News Flyers Team Notes

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Takeaways: Flyers get a point, lose 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

Wasted no time.#PHIvsLAK | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/O3KavjWgh0

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) January 31, 2026

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.

Zegras powerplay goal pic.twitter.com/JHNQLHZPNF

— Philly sports thruther (@phillysportruth) January 31, 2026

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/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Flyers in similar purgatory position one year after trading Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost

After spending the first several years of their NHL careers with the Philadelphia Flyers, Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost have now been with the Calgary Flames for just over a year. Saturday marked the one-year anniversary of the Flyers trading the two forwards to Calgary in exchange for Andrei Kuzmenko, Jakob Pelletier, a second-round pick in 2025, and a seventh-round pick in 2028.

The trade was the first of a few by Danny Briere and Keith Jones that were meant to mark the final stages of the teardown portion of the rebuild.

Farabee was in the third year of a six-year, $30 million contract handed out by Chuck Fletcher in 2021. Morgan Frost was a pending restricted free agent, and the writing was on the wall that his time in Philadelphia was coming to an end. He was making $2.1 million, and that more than doubled when the Flames signed him to a two-year, $8.75 million contract in July.

Trading Farabee and Frost was a bit of a surprising move at the time. Farabee had become a focal point for the young players in the rebuild, and Frost was one of the few NHL-caliber centers that the Flyers had on the roster.

Dealing out two young players for a veteran like Kuzmenko and a project like Pelletier made some scratch their heads, but the Flyers did get a second-round pick and a seventh-round pick as well. Perhaps most importantly, the Flyers got out from under the $5 million owed to Farabee through 2028, and Frost’s time in Philadelphia had run out.

Flyers haven’t missed much from Farabee and Frost​

There was some risk with the deal, though. Farabee had recorded career highs in goals (22), assists (28), and points (50) the season prior, but had just 19 points (8 goals, 11 assists) in 50 games with the Flyers last season. A change of scenery could’ve sparked something for Farabee, but he finished with just six points (three goals, three assists) in 31 games with the Flames.

This season, Farabee has 21 points (11 goals, 10 assists) through 54 games, so the Flyers aren’t missing out on much.

Frost appeared to have hit his ceiling as well. He had 46 points (19 goals, 27 assists) in 81 games during the 2022-23 season, buoyed by a much-talked-about second half. However, that went down to 41 points the next year, and he was around that pace again with 25 points (11 goals, 14 assists) in 49 games with the Flyers before being traded.

He finished the season with 12 points (3 goals, 9 assists) in 32 games in Calgary, and has 27 points (12 goals, 15 assists) through 54 games this year.

All in all, the two former first-round picks showed their ceilings in Philadelphia, and Briere made the decision to clear out some cap space as well as spots on the roster by dealing out Frost and Farabee.

What did Flyers get back for Farabee and Frost?​

Kuzmenko had an eventful but short-lived career in Orange and Black. He had five points (two goals, three assists) in seven games, but was flipped at the deadline to the Los Angeles Kings for a third-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft. He found his game a bit in Los Angeles, putting up 17 points (5 goals, 12 assists) in 22 games, and he re-signed with the Kings in the offseason.

On the other hand, Pelletier never really got much of a chance in Philadelphia. He averaged just 10:31 of ice time per game, primarily on the fourth line, recording just eight points (three goals, five assists) in 25 games. The Flyers then elected not to extend a qualifying offer to the restricted free agent, losing the former first-round pick for nothing.

That appears to be the right decision, though, as Pelletier was picked up by the Lightning, where he’s played just two NHL games despite Tampa Bay’s injury issues. He does have 42 points (19 goals, 23 assists) in 37 AHL games, though, and perhaps he could’ve helped the Phantoms as a younger veteran.

The most important aspect of the return for Farabee and Frost has to be the second-round pick from Calgary. That was one of several second-round picks for Briere & Co. to use, and they selected Shane Vansaghi with the Flames’ pick.

