News Flyers Team Notes

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Flyers vs. Sabres: How to watch, lineups, and gamethread

The Flyers are back in action tonight, settling in to their home stand in progress, and looking to rebound in a big way after their tough loss to the Penguins on Monday night. It won’t be an easy task for them, as a reasonably productive Sabres team will be coming to town looking to extend their winning streak to three games, but we’ll see how they do in their next test of their often-touted resilience.

Puck drop: 7:30 p.m.
How to watch/listen:
: TNT
: 97.5 The Fanatic

Pregame reading​

• In the wake of Tyson Foerster’s injury, the Flyers made a call-up to their roster, bringing Carl Grundstrom back up to join the team. He won’t be getting into the lineup tonight, but he’s going to be an option for them over this next little while. [BSH]
• They’ve also made some tweaks to the lineup in his absence (but more on those later). [BSH]
• The word on the street is that the Flyers might be looking to make a trade to grab a veteran from the Canucks for a bit more support, but who might that be? We look at some options herein. [BSH]

Pregame watching​

By the numbers​

Philadelphia Flyers – 14-8-3 (5th in Metro)

Goals: Tyson Foerster (10)
Assists: Trevor Zegras (16)
Points: Trevor Zegras (25)

Buffalo Sabres – 12-11-3 (6th in Atlantic)

Goals: Tage Thompson (12)
Assists: Rasmus Dahlin (16)
Points: Alex Tuch (23)

Projected lineups​

Philadelphia Flyers

Trevor Zegras – Christian Dvorak – Travis Konecny
Matvei Michkov – Sean Couturier – Owen Tippett
Nikita Grebenkin – Noah Cates – Bobby Brink
Nic Deslauriers – Rodrigo Abols – Garnet Hathaway

Cam York – Travis Sanheim
Emil Andrae – Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler – Egor Zamula

Sam Ersson
(Dan Vladar)

Buffalo Sabres

Zach Benson – Josh Norris – Tage Thompson
Jason Zucker – Ryan McLeod – Jack Quinn
Josh Doan – Noah Ostlund – Alex Tuch
Jordan Greenway – Peyton Krebs – Beck Malenstyn

Mattias Samuelsson – Rasmus Dahlin
Bowen Byram – Connor Timmins
Owen Power – Jacob Bryson

Alex Lyon
(Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen)

Storylines to watch​

Emotional rebound

Monday’s loss to the Penguins was, no doubt, a tough one. There is the surface level sting of losing in such a way to a divisional rival with whom there is all that history, but there’s also the deeper level of concern which rippled out in that game after seeing Tyson Foerster go down with that injury which looked so flukey but at once seemed immediately serious. It would be hard not to be rattled by something like that, and the effects were certainly felt in that one, but now they have to turn the page and work to get things moving in the right direction again. They’ve been showing their resilience all season, and this is another test of it here.

Grebenkin’s promotion

The Flyers will be hard pressed to find a complete replacement for Foerster, with how hot he’s been of late, but the Flyers will begin their audition process to fill that role tonight, giving Grebenkin the first run at it. It feels a deserved promotion — despite the fact that he’s cooled off some from his impact level during the preseason, Grebenkin has still been generally playing well recently. And what’s more, the Flyers still need to get a better sense of just what they have in him as a player, and the chance to give him some more meaningful minutes to work with is the perfect window of opportunity to push forward that evaluation process. This is a great opportunity, but holding on to this role is going to be another thing entirely, he hasn’t locked himself into that role, and it will be up to him to make a positive impression and put in the work to maintain that spot in the lineup. He’ll surely get a reasonable runway to do that, but it will be interesting to see what he does tonight, right out of the gates.

New look lines

The spectral presence of Tyson Foerster is looming large over this pregame report, and our last bit that we’ll cover here is how the Flyers will be arranging their lineup in his absence. Though they did call up Grundrstrom yesterday, at least for this one, they’ve opted to slide Deslauriers back into the lineup on the fourth line, while Grebenkin moves up to the third line. They’ve also shuffled the right side of their forward lineup a bit, with Konecny moving up to the top line, Tippett moving down to the second with Couturier, and Brink filling in the third line with Cates and Grebenkin. There’s some potential here, but it’s all a bit of a big question mark at the moment. We’ll see how these new lines fare, but it could well be a bit of a longer process for the Flyers to find the right mix without Foerster in the lineup.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/flyers-vs-sabres-how-to-watch-lineups-and-gamethread/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

3 players who could replace injured Cam York in Flyers lineup

The Flyers seemed to suffer another blow in the injury department last night in their win over the Sabres, as they lost Cam York to what was clarified post-game as an upper body injury in the second period. York got hit up high towards the middle of the frame and stayed in the game long enough to get involved in the scrum which ensued after Trevor Zegras got pasted into the board by Rasmus Dahlin with about three minutes to go, but this would be his final shift.

The Flyers weren’t able to immediately provide an update on his status as far as any anticipation to miss time on his part is concerned, but after the Flyers lost Tyson Foerster long-term earlier this same week, it’s hard not to slip down the rabbit hole of wondering how the Flyers will manage to overcome the loss of one of their top defenders along with one of their top defensive forwards in the same week.

All told, though, if York is set to miss any length of time — and perhaps the silver lining here is that they have some insulation here, with no games on the schedule until Sunday — the Flyers have options on players to pull into the lineup for support.

Noah Juulsen​

Of course, Juulsen isn’t a direct replacement for York, both in where he plays in the lineup and what he offers in his game broadly, but if it turns out that the Flyers don’t think they’re going to be without York for the long haul, their move might be to not make a move at all, and instead run with a defense arrangement resembling the one they went with when York was out short-term earlier this season. That is, this meant elevating Nick Seeler to play on the top pair with Travis Sanheim, and then filling out the bottom two pair with who’s left — at the time, it was Adam Ginning playing with Jamie Drysdale and Juulsen sliding in beside Egor Zamula on the bottom pair, and this time around could see that third pair reunited, and the effective pairing of Emil Andrae and Jamie Drysdale left alone for the time being.

Now, this isn’t a third pair which looked great together, and that’s something to be aware of, but it could work well enough as a stopgap if York’s absence is truly going to be short.

Adam Ginning​

The equation is similar if the Flyers want to make a smaller move to continue tinkering on the edges of this defensive lineup. The first time York was out, Ginning was called upon to help support the team, and despite the fact that he was only just waived and assigned back down to the Phantoms, this might just be a route they look to go down again. How viable this option is over the medium to long term really hinges on how successfully a top pairing of Seeler and Sanheim works together — if they click, then it’s only the third pair that they have to worry about, and they can work out some kind of rotation between Ginning and Zamua to play alongside Juulsen, the competition for that final spot in the lineup could be opened up between those two again.

This is an avenue which, all in all, does make it particularly well apparent just how difficult it is to replace York’s impacts in this lineup, but they have to make do with what they have.

Christian Kyrou​

The most exciting among this group, of course, would be Christian Kyrou. With 12 games now under his belt with the Phantoms after the trade which saw him swapped with forward Samu Tuomaala back in October, Kyrou has been on an absolute tear with his new team. With four goals and 14 points in those 12 games, he’s shot up to sixth in points among all of his teammates, and cleared all of the other defensemen on the team comfortably (the next player behind him is Helge Grans with five points on the season). Kyrou’s production has certainly been eye-catching, but he’s been bringing along with it an otherwise quite well-balanced game. He’s been quite steady in his defending on the whole, and he’s stepped up in a big way as a puck mover, fitting seamlessly into this transition heavy new system.

Kyrou is young, still just 22 years old, and has not yet made his debut into the NHL, but this could be a good opportunity for the Flyers to offer him that debut, and get a real chance to see more of what they have in him, a chance that would otherwise be hard to come by. That is, while there seemed to be some concerns early in the season on the part of the coaching staff that running a defense group with all of York, Andrae, and Drysdale in the lineup at the same time would skew the group too small, they’ve put in some good work to prove that this isn’t the case. However, taking this group and adding another undersized defender (Kyrou is listed at 5’11 and 165 pounds), that would legitimately take the collective size of the group into concerning territory. But now, with one undersized defenseman out, this could be a perfect opportunity to slide another into his place, effectively.

Now, getting Kyrou into the lineup would necessitate a little more shuffling of the other pieces — namely, if they wanted to immediately throw him into the deep end with high usage, they could move Sanheim back over to the left side and put Kyrou beside him in an attempt to replicate the pair with York as closely as possible, but if throwing a rookie into that role seems a little too rich for them, they’d be looking at something like moving Andrae up onto the top pair, sliding Zamula in with Drysdale, and leaving Kyrou with the more responsible Seeler (as pairing him with Seeler would also effectively replicate stylistically what they’re running down in Lehigh Valley with his pairing with Ty Murchison). It’s a little clunkier, but if there’s the runway to experiment a little bit, it’s hard to argue that it’s not even worth trying.

All told, though, this situation is a tough one. Unlike with the forward mix and the options to come in to replace Foerster, the options are there but not quite as broad, and none feel quite as seamless. It’s a function of the pieces that the Flyers have in their mix on the back end up and down the organizational ladder, but also a testament to how valuable York has made himself to this squad, that he can’t be so easily replaced. And for this reason, the hope above all hope is that his absence, if any, is not long lasting.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/p...ld-replace-injured-cam-york-in-flyers-lineup/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Rick Tocchet details new coaching strategy to unlock Matvei Michkov

Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet said after Thursday’s morning practice that he’s been impressed with winger Matvei Michkov’s play the last few weeks. Part of that might be due to the forward shaking off some of the rust that an ankle injury and subpar training regimen resulted in. And part of it might be due to Tocchet and the coaching staff easing up on the gas pedal when it comes to providing Michkov with information and lessons during games.

When asked about how Michkov and he have communicated despite the obvious language barrier, the head coach was quite forthcoming about how the staff adjusted how they went about approaching the Mad Russian.

“I think in real time, it’s harder,” he says. “I could bark at somebody and tell them. But with Matvei you’ve got to take your time. You’ve got to get a board, or during intermission time I’ve done it a few times, called him in to show him video. And I can’t correct him on everything. Not so much him but on any player. I’m not a big fan of correcting a player because then you’re in his ear all day. You have guys where if you give them too much information, I don’t want them hitting the ice going like, ‘What am I doing?'”

Flyers change approach to coaching Matvei Michkov​

Tocchet said both he and the coaching staff have gone about approaching Michkov differently compared to the start of the season. The coach said they’ve opted to use the less is more method, not bombarding the 20-year-old sophomore winger with more information than needed.

“Don’t give him too much,” Tocchet says. “Yogi (assistant coach Jaroslav Svejkovsky) was talking to him, then Jay (Varady) was, then I was. I think earlier on we were giving him so much information I think we could frustrate him a little bit. I think the last three weeks, we really have dialed in on how we do it. One coach has him for today. ‘Hey, let’s give him a break today, let’s not talk systems. Let’s talk to him about something else.’ I think collectively we’ve learned how to manage how to give him information because he seems to be grasping it more the last three weeks than he did the first three weeks. I think that’s where we as coaches have adjusted. Sometimes we overcoach or overcorrect, we got to be careful.”

Tocchet also says since switching Michkov to the left, he’s noticed that the winger is playing far more of a north-south game versus the lateral game he was often seen attempting earlier in the season. That switch has seen Michkov look a lot more like himself than he did at any point in early October where he looked lost and out of position. After registering just five points and a lone tally in October, Michkov picked up steam in November with seven goals and a pair of helpers. And that continued Wednesday night when he earned two assists in a 5-2 victory over Buffalo.

“I think playing him on the left has made him go more north,” Tocchet says. “He’s not backwards skating as much now. I’m trying to explain to him that the faster you can go north more the more you can get rush plays. When you’re taking it back and opening up and playing backwards, you’ve got to beat the structure again. If we just beat the structure, why do we want to go behind it and have to beat the structure again? The more north he can play the faster he looks too.”

Michkov and teammates still ‘learning the system’​

Tocchet also says that part of the problem some players have faced in the defensive zone, including but not limited to Michkov, stems from not “squashing plays” instantly. It’s something that he hasn’t been impressed with in recent weeks after the Flyers did a fairly effective job of nipping any opposition chances or rushes in the bud when the season started.

“It doesn’t matter what system you play If you don’t squash plays — and I’ve explained this to the players and to you guys — you’re going to make 10 extra reads a game,” he said. “If you don’t squash a play, I don’t care if it’s Patrice Bergeron, Sidney Crosby, some of the best defensive players, if you give 10 extra reads to those guys it’s hard. So can we squash plays? Can we get in on somebody and win the battle or double up on somebody and get that puck? I feel in the last six or seven games it’s been a mixed bag. I thought early in the year we were a bit better at squashing plays. I feel now not so much. So now you’re giving — and I hate to say it, Grebenkin, Michkov, Zegras, all these guys that are still learning the system — 10 extra reads. That’s hard on those guys. All of a sudden people are diving all over the place and they’re asking a lot of questions. When there’s 10 extra of those ‘what happens,’ then it’s hard.”

