The Philadelphia Flyers walked through the quicksands of increasingly tough opponents last week and proceeded to do everything that they are known to do this season. Nothing major was figured out — there were no breakthroughs or discoveries that have us all giddy at the thought of going through more of this campaign. It was the Flyers trying to play Rick Tocchet-style low-event hockey against some of the NHL’s best teams and getting some loser points out of their efforts.
A nice and tidy 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks was a nice little establishing note — to recognize that despite some improvement, that team is still below them in terms of overall talent and ability — but then with three games against the Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes to wrap up the week, it was staring down the barrel that could send us tumbling down some real pessimism.
Well, an overtime loss to Vegas and then back-to-back shootout losses to the intradivisional Hurricanes gave the Flyers three points in the standings and three performances that were neither comfortable or concerning. There were no signature games woven in the week but instead we got some Flyers examples of withstanding and pushing through .
Four points in those four games is just about what we kind of expected.
Anyways, let’s look at some players who did some stuff.
3. Carl Grundstrom
2 goals, 3 points, not scored against while on the fourth line
Carl Grundstrom is my third star for just being able to come up in a bad situation. The Flyers’ fourth line was a complete disaster and while fourth lines are not really consequential in the grand scheme of things, to have zero goals scored while that bottom-tier trio was on the ice for this team, was just overall bad.
So, in walks Grundstrom to take over for Nikita Grebenkin as he tries to do a Tyson Foerster impression for the time being, and almost instantly he makes an impact. Grundstrom scored in the Flyers’ win over the Sharks for the first goal from the fourth line of the season.
Thankfully, he wasn’t done there. The 28-year-old winger managed to score again with an absolute snipe off the rush, to tie the first game against the Hurricanes and eventually force the extra period.
For doing this, he has more than earned a regular spot in the lineup (while there is one). Pushing the Flyers’ fourth line into not being a complete disaster offensively felt like a Herculean task and Grundstrom was able to have a very good week to at least temporarily calm down that pressing need to change something up with that trio.
2. Christian Dvorak
1 goal, 5 points, 9 shots, and looked good
Dvorak has done everything asked of him and then some and last week was a great example of that. His line basically drove the Flyers offensively and while there’s nothing flashy coming off the stick of the veteran center, he was just there a whole lot and that is why he managed to score five points in the four games against some tough opponents last week.
It is truly hard to really expand on Christian Dvorak of all players when the reason he got a whole lot of those points, that led him to being the second star of the week, is the first star of the week.
1. Trevor Zegras
3 goals, 3 primary assists, 6 points, and was clearly the Flyers’ best player in most games
It certainly feels like Trevor Zegras is just driving this whole thing right now. Sure, some players are chipping in but this week was really just Zegras trying to control a whole lot for the Flyers and converting a solid amount of his chances.
ZEGRAS TIES IT WITH LESS THAN 2 MINUTES LEFTpic.twitter.com/7oLgaDKC9x
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) December 15, 2025
And right now, the puck is ending up in the back of the net when Zegras is out there. And with three goals and all three of his assists being primary, when those goals happen it is because of things that Zegras specifically does. He’s not just skating by and managing to pick up some points — Zegras is the focal point of the offense when he is on the ice and this past week a whole lot of goals happened when he was out there.
Simply for that, Zegras more than earns the first star of the week in what ended up being a mildly interesting week for the Flyers.
Source
The Flyers are back at it on the road again tonight in Montreal, as they look to snap their three-game losing streak and begin putting together a bit more in the way of positive momentum. And with some changes made to the lineup and some shuffling done with the forward lines, the Flyers are looking for anything that can bring them that extra bit of jump to draw them closer to that aim.
Puck drop: 7:00 p.m.
How to watch/listen:
: NBCSP
: 97.5 The Fanatic
Pregame reading
- Huge news! Rasmus Ristolainen’s back! [BSH]
- Carl Grundstrom has really been popping in his most recent stint with the Flyers, and it’s beginning to force some questions about how the Flyers are handling the bottom of their forward lineup. [BSH]
Pregame watching
By the numbers
Philadelphia Flyers – 16-9-6 (4th in Metro)
Goals: Trevor Zegras (13)
Assists: Trevor Zegras/Travis Konecny (19)
Points: Trevor Zegras (32)
Montreal Canadiens – 17-11-4 (3rd in Atlantic)
Goals: Cole Caufield (17)
Assists: Nick Suzuki (28)
Points: Nick Suzuki (37)
Projected lineups
Philadelphia Flyers
Trevor Zegras – Christian Dvorak – Travis Konecny
Carl Grundstrom – Sean Couturier – Owen Tippett
Matvei Michkov – Noah Cates – Bobby Brink
Nic Deslauriers – Rodrigo Abols – Garnet Hathaway
Cam York – Travis Sanheim
Emil Andrae – Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler – Rasmus Ristolainen
Dan Vladar
(Sam Ersson)
Montreal Canadiens
Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Zack Bolduc
Juraj Slafkovsky – Oliver Kapanen – Ivan Demidov
Josh Anderson – Jake Evans – Alexandre Texier
Jake Evans – Joe Veleno – Brendan Gallagher
Lane Hutson – Noah Dobson
Arber Xhekaj – Alexandre Carrier
Jayden Struble -Adam Engstrom
Jacob Fowler
(Jakub Dobes)
Storylines to watch
Ristolainen’s return
We mentioned this off the top, but the biggest headline coming into tonight’s game is Rasmus Ristolainen getting back into action for the first time since March. It’s been a long road to recovery, and the road to getting all the way back up to game speed will likely extend a bit beyond even this game, but all the same, it will be nice to see him back in the mix after such a long absence. He’ll have the benefit of easing back into things — the pairing of Emil Andrae and Jamie Drysdale, despite a few hiccups, has been working well on the whole so they’ll be holding on to that second pair usage, meanwhile Ristolainen will see some more limited usage on that third pair alongside Nick Seeler. That’s a shutdown pairing if we’ve ever seen one, and it will be interesting to see how that potential fit works together.