Vansaghi may only have eight points (two goals, six assists) in 24 games on a very good Michigan State team, but the Spartans forward has the build for the NHL level. At just 19 years old, he stands at 6’2″ and 216 pounds. He could be a bottom-six power forward with power-play upside for the Flyers in a few years, and he could be here sooner than we think.

Where are Flyers one year after trade with Flames?​

Dealing away Farabee and Frost opened up some flexibility heading into the offseason. The Flyers were able to use the cap space and open spot on the roster to trade for Trevor Zegras and sign Christian Dvorak in free agency.

Perhaps those moves would’ve still been made if one of the two Flames forwards was still in Philadelphia, but moving two middling forwards cleared the way for the Zegras trade as well as more playing time for guys like Bobby Brink.

Unfortunately for the Flyers, they’re not exactly in a different position right now than they were a year ago. They’ve crumbled in the second half after finishing the first half with a bang, and many are wondering if there are any Farabee or Frost-type moves to make ahead of this year’s deadline.

Last year on February 1, the Flyers were 23-24-6 for 52 points in 53 games (.491 point percentage), but just six points out of a playoff spot. The season was lost at that point, with hopes for more deadline deals to come.

Now, they’re at 58 points in 54 games and nine points out of a playoff spot despite the fact that this season was supposed to be somewhat of a turning point. The playoffs were never an external goal, but the Flyers were in the hunt for a playoff spot — or in a spot — for the majority of the first half of the season.

However, a 2-8-3 stretch that’s seen the Flyers get outscored 58-33 in 13 games since beating the Ducks once again has them on the outside looking in. And this time around, there aren’t any real assets to sell at the deadline.

We’ll see if anything changes in the month leading up to the deadline, but the Flyers are once again in purgatory just one year after making a move in an attempt to change that.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/p...year-after-trading-joel-farabee-morgan-frost/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Rick Tocchet’s Flyers are exactly who history said they’d be

The NHL coaching fraternity is a tight knit group that operates on shorter than ever life spans. The average bench boss in the league lasts just 2.38 years with an organization. That ticking clock is always looming in the background, the ticks louder the worse the team performs.

Of the 32 head coaches, 19 have been an NHL head coach before their present role. Amongst those is Rick Tocchet of the Philadelphia Flyers. Tocchet entered this season as the coach with the 7th most games of experience behind the bench. That means there was a reasonable understanding of what Tocchet’s style of hockey looks like and how it translates.

Through 54 games in Philadelphia, Tocchet’s Flyers are 24-20-10, good enough to still be in the mix but nine points back of the last playoff spot. In year one of a new head coach against the backdrop of a building franchise, the overall results are passable. That said, since the start of the new year, the Flyers are 4-8-3 and have been outscored 62-43.

After mirages under John Tortorella, there was a reasonable level of excitement for Tocchet.
Yet, what exactly does a good Tocchet team look like? For a coach who’s managed to spend ten years behind benches as a head man, Tocchet has made the normal playoffs a single time. Yes, in fairness his Coyotes did pull off an upset in the bubble playoffs but in the normal format, neither them or the Nashville Predators would’ve qualified.

With such an established track record, Tocchet is one of the more known quantities in the NHL. After all, he’s got the sixth most games coached of any active bench boss.

Surface Level​

The NHL season is an 82 game marathon. Trades, injuries, wavers, call-ups, firings, hirings, hot streaks, cold streaks. There are shooting benders and hot goalies that last full seasons. Confidence and morale are sticky variables in the world of professional sports. Nobody believes in us and healthy skepticism is quite the motivator.

For Tocchet, the average NHL season is 31-28-10. As someone who’s taken over in-season as an interim coach two separate times, his averages don’t fill the 82 game mark. The season points average for Tocchet’s teams checks in at 75.3 and that includes prorating the 2019-2020 and 2021 shortened seasons to 82 game outputs.