Michkov plans to train in Philadelphia area next summer​

Finally, Michkov reportedly said after practice that he was disappointed with his goal and assist output so far this season. And, perhaps to the joyful ears of the Flyers front office, he also stated he’s open to remaining in the Philadelphia area next summer to train for the 2026-27 season. Having the forward minutes away from the training and fitness staff and facilities sounds a lot better for the Flyers than Michkov leaving the training regiments to himself.

Michkov: “I think I’ll prepare here (next summer). I’m not happy with what’s happening right now. I’m not happy about my points and I’m sure I can do much better, and make it better for the team. And of course, score. You cannot score in every game, but physically need to be…

— Kevin Kurz (@KKurzNHL) December 4, 2025

“I think as a young kid you always look at options to get better,” Tocchet said regarding Michkov’s response to the question. “Obviously there’s a lot of good stuff around here, if that’s his choice. We can help him. As for his play I don’t want him to worry about points. He was focused on goals and assists, he’s got to be careful of that. Those things will come by doing the right things. And I think he’s tried to do the right things, where to go in certain areas, he’s getting better at it definitely.”

So in short, everything seems to be gelling between Michkov and Tocchet, particularly if the optics are some kind of measuring stick.

Rick Tocchet working with Matvei Michkov before practice. pic.twitter.com/DiM3X7ibAk

— Jordan Hall (@JHallNBCS) December 4, 2025

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/p...w-coaching-strategy-to-unlock-matvei-michkov/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Friday Morning Fly By: Crisis averted

*The Flyers’ win over the Sabres on Wednesday was a big one, and we’re not quite done reliving it just yet. Charlie dives deep on the game herein. [PHLY]

*It was, if nothing else, another resilient effort, and a good indication that

*The one big negative of the game, though, was the loss of Cam York with an injury. Immediately we went a bit panic mode around here and fell down the rabbit hole of who might replace him if he’s set to miss time. [BSH]

*It looks like the Flyers averted a crisis on that one, and York is officially just day-to-day with that upper body injury. [BSH]

*It’s a major bullet dodged indeed, because York has made himself all but indispensable to the team’s long term success at this point, but he’s not the only piece in this lineup who could be costly to lose [insert furious knocking on wood here]. [BSH]

*But it’s a long season, and there are going to be key absences at some point, like the one of Tyson Foerster. For his part, though, Nikita Grebenkin made a positive impression in his first opportunity to jump into the top-9 in Foerster’s absence. [BSH]

*Matvei Michkov, despite his slow start to the season, is not just getting himself back on track but showing a real understanding of what it’s going to take to keep himself on track down the stretch. [Inquirer]

*Rick Tocchet also has some ideas about how to keep things moving in the right direction for him. [BSH]

*NHLers are heading back to the Olympics this year, and waiting for them in Milan is… an arena that might not be done in time? An ice surface that might be too small? [ESPN]

*We remain locked in on the Quinn Hughes saga out in Vancouver, and things are still. It great out there. [Sportsnet]

*And finally, did anyone else forget the Winter Classic’s in Miami this year? Anyway, they’re getting rolling towards that. [NHL]

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/friday-morning-fly-by-crisis-averted/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

6 Flyers prospects who could be at 2026 World Juniors

It’s December now which means one massive thing in the hockey calendar: It’s the season for the World Juniors and we get to ignore a whole lot of our families and watch teenagers play hockey instead of singing carols, or something.

The Philadelphia Flyers should be fairly well-represented and could even have the more prospects than any other NHL team up there in Minnesota, but that would take us looking at 31 other prospect pools and that’s annoying. It’s a mix of depth players on very good teams and players who could easily finish as tournament MVP and win a gold medal.

But who are these potential players? Who are the Flyers prospects that will head up to Minneapolis and St. Paul to represent their country and try their hardest to either push into the medal round or try to not embarrass themselves as tournament favorites? Let’s take a look.

Jett Luchanko, Canada​

After basically being shunted to the fourth line and only the penalty kill in terms of any special teams opportunity, Flyers 2024 first-round pick Jett Luchanko should get an elevated role in what will be his final year of eligibility, but it might depend on who gets returned from the NHL.

If players like Berkly Catton, Michael Misa, Ben Kindel, and even Becket Sennecke (who plays a different position, but still) get sent to the world juniors it could mean Luchanko tumbling down the lineup and possibly playing in the same role as he did just last year. Basically, the three top available centers for Canada are all on NHL rosters so the situation is very fluid — but, Luchanko at the very least will be used to be that speedy and aggressive forechecking force to cause some havoc and be as responsible defensively as anyone on the ice.

Porter Martone, Canada​

Porter Martone could absolutely be not only the best player on Team Canada but the best player in this entire tournament. He has just about everything going for him: The offensive tools to make use of the talent around him, the defensive work to possibly play in all situations, and the physical advantage to just dominate against fellow teenagers. He’s throwing the body around and getting mixed up in scrums against college players a few years into their 20s — some 150-pound player from Germany might experience Hell against Martone.

Out of every single player on this list, Martone is the biggest lock (besides players who have already been confirmed as part of the roster). There’s not even anything more to say other than we hope he’s on the first line and the first power-play unit — which, if those current NHLers don’t get sent back, will be even more of a guarantee that Martone will get those opportunities.

Shane Vansaghi, USA​

Shane Vansaghi was officially named to Team USA’s preliminary roster so we know for certain that he will be at the very least getting a look, but he’s on a tier of potential depth players rather than really fighting to make his presence as one of the team’s top players.

He does certainly have the toolkit, as a physical menace that will hunt down just about every single puck in his sight, to be an impactful depth winger at this level and to just be absolutely annoying to play against for more skill-focused teams in Minnesota. But, there could be a scenario where Team USA prefers the high-end skill of a LJ Mooney to Vansaghi’s spot in the lineup due to it being such a short tournament and the Flyers prospect is either just an extra forward or is not on the roster at all.

Jack Berglund, Sweden​

Jack Berglund has already been listed to Sweden’s roster, so we know for certain that he will be there. But, it’s just a question now as to what kind of role will he play? We have to assume that Anton Frondell and Eric Nilson are most likely going to be the two top-six centers for this team, but right after that, the 19-year-old Berglund has all the possible claim to be a solid scoring threat playing just below that duo.

It does help that at the World Junior Summer Showcase, Berglund really shocked a whole lot of people and shone offensively for Sweden when he was not expected to do so. That probably cemented him a spot on this team and now he will just need to take this opportunity to do it again.

Max Westergard, Finland​

The undersized late-round pick of the Flyers this past June could certainly make some noise for the dark-horse Finland squad. This environment is kind of perfect for Westergard. He has split his season so far between the U20 Nationell and the SHL and whenever he’s playing amongst his peers, he’s lighting it up with almost two points per game, having scored four goals and 19 points in just 10 games. And then with Frolunda in the SHL, for 15 games he’s earned zero points but has barely played any minutes up there in one of the best leagues in the world.

Finland has a lot of responsible players but if they really think they need a pure offensive jolt in the top six, there is no reason why Westergard couldn’t take a spot up there.

Heikki Ruohonen, Finland​

Speaking of more toned-down Finnish teenagers, Heikki Ruohonen has certainly become much more of a recognizable talent after having some good showings at Flyers development camp. And, in his freshman year at Harvard, the 19-year-old center has scored a goal and five points in nine games – certainly nothing to scoff at considering the school up in Boston doesn’t really have any dynamic offensive talents on its roster.

The only center we could really see playing above Ruohonen on Team Finland is Buffalo Sabres prospect Konsta Helenius — and if we want to buy into some hype, the 2026 Draft-eligible Oliver Suvanto has really had a good start to his season and could be given that opportunity to showcase some more upcoming Finnish talent for prospect pools around the NHL.

Flyers prospects that just missed out​

We could certainly see all six Flyers prospects making their respective rosters and representing their respective countries when the tournament kicks off on Dec. 26. It wouldn’t shock anyone to see all of them as regular members of the lineup and having the most die-hard of Flyers fans scouring every single shift that they take at the World Juniors — watching the roughly 12 hours of hockey that will be on every day.

But, are there any that were left out? Or that we might have wondered about if they did make enough noise the last few months?

There is at least one. Jack Murtagh was invited to Team USA’s World Junior Summer Showcase roster and then not named to their preliminary roster just last week. It’s not that he really disappointed, but even this season at Boston University, his three goals and six points in 15 games isn’t jumping off the page — especially when he’s up against the likes of Ryker Lee, Max Plante, AJ Spellacy, and the like — just more established prospects who have always been near the top of the lineup.

Of course, there were other eligible players because players do come from countries. Carter Amico just didn’t do enough to break through after recovering from injury. Matthew Gard is up against Luchanko or Cole Beaudoin to be the fourth-line center and he’s not that. Caleb Desnoyers might not even be a regular in the lineup. And Spencer Gill is currently out with a long-term injury but even then, projected top 2026 Draft pick Keaton Verhoeff and Ben Danford or Kashawn Aitcheson, are some of the players who will feature on Canada’s bottom pairing.

If only Russia was participating and we could have watched Ilya Pautov actually play hockey not in low-quality streams from the MHL.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/flyers-prospects-who-could-be-at-2026-world-juniors/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Flyers reportedly trying to shut down Owen Tippett trade rumors

Philadelphia Flyers winger Owen Tippett has become something of a regular in trade rumors, and his recent run of strong play certainly hasn’t quelled the buzz.

On the contrary, he’s become hot enough a name in the rumor mill that the Flyers are apparently attempting to throw cold water on any possibility of an imminent move.

On the latest episode of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman revealed that Tippett’s name has been floating in trade chatter and inferred that the noise has had an impact on the 26-year-old forward.

“Owen Tippett has been a name around a lot, and I kind of looked into this one a little bit,” said Friedman. “I think the Flyers are trying to do everything they can to calm the noise around him. I think it’s bothered him a little bit. I think he’s definitely heard it. I think the Flyers are trying to say, ‘Look, like, this is not our doing.’ And I do think the Canucks asked about him. I don’t think that’s gonna be happening.

“I’ve heard that the Flyers believe that there’s another level they can get Tippett to. And also, too, his contract — you take a look at where contracts are going, you’re gonna be okay with that contract, and I think the Flyers see that too.

“I think they’re trying to calm down the noise simply because this is not created by them. Sometimes names are out there because teams are looking to move guys. This is not the case with Tippett. So we’ll see where that goes.”

Makes sense teams are interested in Flyers’ Tippett​

Teams inquiring about Tippett shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. As Friedman noted, his contract is very attractive — he’s signed through the 2029-30 season with a modest average annual value of just $6.2 million. And given his occasional ability to look like the best hockey player on the ice on a given night, it would be hard to blame the Flyers for opting to stick with him.

However, that occasional strong play is perhaps the biggest knock on Tippett’s game. Like any goal scorer, Tippett’s inconsistency has drawn the ire of the Flyers fan base. But when he’s on his game, he’s as fun to watch as any Flyer in the last half-decade. Tippett’s play has been particularly strong as of late. Over his last 10 games, Tippett has led the Flyers with eight assists (six of which were primary) and 12 points.

If the trade noise has impacted Tippett, it certainly hasn’t had a negative effect on his on-ice results.

A particularly interesting note from Friedman’s report is the Vancouver Canucks’ apparent interest in Tippett. The Canucks are very much open to trading some of their veteran players after an inauspicious start to the season, and Friedman previously urged fans to “keep an eye on Philly” in regard to trades with the Canucks. This makes sense since former Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet is now behind the Flyers bench.

Of the Canucks players rumored to potentially be on the trade block, defenseman Quinn Hughes clearly stands out among the pack. Hughes is one of the top players in the NHL and has a very strong relationship with Tocchet. Considering Tocchet’s ties to Vancouver, the Flyers make for a logical destination for Hughes should the Canucks ultimately decide to move their Norris Trophy-winning blueliner.

Of course, prying Hughes out of Vancouver would likely require a massive trade package including draft picks, prospects, and active NHLers. But if the Flyers truly wanted to make a deal for Hughes, it certainly appears the Canucks wouldn’t be opposed to Tippett being part of the return.

It’s important to note that just about all of the contents within this article are speculative. A trade involving Tippett or Hughes is not imminent, and fans should not take this report as a definitive sign that the Flyers are going to pull off a trade of such magnitude.

But as much as the Flyers are hoping to calm the waters, this report is likely to only add to the commotion.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/p...rying-to-shut-down-owen-tippett-trade-rumors/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

3 players Flyers can’t lose if they want to make the playoffs

The Flyers have recently been hit with a streak of injuries and it has us thinking: Who are the players that would be the most detrimental to this team’s potential playoff berth if they were to miss a substantial amount of time?

We are 26 games into the season, and the Flyers are still sticking around regarding playoff positioning. They are now the third seed in the Metropolitan Division. There’s 56 tilts left, and a lot of time for the Flyers to remain as consistent as they’ve been so far or to possibly fall off the rails.