A different mix up front
The back end isn’t the only place in the lineup that’s seen some shuffling heading into this game, as the Flyers continue to mix things up to look for the right arrangement of pieces in their forward group. Tonight, we’ll see Carl Grundstrom promoted to the second line to play alongside Sean Couturier and Owen Tippett, which seems a deserved nod for some work well done over this current stint. Meanwhile, Matvei Michkov will drop down to play with Noah Cates and Bobby Brink, in hopes of giving that line a bit of a boost offensively.
We’ll also see them going back to the fourth line of Deslauriers, Abols, and Hathaway for this one, which is not a line that’s been terribly successful for them, to date, but Nikita Grebenkin’s gone cold over these last few weeks, so at the same time, it’s not a tremendous surprise to see him sat for a game as they go for a different look. Namely, with Deslauriers sticking in the lineup tonight, it feels all but obligatory that we assume some rematch between him and Xhekaj is coming (or at least expected by the coaching staff), but we’ll see how that plays out.
No more bonus hockey
We mentioned already that the Flyers are on a three-game losing streak, which is bad enough as it is, but even worse is the fact that each of these losses have come outside of regulation (in overtime to the Golden Knights and then both in the shootout to the Hurricanes). Obviously, the biggest hope for this one is that the Flyers will be able to come out for this one with some jump, pull off a win, and get themselves back on track and moving in the right direction again, but the close second hope is that whatever outcome this game brings, that it comes in regulation. It’s been entirely too much bonus hockey around here, let’s give it a bit of a rest, shall we?
Source
The Philadelphia Flyers are up in Buffalo to take on the Sabres in the middle of a fairly lengthy point streak. The last time these two teams faced one another was just earlier this month and it resulted in a 5-2 lashing by the Flyers — could we see more of the same or with Buffalo in their new management era, will they put up more of a fight?
Puck drop: 7:30 p.m.
How to watch/listen:
Pregame reading
- Flyers got some very bad news on Wednesday, as Tyson Foerster required to have surgery on his arm and is now, instead of just a few months, will be gone for five — and that most likely means his season is done. [BSH]
- Rasmus Ristolainen made his return to the ice after his own lengthy injury-caused absence. So, now with another defenseman added to the mix, is it safe to say that someone like Egor Zamula is going to get pushed out of the roster? [BSH]
Pregame watching
By the numbers
Philadelphia Flyers – 17-9-6 (3rd in Metro)
Goals: Trevor Zegras (14)
Assists: Travis Konecny (20)
Points: Trevor Zegras (33)
Buffalo Sabres – 14-14-4 (8th in Atlantic)
Goals: Tage Thompson (16)
Assists: Rasmus Dahlin (22)
Points: Tage Thompson (29)
Projected lineups
Philadelphia Flyers
Trevor Zegras — Christian Dvorak — Travis Konecny
Carl Grundstrom — Sean Couturier — Owen Tippett
Matvei Michkov — Noah Cates — Bobby Brink
Nic Deslauriers — Rodrigo Abols — Garnet Hathaway
Cam York — Travis Sanheim
Emil Andrae — Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler — Rasmus Ristolainen
Sam Ersson
(Dan Vladar)
Buffalo Sabres
Tyson Kozak — Tage Thompson — Josh Doan
Noah Ostlund — Josh Norris — Alex Tuch
Zach Benson — Ryan McLeod — Jack Quinn
Beck Malenstyn — Josh Dunne — Jordan Greenway
Rasmus Dahlin — Mattias Samuelsson
Bowen Byram — Conor Timmins
Owen Power — Michael Kesselring
Alex Lyon
(Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen)
Storylines to watch
Pressure is on in Buffalo
This is the first game the Sabres are playing since they fired general manager Kevyn Adams and set on this new journey with Jarmo Kekäläinen in charge. That gives them a whole lot of pressure to start this era on the right foot and not show that they are still very much the same Sabres we have come to know as complete failures for the last 14 years.
Even though there’s no coaching change (yet), could we see some Buffalo players have more jump in their step? Could they really be trying to impress their new general manager so that they are seen as a vital piece and then don’t have to uproot their life in a couple months ahead of the trade deadline?
Flyers’ power play will face a tough matchup
For some reason, the Buffalo Sabres own the third-most successful penalty killing unit in the NHL right now. With an 84.9% success rate, only the Tampa Bay Lightning and Colorado Avalanche have managed to keep opposing power plays at bay better than the Sabres have this season. That feels a little crazy, but they’ve found something that has worked.
But, the one bright spot that we can maybe see the Flyers take advantage of, is that while the Sabres have been able to kill off some penalties at a high rate, they certainly do allow a whole lot of chances. Buffalo has the fifth-highest mark in terms of shorthanded unblocked shot attempts per 60 — basically, teams are getting their shots off against the Sabres penalty kill but it’s just not resulting in a lot of goals right now. Could the Flyers be the team that breaks the levee and floods in some power-play goals tonight?
Can Grundstrom stay this hot?
Ever since being back in the lineup, and really ever since being recalled as Tyson Foerster’s replacement, Carl Grundstrom has been red-hot. The 28-year-old depth winger scored enough to earn a promotion up the lineup next to Sean Couturier before Tuesday’s game in Montreal, and then rewarded Rick Tocchet’s decision by scoring his third goal in five games.