For context, Tocchet has coached the 56th most games in the history of the NHL. Of coaches with at least 690, the number of games Tocchet has coached, only six have worse points percentages: Red Kelly, Milt Schmidt, Michel Bergeron, Rick Bowness, Sid Abel and Jaques Demers. Of those six, Kelly and Schmidt were inducted to the Hall of Fame as players and Demers won a Stanley Cup.

The point being, Tocchet’s career as a coach up until this point is an outlier. In the contemporary NHL, to last this long as a coach without yielding sustained, long-term success is basically unheard of. Sure, Bowness is still kicking after the Blue Jackets hired him earlier this season, but he at least has a Stanley Cup Final appearance to his name.

The Hand You’re Dealt​

Naturally, the recourse in Tocchet’s defense would be the teams he’s inherited. An interim basis in Tampa Bay that carried over into a second year, the perpetually doomed Arizona Coyotes, ditto the Vancouver Canucks and now the Flyers. The former Flyer captain hasn’t exactly been handed the keys to the Wayne Gretzky Oilers in his stints as a head coach.

However, there are some undercurrents of Tocchet’s style that hold up regardless of what team he’s coached. More than the wins and losses, those patterns can tell a more detailed story. The best coaches are supposed to extract more from less than their contemporaries. For someone that’s been in the game as long as Tocchet has, one would expect him to have carved out a niche.

Understanding Tocchet’s preferred style of hockey comes down to risk tolerance. Hockey stakeholders are risk averse. With so much parity in the league today where most teams have little separation, the prospect of playing low-event and close games most nights is extremely enticing.

Over the course of Tocchet’s career, his teams have unequivocally prioritized defense over offense. That manifests in a few different ways. First of all, it means Tocchet coached teams are going to prefer the cycle over rush when it comes to their offense. It also means more often than not, a Tocchet team is going to spend a majority of the game in its own zone and try to keep opponents to lower quality shots.

Over the course of ten years, no Tocchet team has ever created expected goals at a league average rate. The trade off there is that they’ve never conceded a higher than league average rate of expected goals against. With roughly 80 percent of games taking place at even strength, these are large periods of times where his teams need to outperform their metrics.

It’s Tocchet’s design to keep every game close and the numbers bear that out. Over the average of all ten of his seasons as a coach, Tocchet’s teams generate 2.325 expected goals per 60 and concede 2.358 expected goals against. That differential is practically non-existent and speaks to the challenges his teams face offensively.

Tocchet’s teams play a challenging, difficult style of hockey. When a team consistently has the lesser share of offense over an extended period of time, they become reliant on their star players to override the environment.

It’s easier for a skilled player to overcome challenging circumstances. They need fewer scoring chances, they can be more efficient and score on lower quality chances. That’s what separates the game’s best from everyone else, they can do what the average player can’t.

It’s not a coincidence the single best season of Tocchet’s coaching career was the 2023-2024 Canucks. That team had the single highest even strength shooting percentage (10.6%) and second highest even strength save percentage (922.2) of any season in his career. That was the perfect storm of high end players like Elias Pettersson, J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes in conjunction with Thatcher Demko in net were able to bring Tocchet’s vision to life.

The Caretaker Coach​

It’s unfair to pin the entirety of the Flyers’ malaise on Tocchet 52 games into his tenure. The roster is far from a finished product and a good portion of the lineup would fall into the developing category. But it would be awfully refreshing if Tocchet could occasionally throw the anxious public a bone. Tocchet statements about Matvei Mitchkov outnumber the forward’s notable performances this season.

There hasn’t been much of a change in the Flyers’ year over year results. If anything, the one real marked difference is the team getting better goaltending. Last year, Samuel Ersson a managed an .833 save percentage to Daniel Vladar’s .904 this season.

Yet, on the same date last year, the Flyers had only one fewer win. With such an improvement in net from the team’s starting goalie, plus a year of seasoning for holdovers from last year in conjunction with Tocchet’s arrival, it was plausible to feel optimistic about the direction of the franchise.