Heading into Thursday’s action, Philadelphia are tied for the seventh in points in the league as well as the seventh-best winning percentage. Their 7-3-0 record in the last 10 games has been eclipsed only by Washington (9-1-0) and Tampa (8-2-0) in the Eastern Conference. More importantly they’ve gained on every team under them including the two wildcard spots and those glut of teams in the hunt. Not a huge amount of distancing but there’s more in the rearview mirror than ahead of them for today. They’ve won six games on the road, almost half the total they won last year (13). And they’ve won nine games at home this year after only hitting 20 victories last year. Knock on wood, things are going well.

But the recent injury to Tyson Foerster and the status of Cam York, who left the Buffalo game Wednesday night early and is day-to-day, have caused the Flyers to bend a bit but not break. At least not yet. A few more bumps and bruises could be on the horizon. Time will tell. Nonetheless, there are three players on the Flyers roster, where, if they were injured for an extended period of time, would have ridiculously negative effects.

Any one of this trio ending up on IR or LTIR would leave a huge hole in the lineup, and result in the remaining players needing to give an extra 15 to 20 per cent each, much more than the five per cent Tocchet cited earlier in the week regarding Foerster’s injury and being out two to three months.

Here then are three Flyers the team is simply incapable of replacing without a massive trade or huge overhaul taking place should they get hurt. We’ll start from the net out.

Dan Vladar​

Sam Ersson beat Buffalo, getting his first regulation win of the season. And was above .900 in save percentage (a season-high .931). He’s been fine this year, stellar in the extra sessions and downright dynamite in the shootout. But one thing is clear: for all the shootout saves, Ersson is not the straw stirring the Flyers’ drink right now. Dan Vladar has been everything and a box of chocolates! Strike that, you never know what you’re going to get with a box of chocolates.

So far this season Vladar has been outstanding. He’s in the top 20 to 30 in the league overall when it comes to wins, save percentage and goals-against average. It’s been ages since any Flyers goalie had such a distinction. His goals-against average currently (2.56) is over a third of a goal less than his career average (2.95). And he has 10 wins, or almost 20 per cent of the total he had over his career (59). Vladar (or Darth Vladar as some are naming him) easily is looking like the steal of the 2025 free agency scavenger hunt!

As a result, any time Vladar has been jostled in the crease or has gone down after being hit (as shown below), Flyers fans are probably a bundle of nerves. If he ends up getting hurt for any length of time, or suffers a devastating injury, the Flyers are probably toast in the big picture this season. Yes, they could rally in the games afterwards and put together a short winning streak that defies logic and reason. Over the long haul, the absence of Vladar would be as lethal as you could imagine, especially for a team that at times has had a hard time scoring goals at even-strength (although that looks to be improving in recent weeks). If Vladar gets hurt, the void would be near impossible to fill for Ersson, a goalie who was given the starter’s job after January 2024 and has rarely looked like he’s up to the job.

In short, as Vladar goes, so goes the Flyers. And if Vladar is gone, most likely so are the Flyers playoff aspirations.

Travis Sanheim​

Travis Sanheim looks to be on pace to match his offensive output last season. With 11 points in 26 games, he should be around the 30-point mark this season. Thus far, he’s been the workhorse he’s always been, with only three games this season where he’s been under 23 minutes of ice time (Pittsburgh on Dec. 1, New Jersey on Nov. 22, and against Dallas on Nov. 15). Sometimes, Sanheim doesn’t look like he’s having a great game. But when you realize who he’s up against most nights, namely the best the opponents have to offer up front, sometimes he’s going to show he’s human. This is only demonstrated more when his partner Cam York isn’t there, as was the case early on in the season and in the third period against the Sabres on Wednesday night.

A workhorse number one defenseman who had his name in the mix for Canada’s Olympic Team might not be as bright on the radar now as he was in the summer. But he still is the Flyers defenseman that they’d be lost without. Sanheim has missed a grand total of four games the last four full seasons. That’s four out of 328 contests, the last half of which came with him out from under Ivan Provorov’s spotlight. He’s logged an average of 23:48 in 2023-24, 24:29 last season and so far this year he’s at 25:15. And he’s looked generally good to quite good most nights. As a result, any injury to Sanheim is going to be next to impossible to replace without Flyers general manager Danny Briere pulling the trigger on a deal to get a stud defenseman. Nobody on the roster now or in the depth chart is close to eating the minutes and workload Sanheim has had this year. And with York only having an injury that’s day-to-day, Sanheim’s workload will increase by a little the next few games, hopefully not a lot.

Sanheim has been one of the most underrated defensemen the last few seasons. And is on a tremendously team-friendly long-term deal. Any loss of Sanheim would make Noah Juulsen or Egor Zamula no longer fighting for a spot as the sixth blueliner. And making Cam York, as good as he’s been, having to accept a workload he’s most likely not capable of sustaining over a few months or half a season when he gets back to playing. When the return of Rasmus Ristolainen would be the best remedy to offset the loss of Sanheim, one doesn’t need to connect the dots to realize just how screwed Philadelphia would be without the Elkhorn, Manitoba native.

Trevor Zegras​

As solid as the Vladar acquisition has been, just as strong or marginally stronger has been what Trevor Zegras has done in his first two months and change with Philadelphia. Out of the depths of despair and doldrums on the West Coast, “Ziggy” has found tons of stardust in a magical first 26 games. With 26 points thus far, the obvious point-a-game pace is something few might have envisioned starting the season. He’s seven points away from eclipsing his point total last season. And going by his best seasons, he could easily surpass those 60-plus point totals before the trade deadline emerges. As if that wasn’t enough, he has resurrected a power play that is no longer the laughingstock of the National Hockey League. It’s still not great, but not being the bottom of the barrel is refreshing.

As great as Zegras has been as a quasi-hybrid center, it would probably take a lot of wind out of the Flyers’ sails if he was injured for any length of time. In fact, it might take down a sail or two on the Flyers ship. He’s been that damn important. With a fourth line that has producing nothing, and a struggling Matvei Michkov to start the season, Zegras (with Vladar holding up more than his share) has put the team on his shoulders and is dragging them into the playoff hunt. All the more reason why any kind of injury to him would definitely negatively affect almost everything the Flyers have going. The power play, or what semblance there is of one, would be back down to the lowly foundations of last year without the main quarterback with 11 power play points (on 14 power play goals). And it would without question leave a huge hole in the line with Christian Dvorak and new winger Travis Konecny.

Sure, the Flyers could still tread water if Michkov, Konecny and Owen Tippet began playing out of their minds or went on incredibly lengthy hot streaks. But that might be hard to fathom considering just how streaking Tippett has been and Michkov can be at times, to say nothing of Konecny’s drop in production the last half of 2024-25. It’s safe to say they couldn’t weather the storm left by a Zegras injury. Which is why everyone was almost in tears watching Rasmus Dahlin reef the Flyers winger hard into the boards from behind on Wednesday night. He got back up and was fine, keeping the idea of post-season hockey alive and well.

The result?​

The Flyers, like any team that needs to be competitive, needs to have a very good goaltender, a very good defenseman munching up minutes, and a very solid forward who can produce. Philadelphia have that for the time being in Vladar, Sanheim, and Zegras. A loss of one of them would probably be a huge nail in the Flyers coffin regarding the playoffs. If two of the three were out for a while, you might as well start throwing dirt on them. Otherwise, if Philadelphia remained in playoff contention minus two of Vladar, Sanheim, or Zegras, Rick Tocchet’s name should be etched on the Jack Adams Award for the second time in three seasons now.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/3-players-flyers-cant-lose-if-they-want-to-make-the-playoffs/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Flyers vs. Avalanche: How to watch, lineups, and gamethread

The Philadelphia Flyers are down a couple of their most important players just in time to welcome in a team who is on top of the world and is on pace to barely lose any games in regulation this season. The Colorado Avalanche have been almost perfect this season — the pessimists will be wanting the Flyers to just not get embarrassed, and the optimists will look for some weird shutdown game where the Avalanche appear mortal.

Puck drop: 1:00 p.m.
How to watch/listen:
: NBCSP
: 97.5 The Fanatic

Pregame reading​

• Something to look out for this season is just how much head coach Rick Tocchet uses Sean Couturier. The veteran center has been leaned on hard and the coach himself admitted that he shouldn’t do a whole lot more of that. [BSH]
• It’s December so that means World Juniors! We’re going to be covering a whole lot of it, and to start let’s look at SIX Flyers prospects who could be at the tournament in Minnesota. [BSH]
• There’s some trade rumors swirling around Owen Tippett but according to Elliotte Friedman, the Flyers are trying to calm those down for the sake of the player. [BSH]

Pregame watching​

By the numbers​

Philadelphia Flyers – 15-8-3 (5th in Metro)

Goals: Trevor Zegras/Tyson Foerster (10)
Assists: Trevor Zegras/Travis Konecny (16)
Points: Trevor Zegras (26)

Colorado Avalanche – 20-2-6 (1st in Central)

Goals: Nathan MacKinnon (24)
Assists: Cale Makar (25)
Points: Nathan MacKinnon (48)

Projected lineups​

Philadelphia Flyers

Trevor Zegras — Christian Dvorak — Travis Konecny
Matvei Michkov — Sean Couturier — Owen Tippett
Nikita Grebenkin — Noah Cates — Bobby Brink
Carl Grundstrom — Rodrigo Abols — Garnet Hathaway

Nick Seeler — Travis Sanheim
Emil Andrae — Jamie Drysdale
Egor Zamula — Noah Juulsen

Dan Vladar
(Sam Ersson)

Colorado Avalanche

Artturi Lehkonen — Nathan MacKinnon — Martin Necas
Gabriel Landeskog — Brock Nelson — Ross Colton
Valeri Nichushkin — Jack Drury — Victor Olofsson
Parker Kelly — Zakhar Bardakov — Joel Kiviranta

Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Josh Manson — Brent Burns
Sam Girard — Sam Malinski

Trent Miner
(MacKenzie Blackwood)

Storylines to watch​

Flyers have one, single advantage

Looking through both lineups, it’s easy to see that the Avalanche have the more talented and proven players in just about every single position. It also helps that Nathan MacKinnon is on pace to win the Hart Trophy and Cale Makar is most likely going to win the Norris. So, yeah, just two of the best talents of the generations playing at their peak right now.

But, there is something the Flyers have that the Avalanche currently don’t: Healthy and good goaltenders. Scott Wedgewood is injured and while MacKenzie Blackwood is healthy, he did just play against the New York Rangers yesterday. Logically, it will be Trent Miner in the crease for Colorado and the third-stringer has done fairly well with a .909 save percentage in his two NHL games this season, it’s not like he’s stealing any games. Dan Vladar can steal games, so that’s what we have to pray for.

And if we really want to stretch the definition of advantage, we could include that Colorado is 0-3 in the shootout this season and the Flyers are very, very good at that game-ending skills competition.

Cam York’s absence might be a big one

Hockey is weird and weird things can happen (like the Flyers somehow winning this game), but it’s still good to have as many good players as possible. So basically, missing Cam York — arguably the best defensive defenseman the Flyers currently have — up against the Avalanche is going to hurt a whole lot.

York has done excellent work to suffocate opposing scoring chances and limit shots against on the top pairing with Travis Sanheim, but as he’s currently out day-to-day he will be missing this game and in his place, it’s Nick Seeler. We’re crossing our fingers.

Best team in the world

Enough digital ink has been spilled on this Avalanche team to recognize their greatness, but just to really hit the point home. Colorado leads the league with a plus-48 goal differential. That is outstanding for a team after 82 games and this hypothetical team could finish at the top of their division fairly comfortably with that differential. But the Avalanche have done that in just 28 games. And, to just paint a more dominant picture, the next best team are the Dallas Stars and they’re at plus-27. Insane stuff.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/flyers-vs-avalanche-how-to-watch-lineups-and-gamethread/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Takeaways: Flyers fall, but stick with heavyweight Avalanche

After a three-day break, the Philadelphia Flyers got back into action Sunday at Xfinity Mobile Arena with a matinee tilt against the NHL’s unquestioned juggernaut — the Colorado Avalanche. But despite being completely outmatched on paper, the Flyers put up an admirable fight. They ended up falling by a score of 3-2, but their gutsy effort gave them something to hang their hat on.

The Basics​

First period: 2:09 — Sean Couturier (Noah Juulsen, Owen Tippett), 8:28 — Brent Burns (Martin Necas, Jack Drury), 19:09 — Brock Nelson (Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar)
Second period: 1:47 — Valeri Nichushkin (Victor Olofsson, Devon Toews), 5:58 — Travis Konecny (Emil Andrae, Christian Dvorak)
Third period: Scoreless
SOG: 28 (COL), 26 (PHI)

Takeaways​

The birthday boy connects

Sunday not only marked Sean Couturier’s 900th NHL game, but it was also his 33rd birthday. Fittingly, it was Couturier who opened the scoring early in the first period.