It’s not going to last forever, but can Grundstrom really just keep on scoring consistently enough to not have the Flyers worry about the wide-open hole Foerster left in the lineup?
Source
The Flyers negated a strong 40 minutes and an even stronger debut by Denver Barkey with what essentially was a choke job, losing to the host New York Rangers 5-4 in a shootout and blowing a two-goal lead in the third.
The basics
First period: 19:24 – Artemi Panarin (Mika Zibanejad)
Second period: 6:42 – Travis Sanheim (Denver Barkey, Owen Tippett) (PPG) , 7:05 – Owen Tippett (Denver Barkey, Cam York), 10:18 – Trevor Zegras (Jamie Drysdale, Noah Cates) (PPG), 12:23 – Artemi Panarin (Unassisted), 14:36 – Rodrigo Abols (Travis Sanheim) (SHG)
Third period: 9:13 – Vincent Trocheck (JT Miller, Gabriel Perreault), 17:27 – Mika Zibanejad (Scott Morrow, Will Cuylle) (PPG)
Overtime: No scoring.
Shootout: Artemi Panarin – Goal, Trevor Zegras – No goal, Vincent Trocheck – Goal, Travis Konecny – No goal
SOG: 32 (PHI) – 27 (NYR)
Some takeaways
Line juggling galore
With news about an hour before gametime that Christian Dvorak wouldn’t be playing, the Flyers obviously did some line juggling with some combinations. Trevor Zegras and Travis Konecny, who were both wingers on the line with Dvorak, found themselves together. It’s just that Zegras was down the middle with Carl Grundstrom promoted to the team’s proverbial top line. Meanwhile, Denver Barkey, making his National Hockey League debut, was on the wing with Sean Couturier and Owen Tippett. The only constant with the Noah Cates line while the bottom trio saw Garnet Hathaway as a healthy scratch for the first time all season.
While the fourth line didn’t do a lot in the first two periods, the combination of Nikita Grebenkin, Rodrigo Abols, and Nic Deslauriers were the only three Philadelphia forwards whose Corsi For percentage were over 51 per cent through 40 minutes. Grebenkin was at 80 percent while Abols and Deslauriers were 60 and 55.56, respectively. Yes, it was kind of a weird one.
Sam still not the man
Sam Ersson might be called on to do a bit more heavy lifting this week with word that Dan Vladar is dealing with an injury. Ersson wasn’t tested a lot in the first, with just five shots halfway through the first. However, he wasn’t exactly swallowing the puck up, allowing some rather juicy rebounds that the Flyers were fortunate to get to first. He was also lucky on a gaffe that saw Rangers center Sam Carrick take the puck away from the goalie and throw it in front. But enforcer Matt Rempe couldn’t connect.
Sadly, a ridiculous defensive miscue between Deslauriers and Grundstrom left Rangers star (and somebody you might wish to cover) Artemi Panarin essentially alone who made no mistake and beat Ersson low on the stick side to open the scoring late in the first. It also seemingly marked the 50th time the Flyers gave up the first goal in 34 games.
You certainly don't want to give Artemi Panarin that much time and space!pic.twitter.com/XX43FJYHEl
— NHL (@NHL) December 20, 2025
It might have been enough to make Ersson bend, yet he didn’t break. Early in the second he had a good stop on a Will Cuylle attempt. And after the Flyers scored twice in 23 seconds, Ersson didn’t allow a quick game-tying goal on the next Rangers chance. That changed a little when Tippett gift-wrapped a neutral zone pass to Panarin who beat Ersson high on the stick side. It might have been a good shot, but the optics suggested Ersson should’ve had it.
Perhaps the biggest save Ersson made was in the dying seconds of the second when Scott Morrow was stoned by the goalie in close. Unfortunately, another huge rebound Ersson created in the third saw Vincent Trocheck put it in (deflecting it off Grebenkin’s skate) between his legs to cut the deficit to one.
Unable to come up with a big save late in the game to seal the victory, Ersson allowed two goals on two shootout opportunities while Zegras and Konecny came up short. As has been the norm, Ersson finished with 23 saves on 27 shots for another rather hideous .852 save percentage.
Letting sleeping dogs lie
While not much was made of it, Matvei Michkov’s run in with the Sabres goalie Thursday night might have woke Buffalo up the rest of the way. The game changed after that and the Flyers left with a loss. On this day, the Flyers held a 3-1 lead midway through the second and had a shot differential that almost mirrored the Sabres total around the same time in the game. Unfortunately, after Panarin’s second goal, Deslauriers nailed Brendan Othmann. Othmann took exception and attacked Deslauriers’ fists with his jaw repeatedly.
It could have been a momentum swing towards the Rangers. The Flyers responded in a big way scoring their first short-handed goal of the year. But, in the end, it was in vain.
Barkey’s beautiful beginning
Denver Barkey got his nerves settled right off the bat, skating on the starting line along with Couturier and Tippett. Unfortunately, the next few shifts saw Philadelphia on their heels as New York had a few chances. The Flyers had a great opportunity early when Nikita Grebenkin tried to deke Rangers’ goalie Igor Shesterkin but was foiled. That was equaled seconds later when the Flyers got into the dirty area and Shesterkin came up huge again, this time on Barkey who received the pass from Tippett.
The winger looked like he belonged on both sides of the puck, extremely responsible in his own end while seemingly fine at the other end. He never looked to be doing too much or panicking in the defensive zone, just showing a level of maturity that should bring a smile to Flyers fans and the front office for the future. As if that wasn’t enough, Barkey earned his first point in his career on a great pass to Travis Sanheim. Barkey took the puck away from New York’s Noah Laba and got the puck to Sanheim who beat Shesterkin for a power play, game-tying goal.