Instead, with 30 games to go, the Flyers likely need something in the ball park of 19 wins to make the postseason. That would put Philadelphia right at the 95 point threshold which has historically been the cutoff point. The Flyers would need to manage a .633 points percentage the rest of the way, this season they’re at .548.

For Tocchet’s preferred style to work, he needs more high end talent and he needs to unleash it. With the playoffs unlikely this year, barring a heater, Tocchet needs to focus on setting next year’s team up for success.

Retread coaches find success across the league all of the time. The last two teams to win the Stanley Cup were helmed by Paul Maurice and Bruce Cassidy. In the 2010s, Mike Sullivan, Daryl Sutter, Joel Quenneville, Craig Berube and Barry Trotz all won Stanley Cups on a mulligan as coach.

The die isn’t yet cast on Tocchet, but at 61 years old and ten seasons of evidence to boot, fan skepticism is valid.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/rick-tocchets-flyers-are-exactly-who-history-said-theyd-be/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Flyers’ Travis Konecny named NHL’s 3rd Star of the week

It was a solid week for winger Travis Konecny. And despite the losses Philadelphia had in games where he scored in Columbus and Buffalo, Konecny’s goal-scoring touch was recognized Monday when the National Hockey League named him the third star of the week.

Lead the way, TK.

Travis Konecny has been named the @NHL's Third Star of the Week! #LetsGoFlyers

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) February 2, 2026

Konecny had five goals and two assists in the four games Philadelphia played this past week. He scored a hat trick against Columbus, almost single-handedly putting the struggling team on his back before the Blue Jackets broke a 3-3 tie late in regulation. It marked the third career hat trick for the Flyers’ leading point-getter with 52 points. Konecny also scored four consecutive goals for the team when he potted the Flyers’ first goal in their game last Thursday night against the Bruins. The forward found himself in on all but one of the eight goals Philadelphia scored last week. The first star of the week went to Seattle’s Jared McCann while the second star went to Tampa’s Andrei Vasilevskiy, the latter who had his week highlighted by fighting Boston goaltender Jeremy Swayman Sunday at the NHL Stadium Series matchup.

It was an interesting week of highs and lows for Konecny. While the points came fast and furious, the losses piling up seemed to weigh on him. Following the 6-3 loss to Boston, which put the Flyers in a deeper hole concerning possible playoff contention, Konecny said he was “tired of missing the playoffs.” Should the Flyers miss again this season, it will be the sixth consecutive season Philadelphia is on the outside looking in. Their last playoff run was during the pandemic-shortened season, with games not played in Philadelphia. You have to go back to 2017-18 when the Flyers last played playoff hockey in front of their hometown fans. In his career Konecny has 22 playoff games, 16 of which came in 2019-20. He has one goal and seven assists in those games.

Konecny hopes to see the team earn a few victories before the Olympic break begins. The winger won’t be part of Team Canada’s roster at the Winter Olympics unless a rash of injuries emerge this week. He was thought to be in the running for a spot and attended Team Canada’s orientation camp prior to the National Hockey League season starting. Konecny played as part of Team Canada during the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off. He didn’t register a point in the two games he played.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/flyers-travis-konecny-named-nhls-3rd-star-of-the-week/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

3 Flyers who need the upcoming Olympic break so badly

The Flyers will be closing up shop for a few weeks when the season takes a roughly three-week break for the Winter Olympics in Italy. A few Flyers — including Travis Sanheim and Dan Vladar — will be making the trip across the pond to represent their respective countries. But for other Flyers, the break can’t come soon enough.

Philadelphia’s winning percentage the last month has almost mirrored their power play efficiency. And that could mean nearly everyone will be happy to get away for a bit and try to reset. Yet, there are three Flyers who are probably counting the hours until they finish the game Thursday night against Ottawa and head for some R&R (resting and resetting). Here they are in no particular order.