Owen Tippett got the play started by creating some space along the wall and finding a wide-open Noah Juulsen stationed on the blue line. Juulsen unleashed a blast from the point, and Couturier was in perfect position to redirect the puck past Avalanche goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood to make it a 1-0 game.

BIRTHDAY POWER! #COLvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/kLM4kfv0tc

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) December 7, 2025

The Flyers’ 1-0 lead didn’t last long. Veteran defenseman Brent Burns ended up tying the game just a few minutes later. But in a game that turned out to be a back-and-forth battle, it was good to see the Flyers throw the first punch against the big, bad Avs.

Konecny bounces back after rough start

The play of Travis Konecny has been a topic of hot debate all season. While he ranks second on the Flyers with 23 points on the season, his play has been spotty dating all the way back to the middle of last season.

Sunday, fans got a glimpse of Konecny at both his best and his worst. In the first period, Konecny looked particularly out of sorts, missing routine passes and regularly falling victim to unforced turnovers. Late in the frame, Konecny had a chance to clear a puck out of the zone with the Avalanche on a power play. Konecny’s clearing attempt failed, though, and it directly led to Brock Nelson’s go-ahead goal. Konecny was openly self-critical when speaking with NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Ashlyn Sullivan between periods.

“Obviously, there’s things you can clean up. My clear on their second goal needs to get out. There’s little things, mistakes that are gonna happen. But as long as you stick to the game plan, I think it evens out that you’re gonna get your looks, and you gotta capitalize.”

Well, Konecny did end up getting some looks later in the game, and he did end up capitalizing on one. Early in the middle frame, Emil Andrae sprung Konecny for a breakaway with a stretch pass through the neutral zone, and Konecny beat Blackwood clean through the five-hole.

TK's fired UP. #COLvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/IZplXVMIoP

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) December 7, 2025

Konecny is arguably the Flyers’ best player, but his wildly inconsistent play has undoubtedly been frustrating. At the very least, it was a welcome sight for Konecny to light the lamp after such an ugly first period.

The Flyers put up a good fight

Professional athletes don’t care about moral victories. They want actual victories. But Sunday afternoon, despite being on the wrong side of the win column, the Flyers truly put in an effort that should have fans feeling encouraged.

The Avalanche are the best team in hockey, and the Flyers stuck with them until the final buzzer. Granted, the Flyers were coming off three days of rest while the Avalanche were playing their third game in four days. Would this game have been as close had Colorado been rested? It’s impossible to say. But one thing is certain — the 2024-25 Philadelphia Flyers aren’t putting up a fight like this against a team of this caliber. In years passed, this is unquestionably a rout.

But this year’s Flyers have a certain grit to them. They battle, and even against the winningest team in the NHL, the Flyers didn’t go down without landing some haymakers.

Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick and NHL.com.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/takeaways-flyers-fall-but-stick-with-heavyweight-avalanche/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Monday Morning Fly By: Milestones on milestones

*The Flyers finally got back to action yesterday against the Avalanche, and even though they were able to stick with them for much of the game, the finish eluded them in the end. [BSH]

*The Flyers had a pair of players in Sean Couturier and Nick Seeler hit pretty significant career milestones in that game as well. [Inquirer]

*Speaking of Couturier, Rick Tocchet has been leaning pretty heavily on him, but hopefully the day comes before long when he won’t have to ask quite as much of him. [BSH]

*Also a bit of news: ahead of yesterday’s game, the Flyers recalled defenseman Ty Murchison from the Phantoms. It seemed like a just in case kind of move, as he didn’t dress for the game, but it’s still a nice bit of recognition for the under the radar good work he’s been doing down in the AHL so far this season. [THN]

*He didn’t get on the board yesterday, but Matvei Michkov’s play has been trending up really nicely of late. Charlie has more on his resurgence herein. [PHLY]

*A little bit more news… or something like that: while Owen Tippett’s name is floating around in trade rumblings, the word is that the Flyers are trying to pour cold water on the idea that they’re actively shopping him. Do with that what you will. [BSH]

*Dan Vladar’s been excellent to start this season, and that high level of play began all the way back with his offseason preparation. [The Athletic]

*World Junior season is right around the corner, and there’s a good group of prospects who we might expect to see representing the Flyers in the tournament. [BSH]

*And in the realm of news around the rest of the hockey world: an outdoor game is coming is coming to Winnipeg. [TSN]

*Also, the saga as it relates to the whole Olympic ice situation continues to unfold. [The Athletic]

*And finally, let’s all remember that the Flyers are fun right now and we are allowed to simply enjoy this. [Inquirer]

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/monday-morning-fly-by-milestones-on-milestones/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Flyers trade prospect Ethan Samson to Lightning

The Philadelphia Flyers capped off their Monday night by making a trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning and it featured two young AHL defensemen moving around the Eastern Conference.

Announced by the team, the Flyers have traded 22-year-old defenseman Ethan Samson to the Lightning for also 22-year-old defenseman Roman Schmidt. Both defensemen are right handed but bring a whole lot of different energy to the ice.

TRADE ALERT: We have acquired defenseman Roman Schmidt from Tampa Bay in exchange for defenseman Ethan Samson. Schmidt has been assigned to the @LVPhantoms (AHL). https://t.co/lezlUVnYv8

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) December 9, 2025​

Samson has been with the Flyers organization since he was drafted 174th overall in the sixth round of the 2021 NHL Draft. The Delta, BC native was seen as a more high-energy type of defenseman and at 6-foot-1 wasn’t going to be just some poor little blueliner with zero physical tools. Samson developed through the years with the WHL’s Prince George Cougars and finished his junior career with a point-per-game season before he turned pro and joined the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms for the 2023-24 season. His production has seen rapid growth — 12 points his rookie year, 24 the next, and in 10 games this season he has just four assists but he had to recover from an early-season injury.

Well, and now he’s heading off to the Syracuse Crunch to most definitely turn into someone the Lightning would be happy to use on their bottom pairing in a few years. And people would ask just how they managed to steal him away.

Meanwhile, the Flyers got bigger. Roman Schmidt, also drafted in 2021 but in the third round by Tampa, is a 6-foot-5, 218-pound behemoth on the blue line who has regularly earned roughly several times more penalties than points or even shots on goal.

But why did the Flyers make this move — this swap of minor-league blueliners? We have a guess.

Why we think the Flyers made this trade with the Lightning​

In plainest English, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms’ blue line is stuffed. It’s jam-packed. Prospect Oliver Bonk recovered from his training camp injury and was able to make his professional hockey debut last weekend and then other transactions like the Samu Tuomaala-for-Christian Kyrou deal furthered the jam-packedness.

Schmidt is another defenseman and doesn’t really solve that problem, especially when you consider both him and Samson play the same side of the blue line. But, it’s about styles. With Kyrou, Bonk, Samson, and newcomer Maxence Guenette, the Phantoms’ blue line was tilting towards the more offensive side of the game. To balance it out — and to make Helge Grans, Hunter McDonald, and Adam Ginning feel slightly more welcome, they have now added Schmidt.

And with someone like Kyrou popping off offensively down there, Samson suddenly became a little bit more tradeable. So, general manager Danny Briere made a move that ups the physicality on the AHL blue line — and maybe just, provides the Flyers organization with someone who they could have on their own bottom pairing in a few years, since the likes of McDonald and Ginning and Grans have somewhat failed that test to be a physical long-term replacement for someone like Rasmus Ristolainen, for example.

Schmidt is somewhat of a project but we at least see the thinking why the Flyers would want to make this move and add some real grit to their defensive future.

Or, it doesn’t really mean anything and it’s just letting Samson have a better opportunity to play more minutes at a pivotal time of his career.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/flyers-trade-prospect-ethan-samson-to-lightning/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Ranking every single episode of ‘Black Mirror’

For the uninitiated, Black Mirror is a TV series akin to a modern Twilight Zone. Each episode (with some exceptions) are stand-alone tales often dealing with the horrors of fictional technology on society. Sometimes it can delve into horror, thriller, and mystery. The good thing about Black Mirror that has been consistently good since it debuted in 2011. There is not set release schedule for the show, and it comes out as creator Charlie Booker comes out with these fantastical ideas. The last season of the series debuted earlier this year in April 2025. With 34 total installments, we thought now would be a good time for Steve and I to disseminate our rankings and thoughts on each episode.

34. The Waldo Moment
Jay – 33, Steve – 33

Jay – Maybe this plays up for some in the current political environment, but none of it hits for me. It would be the most forgettable episode if it wasn’t for the annoying Waldo character. There isn’t a worse episode, though the next one comes close…

Steve – No one likes Waldo. No one likes this episode. I was actually surprised this was only the 3rd lowest rated episode on IMDb. This is definitely one of the most annoying episodes of Black Mirror.

33. Metalhead
Jay – 32, Steve – 32

Jay – Another pointless episode that tells a story that doesn’t need telling. The black and white tries to give it more credit than it deserves as this is in no way ‘deep’.. In no way does this ever feel like a Black Mirror episode. It feels like a bad student film.

Steve – If I’m being honest, I don’t flat out dislike “Metalhead” like I do “The Waldo Moment” and “Shut Up and Dance”. It just didn’t feel like anything to me. The black and white presentation is something that I often welcome – for instance the flash forward scenes in Better Call Saul are beautiful. The use of black and white does not hit here.

32. Bandersnatch
Jay – 34, Steve – 27

Jay – Look, we all love “choose your own adventures” as a kid, but this wasn’t a good one. Trying to create a cohesive story, but leaving it up to the viewer to do so doesn’t sit well for me. It sacrifices novelty for laziness.

Steve – “Bandersnatch” is kind of a failed experiment. I know I wanted it to work. I adored “choose your own adventure” books as a kid. But it’s just kind of a mess overall. I admired its ambition.

31. Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too
Jay – 31, Steve – 29

Jay – This unfortunately suffers from bad casting, as Steve mentions below. Miley Cyrus is a distraction that you can’t overlook given that the story is already flimsy and forgettable.

Steve – Miley Cyrus is super distracting in this episode, which barely feels like a Black Mirror at times.

30. Men Against Fire
Jay – 27, Steve – 30

Jay – You can see the twist coming from a mile away and it’s fine. Xenophobia is as rampant as ever and perhaps this is another episode with significantly more meaning as it ages.

Steve – This is one of those episodes where I understand and get the premise, but it just did not hit for me at all.

29. Demon 79
Jay – 30, Steve – 26

Jay – Not often does Black Mirror go into the supernatural and you can kinda see why given this quasi-miss. The episode has its moments, but becomes forgettable.

Steve – I 100% forgot the plot of this one and had to look up the details. This sure is an episode of Black Mirror.

28. Smithereens
Jay – 28, Steve – 28

Jay – More of a thriller than your typical sci-fi dystopian nightmare. It is extremely well-acted and Topher Grace plays his role really well.

Steve – Rideshare driver abducts CEO, stuff happens. “Smithereens” is like a weird Black Mirror bottle episode.

27. Crocodile
Jay – 26, Steve – 25

Jay – This is truly a diabolical episode in a number of ways and slowly gets darker until it reaches a point that might deter most folks.

Steve – On the one hand, “Crocodile” has a good theme in confronting past regrets and how you can never truly cover up a heinous crime. On the other hand, baby murder. Babies getting murdered are very dark, even by Black Mirror standards.

26. Black Museum
Jay – 25, Steve – 24

Jay – I loved the references found in the episode to other Black Mirror tales. Equal parts sci-fi and mystery. You can see the “twist” coming about halfway through the runtime that the ending didn’t have as big of an impact on me.

Steve – “Black Museum” is a little creepy. It’s an “almost there” episode, but ultimately feels a little flat.

25. Hated in the Nation
Jay – 18, Steve – 31

Jay – This is the rare episode that I think an extended runtime (considered “long” at the time for a Black Mirror episode) allowed it to tell a more focused tale. As you can see I liked this one a bit more than Steve. The cyber bees are a bit silly, but I loved the eventual twist/payoff. This was also a well-acted performance from Kelly MacDonald.

Steve – Oh god not the cyber beeeeeees! If I’m being petty, I just thought this one was kind of stupid. We do need to save the bees, however. Please don’t use the eventual robo bees for ill use.

24. Shut Up and Dance
Jay – 13, Steve – 34

Jay – I’m of the group that finds the payoff ultimately shocking and rewarding. I can see why it would turn some folks like Steve off. I think the performances from Jerome Flynn and Alex Lawther make the episode. You can feel their fear and desperation through the screen.

Steve – “Shut Up and Dance” is my lowest-ranked episode and the one where Jay and I have the largest discrepancy in rankings. This episode skeeves me out so bad. Black Mirror at its absolute worst just makes me feel gross. The source of Kenny’s blackmailing and the perpetually worse circumstances just made me feel sick to my stomach. I really hate this episode.