Twenty-three seconds later, Philadelphia struck again. This time Barkey again fed Owen Tippett with a nice pass who put the Flyers on top 2-1.
While having a multi-point period, the youngster also drew a penalty on Panarin who slashed Barkey, resulting in a Flyers power play. Barkey wasn’t on the ice for this one, but the Flyers scored again with a man up. Zegras shot a bullet beyond the Rangers keep to give the Flyers a nifty 3-1 lead.
Over 40 minutes, Barkey had a 60.54 share of the expected goals in just over nine minutes of play in all situations. Not a bad debut for the young’un! He also nearly had his first goal of his career in the third but was stopped before he slid into the end boards. And he set up Rasmus Ristolainen not once but twice on one shift in the third with gorgeous saucer passes.
Special teams have a weird one
Philadelphia took the opening penalty, this time a minor against Grundstrom. The Flyers attacked the Rangers throughout the penalty kill, allowing just one very good chance over the two minutes. Grundstrom, who left the box, delivered a good hit on defenseman Will Borgen, knocking him flat on his back.
The Flyers first power play was in the second after the Rangers lost their collective brain cells, thinking liberties were taken against them. After establishing some possession time, the Flyers didn’t capitalize. However, on the other side of the puck, Philadelphia scored their first short-handed goal of the season with Rodrigo Abols took a pass from Sanheim to give the Flyers a two-goal lead.
Philadelphia needed a kill with three minutes to go. Ristolainen took a delay of game minor. And with the win on the line, Zibanejad blew a shot by Errson to tie the game late. A two-goal lead blown against a team struggling to score at home is a huge missed opportunity for what should’ve been a regulation win.
To throw salt in the wound, the Flyers had not one but two power play chances in the overtime. Neither time they got the game-winner. One notable change was seeing Couturier, after he won the faceoff, head to the bench to bring Michkov on. It’s something the Flyers should’ve done much earlier in the season but better late than never.
TK has generally a great game
Travis Konency can drive a person crazy. On this afternoon he was good. Very good. From killing the Grundstrom penalty on one of the two units to battling hard on a shift late in the opening frame, Konecny was looking like he feisty, fiery best. Konecny’s best chance was early in period two when Emil Andrae tried to deliver a sweet pass that he wasn’t able to steer into the net. And although he didn’t show up on the scoresheet. Konecny definitely put in an honest effort on this afternoon.
Sanheim avoids injury
Travis Sanheim took a puck high in the face halfway in the third and had to leave for the locker room. It looked like he was cut but hopefully didn’t seem anything major. The Flyers had to go with five defenseman for a bit which wasn’t great considering how vital Sanheim is to munching minutes. Fortunately Sanheim returned and had a shift in overtime as well.
Source
The Flyers had a difficult week, not due to the caliber of their competition, but because of how the games ultimately played out. Things started well with a 4-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens, thanks in part to another quality start from Dan Vladar, which put the Flyers on a five-game point streak. However, the positivity quickly disappeared as the team blew back-to-back games that felt firmly in their control.
Ironically, their first loss of the week came off one of the best starts they have had all season. Slow starts have plagued them, but this fast start burned out quickly. After going up 2-1 and heavily outshooting the Sabres, Buffalo took over the game, held on to a one-goal lead late, and added an empty-net goal for the 5-3 final. Former Flyer Alex Lyon picked up the win.
Against the Rangers, the Flyers had a strong middle frame, scoring four times and entering the third period with a 4-2 lead. The Rangers stormed back in the third, forcing overtime, where the Flyers’ power play severely let them down, before the game ended in another shootout loss. The Flyers have now lost three straight shootouts after starting the season 5-0 in the skills competition.
All in all, the Flyers finished the week with a 1-1-1 record. But who were the standouts?
3. Denver Barkey
Made NHL debut, 2 primary assists, a joy to watch
The Flyers gave us a welcome surprise this week when they announced that they had called up Denver Barkey. While being without Christian Dvorak was unfortunate, Barkey getting the opportunity speaks to just how well he’s played in his rookie season with the Phantoms. Even better was just how comfortable Barkey looked at the NHL level, not missing a beat and setting up two goals in just 23 seconds.
His first assist came on the power play, following a bit of a messy zone entry that Matvei Michkov saved with a poke check near the blue line. Barkey then retrieves the puck along the boards and finds Travis Sanheim sneaking in from the point for the goal.
Not long after, Barkey was able to get control of a rebound in the middle of the ice and make a nice backhand pass to Tippett just above the faceoff circle.
Hit 'em with a 1-2 punch.#PHIvsNYR | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/GUQ4cUgQjq
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) December 20, 2025
Barkey has shown himself to be both a smart player and an aggressive forechecker in both the OHL and now the AHL, and it’s great to see it seemingly translating at the NHL level. This isn’t really a forecheck in a traditional sense, rather jumping on a bounce, but his puck control and ability to break free is evident as he pulls the puck from right in front of Mika Zibanejad.
Importantly, his impact didn’t just start and end with those two quick assists. Barkey also drew a penalty on Artemi Panarin and helped set up Rasmus Ristolainen for two quality chances in the third period; one primary shot assist and one secondary.
The Flyers may have lost the game, but Denver Barkey showed that he can not only hang at this level, but be a real factor, especially in the Flyers’ cycle game. In the grand scheme of things, it is just one game, and we’re not going to jump to conclusions over small sample sizes. Still, it was an excellent start to Barkey’s NHL career.