Sean Couturier​

In a six-game span in late November and early December, Couturier had three goals. The last of them was Dec. 7 in a loss to the Avalanche. And barring Couturier burying a chance against Washington or before the Ottawa game Thursday night concludes, Couturier will be in the midst of a two-month scoring slump. He’s been relegated to the fourth line opposite Nic Deslauriers and Garnet Hathaway. Couturier had four games where he registered a point in January, the last one in the impressive 7-3 win on the road against the same Avalanche. But he’s been struggling mightily of late, and it’s a bit sad to see for the 33-year-old center. With five goals so far, Couturier is probably going to have to go on a post-Olympic tear just to hit 10 goals, which would still be a career low for a season not plagued by injuries.

For a few games, the addition of Denver Barkey to Couturier’s line with Owen Tippett provided some oomph or punch, making the trio and especially Couturier look like his old self. Yet that seems to be in the rearview mirror now. With the end of this season marking the halfway point of his eight-year contract, the Flyers should be grateful the rising salary cap ceiling will make this cap hit take up a slightly smaller percentage than it does now. That is if things remain status quo. Maybe with the time off, Couturier can refocus and find his game when the Flyers pick things up again later this month.

The longer the streak continues, the more attention Couturier gets for his contract and the four years still left on it after this season. Which will lead to more speculation about a buyout sooner than later. It’s not the season Couturier or the team wanted for him. But ignoring what’s becoming the elephant in the room isn’t practical either for both sides.

Noah Cates​

When one center is in a slump, it’s something you can withstand without falling apart. But when two centers are in a funk at the same time, it’s logical to think the Flyers are hitting a wall. Noah Cates scored on the West Coast swing just after the Christmas break in a 6-3 win over Vancouver. Like Couturier, Cates is still looking for his first goal of the calendar year.

He has two assists in the last 13 games, and is probably gripping his stick a lot tighter of late like a lot of other Flyers. And clearly nobody has been impacted more by the loss of Tyson Foerster than Cates has. It was something head coach Rick Tocchet alluded to on Monday briefly addressing the tough time the center is having.

Despite the underlying metrics roughly the same as last year, Cates looks to be a bit out of sorts without both Bobby Brink and Foerster between him. There’s no crystal ball to suggest Foerster would’ve made a vast difference in terms of what Philadelphia stands now in the Eastern Conference. The one thing that is evident is that Cates has been looking for some of that chemistry or synergy ever since Foerster left in the game against Pittsburgh.

With any luck, Cates is able to regroup and figure out a way to make the most of the remaining third of the schedule. He’s on pace to just be roughly around his 37 points of last season, perhaps with slightly fewer goals but with a few more helpers. Ideally, he can turn a corner of sorts and go into the summer feeling good about himself and his game. And probably realize he’s closer to seeing Foerster back on his wing.

Sam Ersson​

Not to belabor the point, but Sam Ersson had his struggles. While he’s still 50/50 to be the backup this week, Ersson is looking more and more like he’s not going to be in the long-term plans with the Flyers. With Dan Vladar signed for another year, the team will have one spot locked up most likely. As well, Philadelphia is probably a little weary of having Aleksei Kolosov or Carson Bjarnason playing 30 to 35 games next year.

Which means they could go for an aging veteran on a cheap contract. In short, there’s no guarantee Ersson is here next year. While there was a shine to his season starting off, that has lost its brightness the last few months. If it wasn’t for Aleksei Kolosov being unable to stop much of anything outside of consistently piss poor play, Ersson might have found himself on the outside looking in earlier this year.

Between the almost constant subpar save percentage in most starts, and the fact Ersson seems incapable of making a key save at a key time in games, the Swedish keeper could use some time off. It’s doubtful he gets more than a handful of starts the rest of the way provided Vladar stays healthy.

Yet if he can reset and mentally get rid of whatever negative thoughts he had the last few months, Ersson could still salvage the season somewhat with a decent homestretch. It might not lead to a contract extension in Philadelphia. But it could be enough to help him start the next chapter elsewhere with a fresh start.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/3-flyers-who-need-the-upcoming-olympic-break-so-badly/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Takeaways: Flyers outlast tired Capitals with late power play goal

In their first meeting of the season, the Flyers survived a third period push by Alex Ovechkin’s Washington Capitals. A late goal on the power play by Jamie Drysdale was the difference in the Flyers’ 4-2 win.