23. Playtest
Jay – 29, Steve – 17

Jay – This was all fine and good until the ending, which I thought ruined the entire episode. Wyatt Russell is always great, which is nice because you can excuse the nepotism there. I LOVE videogames, but I don’t think this idea was fully realized.

Steve – This is another decent sized discrepancy in rankings between myself and Jay. I think
“Playtest” is a perfectly cromulent episode of Black Mirror, combining horror games, augmented reality, and virtual reality. The ending is a little dissatisfying, but overall I like the performance from Wyatt Rusell and the exploration of alternative forms of gaming.

22. Mazey Day
Jay – 24, Steve – 22

Jay – I love Zazie Beetz. From Joker to Atlanta to Deadpool 2 she makes everything better when she is on-screen. The sixth season of Black Mirror had the show experiment with more horror/supernatural than ever before (see: “Demon 79” above). This one I found infinitely more entertaining than the aforementioned. It had enough interesting things to say about the world of celebrity gossip to warrant existing.

Steve – The lowest-ranked episode on IMDb! I remember this one being…fine? I dunno, there are episodes I consider much worse than this one. It’s just forgettable. I really like Zazie Beetz.

21. Loch Henry
Jay – 23, Steve – 23

Jay – Another horror entry from the sixth season! This one is slightly better as the serial killer/murder aspect is a more believable one. Samuel Blenkin (see: Zuckerberg stand-in for Alien: Earth) carries the episode. Always fun to see when family secrets are unearthed, though it can have deadly consequences!

Steve – “Loch Henry” is definitely in the “almost there” category. The countryside serial killer and VHS tapes aspects are cool. It’s a fine episode.

20. Plaything
Jay – 21, Steve – 19

Jay – A quasi-sequel to “Bandersnatch” that is infinitely better than its original. I thought its message about obsession and a built-in community were fun and novel. Peter Capaldi is perfect as the older Cameron has he is interviewed by police. It was fun and exciting to see if the payoff would actually be real or not.

Steve – This one is a little creepy and weird and fun. The Thronglets give off some “Lemmings” and “Sims” vibes for you over-35 gamers. Nobody likes when someone messes with the virtual community you’ve cultivated!

19. Striking Vipers
Jay – 19, Steve – 20

Jay – As Steve mentioned below. The two leads of Mackie and Abdul-Mateen II keep this way more engaging than it has any right to be. This one leaves me a lot of questions to ask on how certain aspects of this Street Fighter-esque game is designed and can be played…out of bounds of the normal gameplay. Overall, this is a solid tale.

Steve – This is another strange one where I feel like the lead actor elevates the material above the actual premise. Anthony Mackie and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II are both very good in this story of friends that bond a biiiiit too much over a virtual reality fighting game. I thought the tone on this one was really odd, but overall a solid episode.

18. Bete Noire
Jay – 22, Steve – 16

Jay – The episode felt like it was juuuust there in terms of what it was trying to get to. It’s actually the ending that lowered the score a bit for me. I do love the overall nature of the show as it puts you in the protagonist’s shoes in terms of self-doubt and feeling delusional.

Steve – They might as well have called this episode “Gaslighting”. Overall, I enjoyed it because I related to the premise as someone who is constantly doubting the things that he says. “Oh, was that stat that I threw out there about Claude Giroux on the podcast actually right?”

17. Fifteen Million Merits
Jay – 20, Steve – 18

Jay – I like this episode, but it has fallen down a bit just because so many great episodes have been released since it aired (it was the second ever episode of the show!). It stars Daniel Kaluuya before he really blew up post-Get Out fame. This is gorgeously shot and the music is incredible. You never can quite put together what is going on in this dystopian world, but what it has to say about popularity and capitalism makes it a good one.

Steve – Agree with Jason on his points on this one. The story is just a little too murky to be higher on the list, but the message on popularity and capitalism resonates more than ever in 2025.

16. Arkangel
Jay – 15, Steve – 21

Jay – This one has hit harder for me as I became a parent. It is ironic because before the episode even aired, my friends and I had a similar discussion “if we could put a tracking chip in our child, would we?” This takes that premise and amps it up a notch with full surveillance and the effects that could have on the parent/child relationship.

Steve – Oh hey, Jodie Foster directed this one! I wonder if “Arkangel” didn’t fully click with me because I’m not a parent. It’s another fine episode and deals with some interesting topics like surveillance of our children.

15. Hotel Reverie
Jay – 16, Steve – 15

Jay – It seems like at every turn whether it be film, television, videogames or music…we are constantly bombarded with remakes, reboots and remasters. Originality is dead, how can we still make money though? Try to make those classics “better” through technology! It is a slippery slope and this episode dives into that while also playing around with issues with Old Hollywood, AI consciousness and the such.

Steve – This is another “just missed” for me. “Hotel Reverie” plays with the ideas of remaking classic films, updating the roles for modern attitudes on sexuality and race, and using technology to to update said films. It also in a weird way kind of comments on the “choose your adventure” type interactive stories that Netflix played around with a few years ago with Black Mirror’s own “Bandersnatch”.

14. The National Anthem
Jay – 17, Steve – 13

Jay – I know some HATE this episode and some can’t get over the actual payoff. This plays with the idea of what a high level of authority would do to save a life. Would it sacrifice all morals? Would it not give in to preserve the integrity of those it has authority over? The UK Prime Minister in this is played by Rory Kinnear who is a criminally underrated actor.

Steve – Ah, yes, the OG Black Mirror. This is classic “well, this feels like a bit much”, but overall the idea of the Prime Minister of England being blackmailed into doing a humiliating act is a very good one.

13. Joan is Awful
Jay – 14, Steve – 12

Jay – I do love the cleverness of this episode and what it says about the current media landscape (while lambasting the mode in which it is currently released). As Steve mentions, the level of meta that this puts you through can be a bit much at times, however Annie Murphy and Selma Hayek are incredible in it.

Steve – This is a trippy meta episode that occasionally tries to be a littttttle too clever for its own good. ”Joan is Awful” is an interesting statement about cancel culture, recasting, and streaming services. Annie Murphy is a great choice for the title character of Joan, watching her life unravel on her streaming service of choice.

12. Beyond The Sea
Jay – 11, Steve – 10

Jay – Now this is some daaaaark stuff without even delving into the more traditional tropes. What happens when a nice gesture (in a scenario for which you need this person to function doing a very dangerous job) can turn into a nightmare? If Trap told us anything, Josh Hartnett has some unexpected range. Aaron Paul and Kate Mara are also excellent.

Steve – “Beyond the Sea” has some great concepts. The idea of these astronauts being able to transfer their consciousnesses home to enjoy time on Earth is great science fiction. Seeing the jealousy that results when there ends up with only one body to share is a classic tale of human need and greed.

11. Common People
Jay – 10, Steve – 11

Jay – This one really hit for me as we dive deep into subscription culture and the sad dystopia of current US healthcare. Everything feels real and what would (has?) already happened for folks who can’t afford life-saving medical treatment.

Steve – I liked this one well enough. The strength really lies in the two leads – Chris O’Dowd and Rashida Jones. They bring a level of relatability and charisma to the roles that elevate this episode. I do like the premise of the ever increasing monthly fees being mapped onto keeping someone alive. The monthly fees especially creep up with the inflation that we have all felt in the past few years. It just felt like some of the amounts and the quickness with which O’Dowd’s character is resorting to humiliating acts on the internet are just a little bit off. This one feels like a near home run to me that ends up being more of a double.

10. White Bear
Jay – 6, Steve – 14

Jay – Absolutely love this one because of the mystery and suspenseful build-up. You have NO idea what is going on. You don’t really get that many tip-offs until the ultimate payoff and what is really going on for this woman who seems trapped in this nightmare reality. Like “Shut Up and Dance”, I love when the payoff feels so rightfully deserved and flips your feelings on its head.

Steve – This is a really interesting episode. I am in agreement that the mystery and the build-up is great in this episode. However, the payoff is where it gets me. The idea of this punishment just being perpetual (100 years!) bothered me. As I have mentioned, the constant misery on the show is grating for me at times.

9. Hang The DJ
Jay – 12, Steve – 7

Jay – I won’t give away the twist, but it is very satisfying and not so gut-wrenching for a Black Mirror episode. The story’s take on the bleakness of online dating and algorithms are never more relevant than they are today.

Steve – I really like when Black Mirror isn’t all doom and gloom. The show can be absolutely miserable in a way that few other shows can match. “Hang the DJ” skews the idea of dating apps and the perfect match. Dating isn’t perfect, and an app or matchmaker can’t just provide you magically with the perfect person for you. I don’t love the ending – it feels like a hat on a hat – but overall I think it’s a really nice episode of Black Mirror.

8. USS Callister Into Infinity
Jay – 9, Steve – 9

Jay – For me it’s hard to even view this as a sequel as much as it is a continuation of its predecessor. While it continues a lot of the same themes, it also takes jabs at the morally corrupt practices of in-game monetization in the videogame industry. Milotti is still great and others like Jimmi Simpson and Billy Magnussen are given more to work with.

Steve – A sequel episode! The second USS Callister is right up there with the original as far as quality goes. “Into Infinity” gives Cristin Milloti more time to show off her acting chops than the original, as she is really the star of this one. Jimmi Simpson, who has been great on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Westworld gets to have a lot of fun in this one.

7. USS Callister
Jay – 8, Steve – 8

Jay – As someone who plays videogames and is understanding of this culture, people like Jesse Plemons’ character surely do exist. Videogames are often an outlet to explore what you want to be or who you truly are. Plemons is the latter, which takes some wild turns in what it also says about counter-culture and loneliness. I love the nods to Star Trek and as mentioned, Cristin Milloti is one of the best actresses working today.

Steve – Jesse Plemons sure can play a creep. Between Todd on Breaking Bad and Gary in Game Night, Plemons has mastered the art of being the resident weirdo in a project. This plays perfectly to his strengths as Robert Daly in “USS Callister”. Cristin Milloti really shines as his foil, Nanette Cole. The only thing keeping this episode from being higher is the way that it bends over backwards to make the stakes feel higher. Daly has placed all of his coworkers into his hit video game and gets to boss them around in a Star Trek-like environment. Somehow, he has created a machine that “clones” the coworkers into the game, so they are actual people and not just A.I. beings ultimately? It’s a strange one. Still, the dark take on Star Trek makes for one of the stronger Black Mirror concepts.

6. Nosedive
Jay – 7, Steve – 2

Jay – What a “wonderful” look at what people would do to stay popular. The obsession with being rated and the overall social media landscape is perfectly displayed in Nosedive. To see what Bryce Dallas Howard’s character is willing to go through and her descent keeps this episode engaging from beginning to end.

Steve – I likely have this one higher than a lot of people, but I don’t care. I really love “Nosedive”. Rashida Jones and Mike Schur combined with a story by Charlie Brooker to write a scathing commentary of the gig economy and ratings systems. Bryce Dallas Howard is perfectly cast as a woman who tries to climb the social ladder through the rating system and finds herself just falling further and further to rock bottom.

5. White Christmas
Jay – 4, Steve – 5

Jay – Black Mirror is at its best when it combines technology and mystery. Jon Hamm does a masterclass here of setting up the tale, to which you will not see coming until all is unwrapped at the end. This is a rare episode in which I don’t think there are any real strong themes, but rather just telling a robust and unique story that uses futuristic technology. Also the idea of “cookies” here is terrifying.

Steve – Jon Hamm is sooooo good in this one. This is yet another episode that deals with wearables and surveillance technology – those really make for some of the best Black Mirror subjects. “White Christmas” nails the ending, with a satisfying punishment for a well-deserving party.

4. Eulogy
Jay – 3, Steve – 6

Jay – This is just a beautiful episode of television. Paul Giamatti elevates an already fantastic concept of reliving painful memories and reconciling long-held feelings. There is a “gotcha” moment with Giamatti’s character that really makes you feel his regrets. The imagery and how they shot this is absolutely fantastic to the eye. In the end it makes you ask a lot of questions about yourself and what you would confront.

Steve – Paul Giamatti is one of those chronically underrated actors. The best Black Mirror episodes strike at the core of memory and emotion. “Eulogy” is about coming to terms with regrets. Revisiting painful memories is hard. It’s easier to just move forward and bury your head in the sand instead of being introspective and facing the pain.

3. Be Right Back
Jay – 5, Steve – 3

Jay – As Steve mentions, the experience of “loss” is universal to anyone who has built lasting relationships. What would you do if you were to lose someone? How far would you go to chase that feeling you once had? Would it even be remotely the same? Haley Atwell and Domhall Gleesson are stupendous in this one. The ending is both sad and a bit happy.

Steve – This one affected me because of that feeling you get when you’re running out for an errand real quick or your significant other runs out. The thought that a simple run for milk could be the last time you see someone is terrifying. This episode does a great job of exploring the loneliness of losing a longtime loved one and what you would do to cope with it. It is actually even more relevant now, given the relationships that people are forming with chatbots and LLMs like ChatGPT.