2. Bobby Brink
1 goal, 2 assists, shifty
Bobby Brink had a solid week. He found his scoring touch, led the team in five-on-five points, and showed off his strength and shiftiness while skating on a new line with Noah Cates and Matvei Michkov. It was his new linemate, Michkov, who jumped on a mistake by Canadiens goaltender Jacob Fowler, with Brink benefiting out front.
Now, obviously this wasn’t the most difficult goal of Brink’s career, but it was good to see the two connect for a goal as the new line showed promise. Brink continued to play well in the Flyers’ loss to the Sabres, picking up both of his assists, including one that was the result of Brink out-working a big opponent in Tage Thompson to win the puck back. Pretty impressive work along the boards from the 5’8″ winger.
Brink was held off of the scoresheet against the Rangers, and while he and his line “lost” their minutes by both weighted and unweighted shot metrics, they were also the only line that wasn’t on the ice for one of the Rangers’ goals. Brink is well on pace to, and should, set a new career high in goals this season, with 9 through his first 34 games. His current career high was set last season, with 12 in 79 games. He has plenty of runway to soar past that figure.
1. Trevor Zegras
2 goals, 1 primary assist, continues to be the team’s most dangerous player
No surprise here: the top spot once again belongs to Trevor Zegras. The points might not pop as much as they did last week (6 points in 4 games) but it really says something when a point-per-game week feels like a step down from a player. Earning first star honors for the fourth time around here, Zegras continues to be the driving force behind the Flyers’ offense. Against Montreal, Zegras played in his 300th NHL game and scored his 14th of the season in a one-on-one situation.
His four-game goal streak was broken against Buffalo, but his point streak continued when he set up Cam York for a goal following a quick cycle between himself and Brink. He saw the ice a lot against the Sabres, with only Travis Sanheim playing more than Zegras. It’s well deserved, as Zegras has recaptured his offensive spark he had in his first two seasons with Anaheim, and seems to have even improved upon it.
Zegras extended his point streak to 7 games with an absolute rocket on the power play that beat Igor Shesterkin right off the draw.
FIRE AWAY, Z!#PHIvsNYR | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/igOrsxQEDq
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) December 20, 2025
A big positive with Zegras has been the variety of ways he can contribute offensively; he is not a one-trick pony. He can beat a goalie one-on-one, owns a heavy and accurate one-timer, and, of course, makes the slick passes that we have quickly grown accustomed to seeing from him. The Flyers’ offense runs through Zegras, and especially on the power play. His goal against the Rangers was his 12th power play point of the season, doubling the next-highest total on the team. The power play in general has been a huge letdown so far this season, but Zegras is doing his part, and is the main reason why the Flyers’ don’t currently have a bottom-five power play conversion rate.
Really, the only negative thing from Zegras this week was a continuation of his uncharacteristic performance in the shootout. He’s failed to score on back-to-back shootout attempts, and while that has brought his percentage down to what’s expected (66.7% on the season, 63% for his career), it’s still jarring to watch it happen one right after the other. The Flyers have really been leaning on both Zegras, and to a lesser degree, Sam Ersson’s, abilities in the shootout, and while it got them some wins early on, this recent stretch should serve as a reminder that it’s not an automatic thing.
Still, it was a positive week for Zegras, and with the offensive numbers really spread throughout the lineup in these three games, his stat line and overall impact was enough to land the top spot.
Source
The Philadelphia Flyers lost past regulation again over the weekend in New York, making it four losses in a row in games that end after 60 minutes. Overtime has never been a strong suit of the Flyers, but the addition of Trevor Zegras at least helped them steal a few extra points in the shootout earlier this season.
Zegras is now scoreless in his last three shootout attempts, as are the Flyers, who were stopped twice at Madison Square Garden by Igor Shesterkin after going 0-for-7 in two skills competitions against the Hurricanes the weekend prior.
Playing for the shootout seemed like a smart idea for the Flyers in overtime, and even sometimes late in regulation, but that is not the case as of late. And given how finicky shootout results can be, they can no longer hope for success there. Hope is not a strategy.
But it certainly seems like hope has been the Flyers’ lone strategy in overtime this season. The league has found a way to slow down 3-on-3 overtime into a boring, possession-based extra session, and the Flyers are major culprits of that.
It doesn’t just feel like the Flyers are a boring overtime team; the stats prove it.
It has been 10 years since the NHL instituted 3-on-3 overtime, and the Flyers are one of the most boring teams in league history in the extra session.
For this exercise, we’re looking at teams with at least 30 minutes of 3-on-3 ice time over the past 10 seasons, per Evolving-Hockey. This is to avoid extreme outliers in smaller sample sizes, and that data set is largely negligible. The lone team worth mentioning is this year’s Calgary Flames, who have been even slower-paced than the Flyers in overtime this season, but only in 14 minutes.
Flyers are most boring 3-on-3 team in NHL history
Over the past 11 seasons, there have been 296 instances of a team playing at least 30 minutes of 3-on-3 in a season. The Flyers, like many teams, were a bit more run-and-gun in those early seasons, especially with the likes of Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, and Shayne Gostisbehere running the show.
Let’s take a look at the Flyers’ performance at 3-on-3 in that span from an offensive perspective.
Season GP TOI CF/60 xGF/60 15-16 27 72.92 63.36 5.97 16-17 24 81 74.07 6.93 17-18 25 67.13 59.88 5.9 18-19 17 38.75 75.87 7.2 19-20 17 59.27 68.84 5.72 20-21 14 46.53 49 5 21-22 16 44.87 68.2 6.95 22-23 18 51.97 40.41 4.28 23-24 19 53.88 59.02 6.26 24-25 22 65.62 44.8 4.84
As the Flyers entered their retool and then finally called in a rebuild, the talent has dried up, and so has the excitement in overtime. Their 40.41 shot attempts per 60 minutes in the 2022-23 season ranks 12th lowest in league history, with last season’s 44.8 just a bit lower at 29th worst.
