Philadelphia Flyers
Hall of Famer
Takeaways: Flyers get a point, lose a point in 3-2 overtime loss to Los Angeles
Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/p...-a-point-in-3-2-overtime-loss-to-los-angeles/
The Flyers earned a point but came up short on Saturday afternoon, losing to Los Angeles 3-2 in a rather low-event, excitement-free contest. The loss was Philadelphia’s fourth in a row.
The basics
First period: 3:10 – Adrian Kempe (Alex Laferriere, Corey Perry), 7:20 – Adrian Kempe (Corey Perry)
Second period: 0:38 – Trevor Zegras (Bobby Brink, Travis Konecny) (PPG)
Third period: 0:25 – Travis Konecny (Rasmus Ristolainen, Nikita Grebenkin)
Overtime: 2:48 – Quinton Byfield (Adrian Kempe, Drew Doughty)
SOG: 21 (PHI) – 21 (LAK)
Some takeaways
Another sluggish start
Philadelphia looked a bit lost in their own end just three minutes into the game and paid for it. Some terrible defensive zone coverage couldn’t prevent the Kings opening the scoring despite the five Flyers being within a few feet of each other in front of a sprawling and diving Dan Vladar. The goal was the 36th time in 54 games that Philadelphia allowed the first goal, playing from behind essentially from the get-go. Trailing two-thirds of the time to start a game isn’t a recipe for success, and certainly not a recipe for a playoff-chasing team.
Minutes later, the same Kings line played havoc with the Flyers in their own zone. Neither Trevor Zegras nor Denver Barkey picked up Kempe (who scored the first goal) as he buried a shot behind Vladar to make it 2-0.
Adrian Kempe AGAIN
He's got two in the first period! pic.twitter.com/U12SiuBoAw
— NHL (@NHL) January 31, 2026
The Flyers didn’t have many quality chances in the opening 10 minutes, squeezing a mere three shots in the first 11 minutes and change.
Konecny pipes up again
Travis Konecny, like all of us, isn’t getting any younger. After losing to Boston, Konecny said he was tired of missing post-season hockey. Considering he scored four consecutive goals for Philadelphia in the back-to-back against Columbus and the Bruins — and on a supposedly bad leg at that — Konecny kept trying to deliver. Out for the opening faceoff — against a line that featured retiring Kings legend Anze Kopitar — Konecny was later on the ice for the game’s first goal, looking as lost as his linemates in his own end.
And after a possible third Los Angeles goal 10 minutes in, Konecny could be seen banging his stick on the ice and telling his teammates to “wake the f–k up!” The goal was overturned for being offside, stopping the bleeding for the time being. In the third, the Flyers tied things up when Rasmus Ristolainen’s shot was clearly tipped by Konecny. The goal was originally credited to Ristolainen despite Konecny’s deflection. It was later credited deservedly to Konecny
Konecny started the overtime along with Dvorak and Travis Sanheim. Konecny had a breakaway chance but rang the puck off the post. The horn sounded but the referee waved his arms indicating no goal. Moments later, Los Angeles — who held the puck nearly the entire overtime — got the winner when Quinton Byfield’s wrister beat Vladar high and clean to give the Kings the victory.
D-Lo blocks shot, takes dumb penalty
Nic Deslauriers sacrificed his body to block a shot early in the game. The shot hit him just above the knee and had the enforcer crumble to the ice. He got up and skated gingerly to the bench but avoided heading down to the locker room. He shook it off and didn’t miss a shift. Later in the first, when trying to goad defenseman Brandt Clarke into a fight, Deslauriers took his time getting back to the bench while Nikita Grebenkin hopped on. The bench minor for too many men on the ice was another undisciplined minor to take for a team having a hard time killing penalties.
Ziggy played center, then didn’t
Trevor Zegras centered Matvei Michkov and Bobby Brink again Saturday afternoon. The trio nearly opened the scoring when Zegras fed Brink who passed the puck cross-ice for an oncoming Michkov. Sadly, Michkov couldn’t get it by Kings’ keeper Darcy Kuemper. The Russian winger was crosschecked from behind but the referees let play continue. Later in the first, Michkov was crosschecked by Drew Doughty but this time it was called.
The power play carried over into the second period where the Flyers made a pretty tic-tac-toe goal. Konecny passed it cross-ice to Bobby Brink. Brink quickly made a cross-ice pass back to Zegras who had a wide open net and make it a 2-1 game. It was the type of power play goal you would love to see far more often in the first 53 games. But Philadelphia will take it where they can get it.
It appeared that Zegras was relegated to the wing in the second period as late in the frame he was on a line with Michkov but Couturier being the middleman. The Flyers captain was also seeing some double shifting while he remained on the fourth line with Deslauriers and Garnet Hathaway. Zegras later saw time with Christian Dvorak and Konecny. So it appears for today the center test was pushed aside. At the end of the second Zegras avoided serious injury when he was tripped, colliding into Kuemper awkwardly and taking a while to get back on his feet. Fortunately he returned for the third showing no ill effects.
Tippett remains a bright spot
With all the problems emerging on the team, it’s good to see Owen Tippett still being visible on the ice. Tippett appears to be putting in the effort every game. During the Kings’ first power play, Tippett and Konecny started a rush up-ice that nearly cut the 2-0 deficit in half. Regardless, the winger has found different ways of becoming engaged, be it tossing his weight around or driving play. Although he had no points, Tippett had a pair of shots and some decent chances.
Afraid to shoot?
A few times in the first period, Philadelphia had decent chances to at least get a quality shot off. Each time the player decided to pass instead. It’s indicative of a team struggling when doing the most basic thing to be successful ends up being Plan B, C, or D. There’s rarely harm in shooting the puck in a slump. Yet somehow the Flyers remain averse to taking the easiest, most direct route to scoring.
If a message was delivered in the first intermission, the Flyers heard it loud and clear. Philadelphia looked quite different, generating more chances and pushing the pace far more than they did in the first. Rasmus Ristolainen had a shot hit the crossbar and Tippett had another shot earlier. All of that could’ve been squelched when Denver Barkey made an errant pass at the end of the Flyers’ second power play, resulting in a Kings breakaway for Cody Ceci. Vladar made the key stop at a crucial time.
Tightly checked third
Both Los Angeles and Philadelphia shut the door in the neutral zone in the last half of the third, rarely giving up any quality chances on either side. It’s as if they would’ve easily both agreed to let the clock run out without a whistle, both teams earning the regulation point, and see what happened in overtime. The best opportunity was with six minutes to go. Konecny found Cam York streaking in but Kuemper closed the door on him.
Source
Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/p...-a-point-in-3-2-overtime-loss-to-los-angeles/