2. San Junipero
Jay – 1, Steve – 4

Jay – This is my favorite and while I heard that this was the series best episode, I didn’t quite believe it until I watched. It’s one of the most beautiful and representative looks at love you will ever see on television. Once the veil is lifted, you can’t help but feel for each of these characters even more as they have discovered something they never could before meeting in San Junipero. Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Mackenzie Davis absolutely shine and the chemistry feels undeniably real. It does make you ask yourself, do you wish something like this were to exist?

Steve – My ranking here is almost entirely a by-product of the episode being overhyped before I watched it. San Junipero really is a lovely episode of television, especially for a show as nihilistic as Black Mirror can be. It’s a celebration of life and love, presenting a scientific version of the afterlife. There is a reason that “San Junipero” is most people’s favorite episode of Black Mirror.

1. The Entire History of You
Jay – 2, Steve – 1

Jay – This is the only episode NOT written or have writing credits by its creator Charlie Booker. Jesse Armstrong (see: Succession creator) creates an alarming and captivating look at how we view memories. Something like this would be conceptually revolutionary to humanity, but could have disastrous consequences. This is the third episode of the entire series, but it does really set the bench mark to which the series would go in.

Steve – This is my favorite episode. There was talk of making it into a feature length movie at one point, and I wondered what the point would be. It’s perfect as it is. The idea of being able to replay one’s memories is truly intriguing and frightening. The thought of being able to actually replay what happened and obsess over it is a slippery slope to madness. This is Black Mirror at its best, showing the dangers of technology and crucial flaws of the human psyche.

Of course Jesse Armstrong wrote my favorite episode. I friggin’ love Succession.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/ranking-every-single-episode-of-black-mirror/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Takeaways: Flyers rebound and take full control, dominate Sharks 4-1

Entering the game with an 8-1-2 record in games following a loss, the Flyers looked to continue a positive trend. While the Sharks opened the scoring, it never felt like the game was out of the Flyers’ control. On Matvei Michkov’s birthday — and Ty Murchison’s NHL debut — the Flyers were able to improve that record to 9-1-2 and skate away with a 4-1 victory over the Sharks.

The basics​

First period: 11:33 – Collin Graf (John Klingberg, Will Smith), 18:39 – Christian Dvorak (Trevor Zegras, Travis Konecny)
Second period: 3:20 – Carl Grundstrom (Nick Seeler, Travis Sanheim), 19:48 – Noah Cates (Bobby Brink, Jamie Drysdale)
Third period: 18:16 – Travis Konecny (Christian Dvorak) (EN)
SOG: 18 (SJS) – 30 (PHI)

Strong first period​

We’ve grown accustomed to the Flyers starting slow, but that was not the case in this one. The Sharks may have scored first, but the Flyers were by far the better team in the opening period. It took San Jose over eleven minutes to get their first shot on goal, and the period concluded with the Flyers out-shooting the Sharks 16-3. It was nice to see the Flyers flip this trend and get the better of their opponent from the jump.

The Sharks did score on their first shot of the game, and it was pretty ugly from the Flyers’ perspective. Four Flyers were caught puck watching, with their attentions drawn towards Will Smith. Sanheim and Dvorak both chase up towards the point where Zegras has covered while Konecny watches the puck instead of his man in Klingberg, who sneaks down from the point. This leads to the Sharks basically having a 3-on-1 down low against Seeler, which unsurprisingly turns into a highly dangerous chance and goal.

Can't make this up. #Flyers outshot San Jose 10-0 to start the game and then give one up on the first shot against.

1-0 SJ. pic.twitter.com/zmAJchkKnf

— Flyers Nation (@FlyersNation) December 10, 2025

A bit later, on the first Flyers’ power play of the night, Zegras got robbed right along the post after getting a favorable rebound off of the boards. However, shortly after, Dvorak broke free and after a favorable bounce off of Zegras, was able to put home his breakaway opportunity. This was also Konecny’s 500th point.

Filthy, Dvo. #SJSvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/pSQs3oGSYd

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) December 10, 2025

After pretty much completely dominating the period, it would’ve been really deflating if the Flyers had finished the period down a goal. It was also great for Dvorak and his line to get one back after their defensive breakdown on the Sharks’ goal.

The fourth line scored a goal!?​

It finally happened. For the first time this season, the fourth line scored a goal! Individuals who were skating on the fourth line have scored this season, but this was the first time that the fourth line as a unit actually put one up on the board. And it wasn’t a regular! In just his second game with the Flyers, it was Carl Grundstrom deflecting a point shot past Alex Nedelkjovic to put the Flyers up by one.

Not a bad way to greet your former team! #SJSvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/0jWvEe5k4G

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) December 10, 2025

Grundstrom gives the fourth line a little something different than the usual suspects of Nic Deslauriers, Rodrigo Abols, and Garnet Hathaway, and perhaps this goal will get him a bit of an extended look. Rick Tocchet has strongly defended his use of the fourth line, and maybe Grundstrom can have more of a positive impact for him in that role. The fourth line, Hathaway in particular, has really struggled this season, but this could be a turning point for them. He still remains pointless, but Hathaway looked more effective in this game than he has in a long time.

Michkov’s birthday game​

It was Matvei Michkov’s 21st birthday, and early on it looked like he was going to have a strong game. Before the midway mark of the first, Owen Tippett found Michkov breaking out of the defensive zone and sent him in on a breakaway. Michkov didn’t get a great shot off, as John Klingberg was able to get back and disrupt some, but it was great to see him involved early. This continued, with him later being a part of an impressive offensive zone cycle and setting up Andrae for a bomb from the point. He also made a dangerous — but successful — pass in his own zone that Tocchet probably didn’t love.

Unfortunately, Michkov was pretty invisible the rest of the way.

The second period began with him missing from the bench, which obviously prompted concerns. He missed only a few minutes, but still did not play much in the period, with just four shifts and just barely three minutes of ice time. It’s unclear if something was bothering him or if it was a coaching decision, but with him missing the start of the period, there could be something more there. He had a couple of short shifts in the third, and took an unnecessary offensive zone penalty. In a bit of a surprising move, Tocchet didn’t bench him the rest of the way, and actually had him on the ice with the Sharks’ net empty.

Vladar strong again​

While Vladar wasn’t super busy with just 18 shots against, he made some huge saves along the way and at important moments. One of his biggest and maybe most important stops came at the end of the first period when he faced Smith on a breakaway. The Flyers had just tied the game late, and if Smith scores there they go into the intermission down a goal despite fully controlling play.

Vladar was also excellent right before Noah Cates increased the Flyers’ lead, stopping Collin Graf during an odd-man rush, and then robbing Ty Dellandrea right in front.

Dan Vladar's HUGE SAVE before the Cates goal #Flyers pic.twitter.com/vgdOIR5gSs

— Flyers Nation (@FlyersNation) December 10, 2025

The biggest positive for the Flyers this season has almost certainly been Vladar, and he was the first star yet again tonight. Per Natural Stat Trick, the Sharks only generated 1.31 expected goals, but what made their chances challenging was often their pre-shot movement, which for the most part is something that public expected goals models can’t fully take into account. So while Vladar might not be an obvious star if you were just checking the box score, he was certainly a major reason why the Flyers won this game.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/p...nd-and-take-full-control-dominate-sharks-4-1/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Wednesday Morning Fly By: Nice and decisive

*Despite giving up the first goal last night, the Flyers really took it to San Jose and came away with a nice decisive win for Matvei Michkov’s birthday. We love to see it. RECAP!

*Big story heading into yesterday’s game was, of course, Ty Murchison making his NHL debut, which is always cool. And we got a rookie lap!

Welcome to the show, @TyMurchison!#SJSvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/R1UpWDKevn

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) December 9, 2025

*If you want to know a little bit more about Murchison after watching last night’s game, good news! We have the best Phantoms coverage in the world right here. [BSH]

*With debuts we always get great stories about how these kids got to this point, life-long dreams and such, and it’s a joy to read. [Inquirer]

*Everyone is always emotional! It’s very sweet! [NBC Sports Philly]

*Big story during last night’s game was Travis Konecny hitting the 500 point milestone! Here’s to 500 more, TK. [BSH]

*Anyway, the Flyers. The 4th line stinks and that needs to change. As we learned last night, all you need to do it put Not Plugs on that line and then they might do stuff! Wild concept. [The Athletic]

*Jett Luchanko seems to have settled in with his new team and is looking pretty darn good up there! [BSH]

*Wysh takes a look at all 32 teams to see which emerging trends are real, and which ones are just smoke and mirrors. [ESPN]

*Using your access to ask NHL players “who has the most punchable face” is, quite frankly, tremendous content. [The Athletic]

*And finally, because everything is sports and sometimes you just need a little break from talking about the Flyers, we ranked every episode of the very good television series “Black Mirror”. You’re welcome. [BSH]

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/wednesday-morning-fly-by-nice-and-decisive/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Flyers’ Ty Murchison shows well in NHL debut

The Flyers picked up a big win over the Sharks last night to stop the bleeding and protect against Sunday’s loss turning into a streak, and there was a lot to like about that showing. Carl Grundstrom came into the lineup for his second game of the season and got the fourth line their first goal of the season. Travis Konecny picked up his 500th NHL points (and, quickly, his 501st). Dan Vladar backstopped the team to his 11th win of the season. And along with all of that, rookie defenseman Ty Murchison made his NHL debut, stepping in to give a depleted back end a bit of a boost, and delivered that nicely.

Murchison spent this game sheltered a bit on the third pair, but he still got some good usage even in that role. He clocked in at 14:56 of ice time when it was all said and done, as it seemed the Flyers’ coaching staff wasn’t afraid to lean on him a little bit even in this first game — he actually finished this one with a minute more ice time than his defense partner in Noah Juulsen, and on top of getting a couple of good looks on the penalty kill, was still thrown out there in the waning minute of the game as the Flyers protected the lead. It was a nice vote of confidence, and a nice way to cap off what was on the whole quite a solid first taste of NHL action.

Getting comfortable​

The jump to the NHL level, even for just a short stint, is a steep one for any player, but the Flyers have had elements at work from the very start of the season up and down the organizational levels, to make this jump a little easier on their players. From his first comments to the media after his hiring, Phantoms head coach John Snowden emphasized the importance of having some consistency in how his squad and the Flyers are running their defensive zone to make things easier on any players going up and down, and that’s a goal that they’ve been able to follow through on through these first couple of months of the season. And for Murchison, he felt it made all the difference.

“Yeah definitely,” he said when asked about this continuity postgame. “Coach Rierden’s been amazing too just with helping me out with the subtle changes, but yeah I mean it definitely helps that we’re playing a similar game down there.”

He came into this recall with a built-in higher level of preparation done already, but of course, the systems between levels aren’t, can’t be, exactly the same, but the few days between his recall and his insertion into the lineup gave him enough time to spend a bit of time working with the Flyers’ coaching staff to get him up to speed on those small differences, and this seemed to be a difference maker for him.

“Coach Rierden’s been,” he went on, “amazing with helping me out with video and just subtle stuff on the bench. And I’m asking a ton of questions, and he’s always got a great answer, so they made the transition a lot easier.”

Murchison, too, credits his teammates with making this transition particularly easy on him, their willingness to offer guidance a useful tool as he looked to slide seamlessly into the lineup and hit the ground running.

“Yeah it was a surreal experience. The guys made it extremely easy, talking to me a ton, giving me a bunch of feedback. So it was a great team win and I’m very happy to be here.”

Making an impression​

For Murchison, this was surely a lifelong memory made, but just as important for the Flyers on a collective level was that he delivered for them a much-needed positive showing.

In short, each of the key pillars of Murchison’s game were working well for him on the whole. He was physically engaged, but still responsible enough to avoid abandoning his defensive assignments in order to chase a physical play. He had a couple of nice subtle plays to use his stick to break up chances. He was using his feet and able to keep pace with play nicely, even as the speed was a notch higher than he’s used to down in the AHL. His game seemed to be clicking well, and it made him a standout to his head coach in this one as well.

“He can skate really well, that’s what I like about him,” Rick Tocchet said postgame, “and he’s competitive. I think he did a great job for us tonight. You know, I think there was some stuff in your first game, I think he backed in a couple of times, but that’s normal, we’ll work with that, but he’s a good skater and he’s got some stiffness to him, that’s what I like. When you have defensemen who can skate and have stiffness to them, you know I think he went into the corner one time, not scared, and took a hit from Reaves, and kind of went at it with him. That’s a good luxury to have.”