While their expected goals rank the 40th-lowest and 91st-lowest in those seasons, respectively, it still isn’t anything to write home about.
This season, the Flyers have sunk to another level entirely. They have generated just 29.79 shot attempts per 60 minutes and 2.60 expected goals per 60.
That 29.79 CF/60 mark ranks 296th out of 296 teams with at least 30 minutes of 3-on-3 time since the 2015-16 season, and only last year’s Blackhawks had a lower xGF/60 (2.43).
Looking at the raw numbers, it gets pretty pathetic.
First, let’s take a look at the league-worst scoring chances and high-danger scoring chances generated at 3-on-3 in each of the last 10 seasons.
Season Lowest SCF/60 Lowest HDCF/60 24-25 25.9 7.02 23-24 26.44 7.05 22-23 27.77 8.09 21-22 26.54 6.09 20-21 25.13 4.86 19-20 25.82 4.78 18-19 27.43 6.02 17-18 28.52 9.25 16-17 23.24 7.75 15-16 24.34 7.3
The 27.77 SCF/60 in the 2022-23 season is bolded to indicate that it was the Flyers who mustered that mark, with the shortened 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons italicized.
Even when overtime was run-and-gun early on, some teams still failed to generate much. Before moving on here, take a moment to pause, really take in those stats above, and try to take an educated guess at how the Flyers may be performing in generating scoring chances in overtime.
Ready?
Per Natural Stat Trick, the Flyers have generated just 17 scoring chances in 46:20 of 3-on-3 time, a 22.01/60 rate that ranks ahead of only those lowly Flames (16.59 SCF/60), and they’ve been even worse at generating high-danger chances with just three for a league-low 3.88 HDCF/60.
Those would be the worst marks in the history of 3-on-3 overtime — and it’s not particularly close — if the Flyers don’t improve things.
For reference, the Islanders (37:39 TOI), Stars (27:26), Penguins (28:32), and Senators (28:28) all have double-digit high-danger chances at 3-on-3 this season. And those teams aren’t exactly offensive juggernauts, so it’s not a matter of high-end skill on display.
Are Flyers’ overtime woes a Rick Tocchet problem?
When a team is as bad at generating chances in overtime as the Flyers are, the first look has to go at the head coach. Tocchet has been criticized for his usage of some players in overtime — we’ll get to that later –, so let’s take a look at how his teams have historically performed at generating chances at 3-on-3.
22-23 season is split for all teams at Tocchet’s hiring date of January 22
Season SCF/60 HDCF/60 17-18 (ARI) 48.25 (11th) 17.1 (16th) 18-19 (ARI 32.49 (30th) 6.02 (31st) 19-20 (ARI) 32.25 (27th) 4.78 (31st) 20-21 (ARI 29.63 (31st) 11.11 (27th) 22-23 (VAN w/o Tocchet) 49.32 (9th) 14.09 (24th) 22-23 (VAN) 54.1 (8th) 17.45 (20th) 23-24 (VAN) 47.33 (6th) 16.79 (13th) 24-25 (VAN) 39.44 (19th) 13.97 (18th)
It’s hard to compare a lowly team like the Coyotes to a team with a weapon like Quinn Hughes in overtime, but even those Canucks teams didn’t light the world on fire. They still lacked the high-danger chances, seeing a decline from 8th in scoring chances to 20th in Tocchet’s first season and then 6th to 13th.
Unfortunately, we can’t really make any definitive conclusions from this. Does Tocchet tend to play a slower style in overtime? Anecdotally, and so far this season in Philadelphia, yes, but when he has a few weapons to use as he did early on his tenure in Vancouver, his team can generate chances with the best of them.
However, looking at this year’s Flyers team, it seems more than fair to question Tocchet’s aptitude in overtime.
Matvei Michkov, Flyers’ skill players deserve more 3-on-3 time
Tocchet has largely leaned on just a small handful of players to take the ice in overtime.
Starting with the defensemen, it’s Travis Sanheim leading the way with 18:45, Jamie Drysdale just behind him at 17:19, and then a big dropoff to Cam York (6:10) and Emil Andrae (4:09). Sanheim is easily the Flyers’ best defenseman, so it makes sense that Tocchet trusts him with so much open ice, but Andrae seeing the least ice time is a bit confusing.
It certainly doesn’t help that Andrae was up and down from Lehigh Valley to begin the season, but he’s earned the trust of Tocchet over the past few weeks, and he’s exactly the type of defenseman that you would expect to thrive in overtime. There is so much open ice at 3-on-3 that he should be able to make plays with his skating and puck skills, along with his hockey IQ.
It’s an extremely small sample size, but the Flyers have generated 43.37 shot attempts per 60 with Andrae on the ice at 4-on-4 compared to 32 with Sanheim, 27.72 with Drysdale, and 19.41 with the defensive York.
Funnily enough, despite only playing just over four minutes, Andrae is the only Flyers defenseman to be on the ice for multiple high-danger scoring chances in overtime. Drysdale was on the ice for the other one, with Sanheim and York yet to help generate a high-danger chance at 3-on-3.
Andrae absolutely deserves more ice time in overtime, especially on the fly when Philadelphia is circling back with possession of the puck.
It’s understandable that Tocchet wants to lean on Sanheim and Drysdale as the top two defensive options in overtime, but let’s hope that Andrae starts getting a shift or two to help generate some offense in the extra session.
