinch a playoff spot for the Flyers alongside either an Atlanta or San Diego loss next weekend (or in any of their remaining games).