It wasn’t overly flashy, but it was just about as positive of a first impression as he could have made in his NHL debut, given the type of game he plays and the role he was playing in. And what’s more, if the looks in practice this afternoon are any indication, Murchison might have just bought himself another game to show what he can do at this level, while Cam York works his way back from injury. Now, the next challenge is maintaining a solid level of play now that the initial adrenaline has worn off, but it’s nice to see the Flyers open to giving him some runway to extend his showing a little while longer. We’ll see where he goes from here/

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/flyers-ty-murchison-shows-well-in-nhl-debut/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Thursday Morning Fly By: Keep it rolling

*The Boys are back at it again tonight down at the Xbox as they try to keep the momentum from that nice little win over the Sharks going. Before tonight’s game you can check out what Charlie thought of that last one. If you want to. [PHLY]

*Speaking of that Sharks game, it was the first one for defenseman Ty Murchison and he had himself a pretty good showing for his NHL debut. [BSH]

*Christian Dvorak also had a pretty good showing on Tuesday night so naturally everyone is talking about him and all the things he’s been doing right since singing with the Flyers. [The Athletic]

*So when your rebuilding team has a reliable center having a career year on a one-year contract you’re probably thinking, “oh baby, that’s prime time trade deadline asset building ammo right there.” WELL GUESS AGAIN, DUMMY. [Inquirer]

*Travis Konecny is almost certainly not having a career year, but his play has been picking up of late and it’s been a bit of a relief. Is it enough to get a call from Team Canada, though? [BSH]

*It looks like the Flyers might be getting close to having a fully healthy defensive core. all the guys! In the lineup! Didn’t think it was possible. [NBC Sports Philly]

*Taking it back to the Olympics, what kind of changes might Team USA be making before taking off for Italy? Bill Guerin’s been saying some wild stuff, so should be interesting to watch. [Sportsnet]

*And finally, with those Olympics getting closer than you probably realized, let’s make some final predictions for the rosters. Predictions are fun. [ESPN]

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/thursday-morning-fly-by-keep-it-rolling-2/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Takeaways: Flyers drop a defensive battle 3-2 to Vegas

The Flyers skated with Vegas throughout the night in a relatively low-event contest, making their way to overtime against one of the best teams in the West before a Travis Konecny turnover in the 3-on-3 portion of the proceedings gave Jack Eichel a chance to set up Mark Stone in front for a 3-2 Vegas victory.

The basics​

First period: 6:07 – Zach Whitecloud (Ivan Barbashev, Braeden Bowman); 16:11 – Trevor Zegras (Travis Sanheim, Christian Dvorak)
Second period: 12:53 (PPG) – Mark Stone (Pavel Dorofeyev, Jack Eichel); 16:08 – Noah Juulsen (Christian Dvorak, Carl Grundstrom)
Third period: No scoring
Overtime: 2:47 – Mark Stone (Jack Eichel)
Shots on Goal: VGK 21 – PHI 19 [NOTE: The Flyers and Golden Knights each had exactly five shots in the first period, nine in the second, and five in the third, which I think is neat.]

Ramp-up period(s)​

In a game featuring two of the best teams in the league at preventing 5-on-5 offense, the start to this one played out unsurprisingly. Both teams took a bit of time to get going, with very little offense generated either way for a big chunk of the first period. That said, it felt like the Flyers were the ones fighting the puck just a bit more than the visitors were. A handful of potential big chances in or around the offensive zone either ended with blocked or missed shots or were smothered by Vegas before they turned into much of anything. That eventually became a problem for the Flyers, as a rush by Christian Dvorak became a blue line turnover that was in the Flyers’ net a few seconds later courtesy of Zach Whitecloud finding his way all alone in front.

Around halfway through the period, it felt like the Flyers started to get their legs under them, with a few good shifts of puck control in Vegas’ zone; by the time the period had come to a close, the Flyers (courtesy of the ESPN broadcast’s tracking) had had more offensive zone time than Vegas had, and shot/possession metrics had drawn more or less even. Yet, for all of that cycling and hard work, it was just a high, high skill play that ended up evening things up, as Travis Sanheim flung a pass from well above the circle all the way down right next to the net to Trevor Zegras, who had no issue knocking the puck behind Akira Schmid and into the net.

TAPE TO TAPE. #VGKvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/mONyO72HLu

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) December 12, 2025

And truthfully, the second period played out somewhat similarly (Flyers start quietly, Vegas puts a push together and eventually scores, Flyers find their footing and score late in the period), though it felt like the pace had definitely picked up both ways when the teams came out of the first intermission.

Christian Dvorak, main character?​

Dvorak’s line (with him centering Trevor Zegras and Travis Konecny) was on the ice more than any other tonight by a pretty healthy margin, and deservedly so as it felt like they were the only group consistently getting much going for chunks of this game. At the center of it was Dvorak (literally, you see, because he plays center, but also figuratively), who was very active in this one. He did have the mistake that tipped off Vegas’ first goal, but also tallied helpers on both of the Flyers’ goals, more notably on the second one as he put the puck right where it needed to be for an absolute clapper by Noah Juulsen (more on that later), and it felt like he was right there on some of the Flyers’ near-misses early on.

Dvorak has now handled more total ice time than Sean Couturier in three straight games, and while that’s still a pretty small sample, it’ll be worth keeping an eye on how Tocchet divvies up the ice time going forward.

Poor Emil Security​

We’ve generally been pretty excited here to see what Emil Andrae has done since coming back up and effectively cementing his role in the lineup, but this looked like his worst game in a while. He did get turned around a bit at his own blue line on that first goal, but more than anything he just looked uncomfortable with the puck for most of the night. He flubbed a handful of passes and loose pucks, with the low point coming in a late second-period power play when he failed to keep the puck in at the corner two different times. It was a pretty surprising showing from Andrae, whose puck skills generally don’t betray him like that. (He was also on the ice for the game-loser in OT, though both Konecny and Sean Couturier probably bore more blame for that moment going sideways than did Andrae.)

The night wasn’t without its positives — he did chase down Mark Stone in the third period to snuff out a breakaway while the game was tied, and he managed to draw a penalty in the defensive zone late in the first period — but the bottom-line performance was not great, and he was a team-worst -0.7 in on-ice Expected Goals at 5-on-5. He still ended up getting the fourth-most ice time of any Flyers defenseman from Rick Tocchet, but on a night where Ty Murchison and Noah Juulsen were on the ice, that may have been out of necessity as much as anything. Hopefully this is a one-off, because the difficult decisions will be coming soon on the blue line as Cam York and Rasmus Ristolainen are near their returns and even as Murchison continues to be a pleasant surprise in his NHL time so far.

We need power, it’s cold​

The power play tonight:

Three opportunities (6:00)
Zero goals
Six total shot attempts, only one of which hit the net

Bad. Real bad. Probably cost-them-a-point bad, in all honesty.

Tocchet certainly did not like what he was seeing after those first two power plays (both mostly occurring within the second period), making the decision before the team’s third and final power play late in regulation to swap Matvei Michkov (who had a very quiet night beyond than some decent shifts in the first period) and Owen Tippett out of the top unit, putting Bobby Brink and Noah Cates in their places in an effort to balance out the two units a bit more. This also did not work.

The power play is in full-on rut mode, having only collected 5-on-4 goals in two of their last 13 games. Tocchet and the assistants are going to have to keep looking for answers here.

Leftovers​

• If you did that thing where you just make everybody on the screen a silhouette of themselves so you don’t know who it is and then showed me this shot to tie the game in the second period and forced me to guess which Flyer in this game took it, Noah Juulsen might have been 18th out of 18. But! Here we are! The puck went in the net about four seconds after Juulsen came onto the ice for his shift. Tidy work.

BLAST OFF! #VGKvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/dO3WVkIyxb

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) December 12, 2025

• Solid enough night for Dan Vladar, even if the bottom-line numbers are not going to look great. He did a particularly good job keeping Vegas off the scoreboard early in the second period when they had a number of good chances to re-take the lead. At the same time, you would have liked to see him grab that puck on the power play in the second that became a rebound goal for Mark Stone.
• Trevor Zegras played 23:05 tonight. The only other two times he was above that amount of ice time were also overtime games.
• Carl Grundstrom is making it pretty difficult for the Flyers to decide to send him back to the Phantoms if and when that time comes. He was bumped up to Nikita Grebenkin’s spot on the third line during this one, and it’ll be interesting to see if he’s there again on Saturday against Carolina.
• That turnover by TK in overtime, man. Just can’t happen.

Statistics via evolving-hockey.com unless otherwise noted.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/takeaways-flyers-drop-a-defensive-battle-3-2-to-vegas/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Flyers prospect report: Bjarnason, Bump rebound

It’s been a wild week in the world of prospects, with movement up and down the organizational ladder, as well as some more in and out of it entirely, and we’re here to recap all of the week’s biggest happenings. Let’s get into it.

The News of the Week​

We have a lot of what feel like slow news weeks around here, it’s the nature of the game, but this sure wasn’t one of them. Since we last spoke, the Phantoms’ defense group has been changed up quite a bit: Adam Ginning cleared waivers and was assigned to the team, while Oliver Bonk was finally medically cleared and assigned to them as well, and Max Guenette finally arrived after all of his visa holdups were resolved (they both made their debuts on the weekend); meanwhile, Ty Murchison was called up to the Flyers, and Ethan Samson was flipped to Tampa for right shooting defenseman Roman Schmidt. Got all that?

And speaking of players on the move, Alex Ciernik has returned to Nybro of the Allsvenskan in Sweden after starting the season over in Liiga. Things were seeming a little rich for him at that level at times, so this step back should hopefully help him get back to his game and get going again.

Three Stars​

Carson Bjarnason

Bjarnason is still being used a bit sparingly by the Phantoms as he gets himself completely acclimated to play in the AHL, but he did deliver some really positive results in his lone start of the week. Bjarnason was given the start in the second game of the weekend, the Phantoms’ home game against Utica, and he came up big for them in that start. He looked a little bit shaky at the start, had a couple of scrambly looking sequences, but he was able to stick with it well and really lock things down as the game went on. Utica threw a lot at him, 35 shots in total, and he managed to stop 33 of them, and put in some good work to keep things settled well enough to get the group to overtime, on the way to the team’s lone win of the weekend.

Things have still been a little up and down for him over these last few weeks, but that’s to be expected for a rookie goalie still in the early part of the season. More importantly, he was able to rebound well from a tougher showing in his last time out (when he gave up four goals in the shootout loss to Laval), and quickly get things moving in the right direction again.

Jett Luchanko

It certainly was an exciting week for Luchanko. He kicked it off by picking up his first goal with his new team in Brantford on Saturday (which was also their teddy bear toss goal, which doesn’t make it count any more, but it’s still a nice thing to see), and then he quickly added his second by scoring on a penalty shot later in the game. From there, he added three assists in last night’s huge 8-4 win over Erie, as it looks like he’s really starting to get rolling with his new team.

That said, Luchanko is still working towards incorporating more of a shooting mentality into his game — he had three shots in the Saturday game, which was a positive, but then he only managed one yesterday as he was piling up all of those assists. It’s still early in his stint with this team, and he’s still finding his footing, but that’s something to keep an eye on.

Alex Bump

It’s been a bit of a weird week for Alex Bump, but it still all worked out to be a reasonably productive one, when it’s all averaged out. Bump was held off the board in the first of the Phantoms’ three games of the weekend in Wilkes-Barre, and though he kept up with his pouring on of shots (though perhaps to his detriment, doing it from more often the perimeter) and put up four in that game, he couldn’t get one to break for him. But then, Saturday saw him only manage to put up one shot on goal, and it ended up being their overtime winning goal, and then Sunday he did the same thing, put up one shot and it turned into a goal.

All in all, it was nice to see him finally break through, because he needed to, but it’s also clear that there’s some fine tuning that needs to continue to be done on his process, and we’ll see if he’s able to keep this positive momentum rolling into this weekend.

Honorable Mentions​

Sticking with the Phantoms a little while longer, despite it being a more challenging weekend for them as far as the overall results go (with two losses and one win), they still got a nice bit of production from a number of the prospects on the team. Bump led the charge, but both of Jacob Gaucher and Tucker Robertson stepped up with a goal and an assist apiece, while Ginning got a goal himself, and Samson and Hunter McDonald each had two assists, while Alexis Gendron and Denver Barkey had one each.

Back to Ciernik, he’s beginning to settle back in with his new old squad again — after going pointless in his first two games for Nybro, he picked up his first goal on Friday, and then added on an assist in the Sunday game to wrap up the weekend. Now, he was held off the board again in his last game on Wednesday, but still, all in all it’s not a bad start to things for him. Meanwhile, the Flyers had yet another prospect who’s remaining on the move, though not so dramatically, as Max Westergard is continuing to be bounced between levels over in Sweden. For now, he’s back down in the U20 Nationell, and he’s continuing to produce really nicely at that level. He’s played two games back down there in this most recent stint, and he collected an assist in each of them, bringing him up to 17 points over his 12 games played so far.

Back in North America, Jack Nesbitt is really starting to pick up steam again. Last week saw Windsor split a two-game series with London, and Nesbitt managed to pick up a goal in both of those games, and then he added an assist in their win over Peterborough yesterday. It was a nicely productive week on the whole, and it’s also brought him back up over that point-per-game mark of production (he has 23 points in 22 games), which was nice to see.