There is a lot more debate to be had about the forwards, though.
Trevor Zegras is the Flyers’ top forward option in overtime with 18:25 of ice time, nearly two minutes more than Travis Konecny (16:31). Those two probably should be your top two guys with the open ice in overtime, so no qualms there.
After that, it gets confusing.
Sean Couturier (10:22), Owen Tippett (9:52), and Noah Cates (9:46) are all around the same usage, with Christian Dvorak (8:26) seeing more time now with Tyson Foerster (6:49) out for the season. Notably absent among the Flyers’ top-seven forwards in overtime is Matvei Michkov, and less so Bobby Brink.
Michkov is having a sophomore slump. Anyone who has watched more than a few Flyers games or has taken in some of his quotes, as well as the discussion around him, knows that. He hasn’t been trusted at 5-on-5, which is fine, but overtime is a different story.
Tocchet needs to utilize Michkov more in overtime. Plain and simple. Even if his numbers haven’t been great in overtime (Flyers out-attempted 6-4 in his 6:24, out-chanced 6-2), they aren’t a ton worse than some of the most-trusted veteran forwards.
While Michkov is the main point of contention, Brink’s usage is surprising as well. He’s shown bursts of speed throughout the season and is one of the Flyers’ more creative offensive players.
In just 5:27 of 3-on-3 time, Brink has been on the ice for three shots on goal and just one against. For comparison, the Flyers have been outshot 10-2 with Zegras on the ice, 5-1 with Cates on the ice, and 7-1 with Tippett on the ice.
Brink has also helped the Flyers to four scoring chances during his limited time, just one behind Zegras, and the diminutive forward has proved to be strong enough defensively to trust in overtime.
And it’s not as if the Flyers’ trusted veterans aren’t making key mistakes in overtime. In fact, almost all of the Flyers’ overtime losses came directly after bad plays by those top-used skaters.
Zegras had the bad change against Ottawa; he and York combined for a turnover against the Oilers, and then there was the bad turnover by Konecny that coincided with Couturier not marking Mark Stone on the Golden Knights’ winner.
If those plays are going to happen anyway, let’s at least open things up for the offensive-minded players.
What should Flyers’ 3-on-3 lines look like?
Nothing the Flyers have done in overtime is working. And since we’re criticizing what Tocchet has done so far, let’s try to build out a few overtime combinations that could work.
The opening faceoff is hugely important in overtime, so you’re going to want someone with a good chance to win it who you also trust if they happen to lose the draw. Dvorak (55%) and Couturier (54.5%) are the two best faceoff guys on the team, but the latter lacks the necessary speed in overtime.
For my money, I would start Couturier, Konecny, and Sanheim in overtime, with Zegras ready to hop over the boards for the captain as soon as possible.
The defenseman pecking order is the easiest, with Drysdale next in line after Sanheim. After that, let’s use Andrae on the fly or for an offensive zone draw, with York an option for a defensive situation.
After Zegras and Konecny, the next forward duo should include Michkov or Tippett — or quite possibly both. That leaves them exposed for a faceoff if they take an icing, but that’s a risk that you take.
Of course, if there is a faceoff or defensive situation, Dvorak and Cates become two of the next guys up. Cates is still one of the Flyers’ best defensive players, and Dvorak can win a draw and chip in offensively.
Then you can mix in Brink depending on the situation. If it’s a back-and-forth overtime with few whistles, he’s a good guy to have on your third duo to use his speed and skill against the opposition’s depth players.
Basically, the Flyers need to play to win more than not to lose in overtime. They’ve been playing it safe in overtime, and that works if you’re fully confident in the shootout, but they’ve now lost three straight with no goals on nine attempts.
Source
The Flyers are in Philadelphia for a one-game homestand to host a Vancouver Canucks team that have been on a roll since trading their best player. It might be a weird one.
Puck drop: 7:30 p.m.
How to watch/listen:
Pregame reading
- The Flyers are really playing some of the most boring and low-event 3-on-3 hockey we’ve ever seen in the NHL. [BSH]
- At his pre-game media availability, Rick Tocchet really let everyone know that he’s fed up with answering questions about Matvei Michkov and wants some focus on other players and the team’s overall performance. [BSH]
Pregame watching
By the numbers
Philadelphia Flyers – 17-10-7 (4th in Metro)
Goals: Trevor Zegras (15)
Assists: Travis Konecny/Trevor Zegras (20)
Points: Trevor Zegras (35)
Vancouver Canucks – 15-17-3 (7th in Pacific)
Goals: Kiefer Sherwood (16)
Assists: Filip Hronek (18) (Technically Quinn Hughes still but lol)
Points: Elias Pettersson (22)
Projected lineups
Philadelphia Flyers
Trevor Zegras — Christian Dvorak — Travis Konecny
Denver Barkey — Sean Couturier — Owen Tippett
Matvei Michkov — Noah Cates — Bobby Brink
Carl Grundstrom — Rodrigo Abols — Nikita Grebenkin
Cam York — Travis Sanheim
Emil Andrae — Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler — Rasmus Ristolainen
Dan Vladar
(Sam Ersson)
Vancouver Canucks
Evander Kane — Marco Rossi — Brock Boeser
Jake DeBrusk — David Kampf — Conor Garland
Kiefer Sherwood — Aatu Raty — Drew O’Connor
Liam Ohgren — Max Sasson — Linus Karlsson
Marcus Pettersson — Filip Hronek
Zeev Buium — Tyler Myers
Elias Pettersson — Tom Willander
Thatcher Demko
(Kevin Lankinen)
Storylines to watch
Denver Barkey’s big follow-up
It’s typically the highly rated and star prospects that make a massive impact in their NHL debut, but on Saturday afternoon it was Denver Barkey, the 5-foot-9 winger who was playing junior hockey just several months ago, who truly shone at Madison Square Garden. He had his patented ultra-high work rate on full display and because of making some high-pace plays, got awarded two assists for his efforts.
Now, with expectations a little bit higher than just seeing what the young winger can do, it’s going to be really interesting to see just how he handles it and what he’s able to do against a not-so-good Canucks team.
Returning faces to the lineup
Some good news! Christian Dvorak and Dan Vladar are back and healthy enough to be in the lineup after missing the Flyers’ trip up to the Big Apple. It means that Trevor Zegras is back to the wing but thankfully the Flyers get their best goaltending option against a netminder who could really show out in Thatcher Demko.
True opportunity to deliver a strong blow to Vancouver
The Canucks are truly one of the worst defensive teams in the NHL this season. Top five in terms of expected goals against and unblocked shot attempt rate, just to really show how porous they have been on the ice under head coach Adam Foote. It doesn’t help that they have now lost Quinn Hughes and their top center Elias Pettersson (even if he hasn’t been up to his previous potential).
Because of this, the Flyers really have a big opportunity to get some offensive juices flowing. To take advantage of a team who truly does not know how to handle playing in their own zone — and the team just needing to figure out Demko behind them — could be a chance for some players like Matvei Michkov or others in a current slump to put some points on the board.
And of course because we’re typing this out, it will be a 1-0 shootout win for one of the teams and we will all be begging for the game to end so we can spend our Monday nights doing something else.
Source
It’s almost break time, folks! The Flyers are closing out their slate of action before the holidays with a quick trip out to Chicago to face off against the Blackhawks. They’re coming off of a huge win over the Canucks last night in their final home game of the year, but the next challenge is still ahead of them: keeping that momentum rolling.
Puck drop: 9:00 p.m.
How to watch/listen:
Pregame reading
- In case you missed it, the Flyers put together one of their most complete performances of the season in that win over the Canucks. [BSH]
- Denver Barkey’s been playing some pretty good hockey for the Flyers in this (so far) short NHL stint. [BSH]
Pregame watching
By the numbers
Philadelphia Flyers – 18-10-7 (2nd in Metro)
Goals: Trevor Zegras (15)
Assists: Travis Konecny/Trevor Zegras (21)
Points: Trevor Zegras (36)
Chicago Blackhawks – 13-16-5 (8th in Central)
Goals: Connor Bedard (19)
Assists: Connor Bedard (25)
Points: Connor Bedard (44)
Projected lineups
Philadelphia Flyers
Trevor Zegras — Christian Dvorak — Travis Konecny
Denver Barkey — Sean Couturier — Owen Tippett
Matvei Michkov — Noah Cates — Bobby Brink
Carl Grundstrom — Rodrigo Abols — Nikita Grebenkin
Cam York — Travis Sanheim
Emil Andrae — Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler — Rasmus Ristolainen
Dan Vladar
(Sam Ersson)
Chicago Blackhawks
Tyler Bertuzzi – Andre Greene – Andre Burakovsky
Oliver Moore – Ryan Donato – Nick Lardis
Nick Foligno – Jason Dickinson – Ilya Mikheyev
Colton Dach – Dominic Toninato – Sam Lafferty
Alex Vlasic – Louis Crevier
Matt Grzelcyk – Artem Levshunov
Wyatt Kaiser – Connor Murphy
Spencer Knight
(Arvid Söderblom)
Storylines to watch
Can the fourth line keep scoring?
Much has been made through these first few months of the season about the overall lack of offensive production from the Flyers’ fourth line, it became a problem to complete that it was impossible to ignore, but the Flyers might just have found their answer to the question of the right mix on that line. The newly arranged trio of Carl Grundstrom, Rodrigo Abols, and Nikita Grebenkin showed some real pop in last night’s game, playing hard but still allowing their skill games to come into play, and for that balanced effort, they were rewarded with two of the team’s goals on the night. Now, this isn’t a pace of output that we’re expecting them to sustain, but it’s been a huge boost for the team to see that they have a group at the bottom of the lineup that is at least capable of producing on most nights. There was some pretty immediate positive chemistry building among this group, and it will be interesting to see how they’re able to build on that, in this second half of the back-to-back.
Zegras still rolling
There was a lot to like on the offensive side for the Flyers last night, with five goals scored and a heap of good chances created, and in all of that, Trevor Zegras picked up another assist, his 21st of the season, and extended his points streak to eight games. He’s been excellent for the Flyers since his arrival, and while the pops of skill sure are eye-catching, the consistency he’s been able to tap into has been even more valuable. He’s on his longest streak of the season by a pretty comfortable margin, and has already blown past his total in goals and points from last season (in well less than the 57 games he played last year), on pace to surpass his totals from the most productive season in his career. He’s already hit a whole new level with his game, and it’s been exciting tuning in to see just what he does next.
Finishing strong
The Flyers are staring down their brief — but surely still much needed — holiday break on the other side of this game, but it will be important for them to avoid looking too far ahead to that break when they still have some business to take care of. And this game isn’t going to be easy for them — the Blackhawks certainly haven’t been able to make a huge step forward this season, and still sit in the basement of the league standings, so there’s a bit of a mismatch there in terms of the strength of these two lineups, but they do have the rest advantage, after the Flyers wrapped up their game late last night and had to travel afterwards. The Flyers have some momentum that they’re carrying with them into this matchup, but it will be on them not to get complacent and keep it rolling into this one.
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