And finally, it was a bit of a mixed bag of action unfolding down in the NCAA this week. It was a tough one for Michigan State, as they faced their most challenging opponent of the season in the top-ranked Michigan Wolverines for the first time this year, but they managed to come out of their pair of games with some positive results. While they didn’t really have their best stuff in the first game, and ended it getting shut out by a score of 3-0, they responded well in the rematch and were able to get their offense going to a much greater degree, and were able to limit the chances they gave up on the other side, and they were rewarded with a 3-1 win for their work. Porter Martone contributed one of the goals in that second game, but Shane Vansaghi was held off the board after a productive series against Colgate (though his line did still manage to create a few good looks). Elsewhere in the Big Ten, Notre Dame had a really tough weekend against Wisconsin, getting beaten 7-4 and then 9-2 in the rematch, but the more relevant piece for the Flyers fans around here is that Cole Knuble had an assist in both of those games, and seems to be trending up lately, so that’s something.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/flyers-prospect-report-bjarnason-bump-rebound/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

3 reasons why the Quinn Hughes trade benefits the Flyers

There were a few teams in the running for Vancouver defenseman Quinn Hughes, including a few in the Eastern Conference. Washington was mentioned, New Jersey was tossed around given the sibling connection, and Philadelphia was briefly thrown into the mix. However, trading Hughes to Minnesota for a rather good package of young prospects, a draft pick, and an established center was a decent return for Hughes.

While the Flyers struck out on this current transaction to land the coveted world-class blueliner, there are a few silver linings from this trade to Minnesota.

No Hughes in the Metro​

The fact Quinn Hughes may only torture the Flyers a few times a season versus being with one of the teams in the Metropolitan Division is a huge asset. Seeing him in a Capitals or Devils uniform for this season and next would’ve made things a tad tougher for Philadelphia to get themselves into the playoffs or nail down a wild card spot. But by knowing Hughes is in the Central Division, the only nightmare scenario would be the Flyers getting to the Stanley Cup Final and facing the Wild with Kirill Kaprizov and Hughes in the way.

As it stands now, Minnesota will be facing the Flyers one more time in the 2025-26 season when the Wild host the Flyers on March 12. But other than that, the Flyers shouldn’t really be too concerned with Quinn Hughes this season or next.

Package heading back way too costly​

As it was speculated in the days and weeks leading up to the eventual trade, the Flyers would probably had to part with pieces of their future they were simply unwilling to part with. When a first-round pick, Noah Cates, a competent blueliner (Jamie Drysdale? Cam York?) and one of either Matvei Michkov or Porter Martone was the possible asking price, it was far too high to pay. Yes, Hughes is one of the better puck-possession defensemen around, and can alter a team or a game at a moment’s notice. However, the Flyers endured too much pain and showed too much patience in recent seasons to see blue chip prospects like Martone or Michkov go out the window to land a 26-year-old defender. Not to mention any other pieces that were involved.

By standing pat and not doing anything for the time being, the Flyers have more of a window to see what they have in Michkov, Martone, and Drysdale for starters. And of course holding onto the first-round pick that would’ve been shipped to Vancouver. Given how the Flyers have been one of the better teams in terms of their draft selections in recent years, losing three or four first-round picks to land Hughes would’ve been a mistake. It might have sped things up in terms of seeing a better product on the ice, but it would’ve shortened the window for contention also.

Summer of 2027? Maybe​

What remains to be seen from the Hughes deal is how sold he is in playing with the Wild. Minnesota have this season to prove to him they are legitimate contenders. That might be a slightly tougher sell considering just how stacked the Central Division is with Winnipeg (struggling lately but getting Connor Hellebuyck back soon), Dallas, and that somewhat decent team called the Avalanche this season. There’s no guarantee Minnesota gets to the Conference Finals and a better than 50/50 chance the first round might be their only playoff round.

So, if Hughes isn’t sold on Minnesota, and Wild general manager Bill Guerin can’t work his magic in signing him to an extension on July 1, 2026, things become more enticing for teams that kicked the tires on him in the last few weeks. Should the Flyers get into the playoffs this year and possibly upset somebody in the first round, that’s a good starting point to make Hughes or his agent consider Philadelphia. As well, 2026-27 should see Martone suiting up, giving the Flyers another piece alongside Michkov, Tyson Foerster (we hope, fingers crossed for health), and Trevor Zegras (we hope, fingers crossed for an extension). Flyers general manager Danny Briere has some housekeeping to do with restricted free agents and possibly locking up Michkov long-term. But it would be a huge coup to land Hughes in the summer of 2027 for nothing more than cap space.

For now, the Quinn Hughes speculation has come to an end. Should the Wild’s season go a bit pear-shaped due to injuries or just poor play, the noise will begin again about Hughes leaving Minnesota for greener pastures. And with the Flyers having some promising high-end talent waiting in the wings, it might be for the best that, for now, Quinn Hughes isn’t calling the City of Brotherly Love home.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/3-reasons-why-the-quinn-hughes-trade-benefits-the-flyers/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Takeaways: Flyers hang on for a point but lose in the shootout to Carolina 4-3

The Flyers were solid in the first half of the game but looked lucky to hang on to the loser point. The end result was a 4-3 victory for the visiting Hurricanes, extending their unbeaten streak in Philadelphia to nine games.

The basics​

First period: 10:04- Bobby Brink (Trevor Zegras, Travis Sanheim), 17:34- Trevor Zegras (Travis Konecny, Jamie Drysdale)
Second period: 9:11- Nikolaj Ehlers (Shayne Gostisbehere), 14:12- Alexander Nikishin (Joel Nystrom, Taylor Hall)
Third period: 12:26- Seth Jarvis (Andrei Svechnikov, Shayne Gostisbehere ) 12:49- Carl Grundstrom (Rodrigo Abols)
Overtime: No scoring
Shootout: Trevor Zegras- No goal, Seth Jarvis- No goal, Matvei Michkov- No goal, Andrei Svechnikov- No goal, Travis Konecny- No goal, Sebastian Aho- No goal, Bobby Brink- No goal, Jackson Blake- Goal
SOG: 18 (PHI) – 21 (CAR)

Some takeaways​

Fourth line baby steps

The fourth line hasn’t been impressive this season. Not breaking news. Yet, the addition of winger Carl Grundstrom has given them a little bit more jump and offensive possibilities. Early on the line had a good shift with Grundstrom nearly feeding Hathaway in front for a great chance. The line is looking a little better. Considering how bad they were could they be much worse? Probably not. Grundstrom might be the key that takes the bottom line out of what has been a very trying season.

Grundstrom delivered a huge game-tying goal in the third, just 23 seconds after Carolina took a 3-2 lead. The winger took a high glove hand shot that beat Pyotr Kochetkov clean. Hopefully this production begins to rub off a bit more on Rodrigo Abols (who got the helper) and Garnet Hathaway.

CARL GRUNDSTROM TIES IT UP IMMEDIATELY!!! THIS MAN HAS CHANGED THE 4TH LINE'S LIVES!!! 3-3!!!!#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/j7BlibnyLz

— Flyers Clips (@Flyers_Clips) December 14, 2025

Ersson keeps Flyers in the fight

Nobody was sure how Philadelphia would approach this back-to-back against Carolina. Would they go with Dan Vladar between the pipes Saturday and then Sam Ersson on the road? Well, no, they did the opposite. Ersson, playing his first game since a loss against the high-flying Avalanche, had to face a breakaway early on after a ridiculous line change less than 90 seconds in. Carolina didn’t score, but it was definitely a wake-up call to the Flyers who didn’t spend much time in their own zone then next few shifts.

Ersson was solid on Carolina’s initial power play, making some key stops in the slot. But the Flyers did a fantastic job in front of him, with Carolina going a considerable length of time between shots. The first shot of the second period for Ersson was a timely one on Logan Stankoven. Another key stop was on defenseman K’Andre Miller as Philadelphia was feeling a bit of pressure while a Seth Jarvis wrister was gloved down by Ersson, giving the Flyers a much needed line change. It didn’t prevent Carolina from capitalizing on a Ty Murchison miscue that led to Nikolaj Ehlers cut the deficit in half.

The second goal in as many games for #27.

Carolina needed one to get back in this, and they got it. pic.twitter.com/7ven2T2Mcj

— Walt Ruff (@WaltRuff) December 14, 2025

Ersson didn’t get much help the longer the second period went on. After more pressure, Carolina tied things up 2-2 as Alexander Nikishin took a shot from the blueline which deflected off Noah Cates’ skate and past Ersson. And after keeping the game tied as the Flyers looked lost at sea in their own end, the keeper had almost no chance on a Seth Jarvis breakaway. A near stellar save went for not as the puck went off Ersson’s toe and in. Ersson was solid in this game and particularly in overtime. The Flyers couldn’t score in the shootout. Once again the goaltender made some huge saves but the .857 save percentage would lead others to say otherwise.

TK OK

Travis Konecny made a huge booboo in overtime last game (although Sean Couturier admitted he didn’t help a whole lot). On this night Konecny was ready to put that miscue in the rearview mirror. And he did in spades. Konecny took a crosscheck in his own zone. Instead of retaliating, Konecny went to the bench. The line change resulted in Bobby Brink coming on to score the opening goal. Meanwhile late in the first, Konecny went behind Carolina’s net to feed Trevor Zegras with a pretty backhand pass to take a 2-0 lead. It was a great 20 minutes that served as a fine confidence boost to the winger.

Trevor Zegras has already tied his goal total from last year in 23 fewer games after burying a sweet feed by Travis Konecny, 2-0 Flyers.
Goal: Zegras (12)
pic.twitter.com/DoWvLowumS

— Andrew Coté (@acote_88) December 14, 2025

The goal marked the 12th of the season for Zegras, matching his total for last season in Anaheim.

Initially holding Carolina to few shots

The Flyers did an excellent job against Carolina in limiting their shots. Carolina shoots from anywhere, everywhere, at all times. So to see Philadelphia allowing just five Canes shots 23 minutes into the game should’ve been a feather in their cap. The Flyers pressured Carolina in all areas of the ice, at times looking like they might have had one or two extra skater when in fact they were anticipating plays and nixing plays before they developed. There was one point in the game Carolina went 12 minutes without a shot on goal. However, the Canes made adjustments in the second which had Philadelphia on their heels a good portion of period two.

Andrae a bit iffy on this night

Emil Andrae was looking good to start the game but in the second period was having some rough times. Andrae was on the ice with partner Jamie Drysdale for an extended shift in the middle period, giving the puck away in a prime location before being hammered behind the net. The Flyers were able to weather the storm and the tandem were able to make a change. Through the first two periods, Andrae’s Corsi For percentage was 28.57 (6-15) which was second lowest among the blueline next to Ty Murchison.

Michkov fine despite no points

When you think of Matvei Michkov, you shouldn’t think of him being the team’s leader in penalty minutes. But alas, he is. Michkov took a tripping penalty roughly four minutes into the first. Philadelphia killed it off. Midway through the first the forward nearly had an easy tap in courtesy of Owen Tippett but wasn’t able to connect. Michkov was once again limited in his minutes but was the lone Flyer skater to be north of 50 per cent in terms of Corsi For percentage with 62.50 heading into the second intermission in just under nine minutes.

Michkov was responsible for an icing late in the third but made a great block on the ensuing play that was enough to get Philadelphia at least one point. He also was given some time in the extra session, and in the shootout, but couldn’t score.

Power play? Not this night

After going just 4 for 32 the last little while, and with Tocchet clearly unhappy with the lack of production, the Flyers needed to start turning things around on the special teams. They nearly did on the Canes first power play when Sean Couturier broke up a play and went in on a two-man breakaway with Carl Grundstrom. Sadly, Couturier’s pass to Grundstrom was quite tight in on Carolina keeper Pyotr Kochetkov who made the stop. Fortunately, the breakaway didn’t look like the worst breakaway attempt in Flyers history a few games ago.

The Flyers never got a power play in the first 48 minutes of play, although there seemed to be a few calls that the referees either missed or chose to ignore. None moreso than what looked to be an interference call by K’Andre Miller on Konecny.

Brink baby Brink!

Bobby Brink continues to play well regardless of the line he’s on. Halfway through the opening frame Trevor Zegras bolted up ice but then down-shifted across the blueline. While drawing some opponents, Zegras left a beautiful pass to Brink. Brink made a nifty move to get into the middle of the ice and beat Kochetkov clean on the glove side.

BOBS AWAY. #CARvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/WL1bmJQ914

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) December 14, 2025

Brink had another great chance to break the 2-2 deadlock in the third but his shot just grazed the crossbar.

Tippett avoids injury

Owen Tippett blocked a shot late in the second period and seemed to be favoring his arm. He stayed on the ice but headed to the locker room before the horn sounded. Whatever it was, it wasn’t enough to keep the winger from taking is regular shift and looking no worse for wear.

Stats courtesy of Natural Stat Trick and NHL.com.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/p...int-but-lose-in-the-shootout-to-carolina-4-3/