The basics​

First Period: 5:56 – Owen Tippett (Travis Sanheim, Matvei Michkov)

Second Period: 4:45 – Carl Grundstrom (Nic Deslauriers, Rasmus Ristolainen), 8:12 – Aliaksei Protas (SHG) (Anthony Beauvillier)

Third Period: 2:40 – Anthony Beauvillier (Justin Sourdif, Trevor van Riemsdyk), 14:37 – Jamie Drysdale (PPG) (Trevor Zegras, Travis Konecny), 19:43 – Rasmus Ristolainen (ENG) (Travis Konecny)

SOG: PHI (22) – WAS (28)

Some takeaways​

Vladar weathers the early storm​

The Flyers have surrendered the game’s first goal 36 times this season — the second-highest number in the NHL this season — and were seemingly on their way to another 1-0 deficit when Nic Deslauriers entered the penalty box less than three minutes after puck drop. Weathering a few chances from the leading goal scorer in NHL history, Alexander Ovechkin, goaltender Dan Vladar gave his team an opportunity to take an early lead for a change.

With the Capitals on the second half of a back-to-back, Vladar’s efforts in goal were critical to keep the Flyers from falling behind while the visitors had the most of their legs. Philadelphia held a slight advantage in Expected Goals (via MoneyPuck) in the first period, but something about Ovechkin being the shooter sprinkles an added element of fear to each shot. It wasn’t all Vladar — the Flyers blocked 13 shots in the first period alone, the most in any period this season.

Matvei Michkov responds to the noise​

Owen Tippett broke the scoreless tie on a nice sequence started low in the offensive zone by Matvei Michkov, who dished over to Travis Sanheim on the weak side after carrying the puck the length of the boards behind the net. Sanheim found a cutting Tippett with an outstanding feed through traffic for his 19th tally of the season, and head coach Rick Tocchet had the following to say when asked by Ashlyn Sullivan about the goal coming out of commercial break: “Great patience by (Michkov) to find the weak side, we had talked about finding that side, so a great play by (Michkov).”

Owen Tippett goes to the backhand! pic.twitter.com/MwMrxHOekN

— NHL (@NHL) February 4, 2026

Michkov, the subject of a surprise pregame press meeting from GM Daniel Briere amidst comments made over the weekend about ice time by Tocchet, was in the starting five for the opening shift. His 10:59 of time on ice in the first two periods was more than he received over the course of Saturday’s overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings (10:21). This comes immediately in the wake of Tocchet doubling, or tripling, down on being unsatisfied with Michkov’s conditioning with a new tidbit about being late for treatments, making his usage a significant focus of the fanbase. Michkov finished with nearly 16 minutes in this one — a return to normalcy.

In fact, his line — Bobby Brink, Noah Cates, and Matvei Michkov — was the most utilized line at 5-on-5 tonight, and managed 73.1% of the expected goals. The three of them were buzzing all night.

Grundstrom making an impact in his return​

Having taken a seat since the Flyers loss in Columbus, Carl Grundstrom got a lucky deflection off Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun for his eighth goal of the season. This was also how Deslauriers received his first point of the season. With Sean Couturier as the regular center here, the Flyers’ fourth line has largely controlled play and was finally rewarded with a nice bounce, even if the captain himself has yet to be the beneficiary of any shooting luck for the last 28 games.

However you can get ‘em!#WSHvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/eEbThG77ro

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) February 4, 2026

Grundstrom was one of the team leaders in the Expected Goals department in his first match of February. After his four-game goal streak during the holidays, the Swedish winger didn’t score again in the month of January. This was his first goal since December 30, the end of that four game goal streak. He’s ninth on the team in goals, behind Tyson Foerster, despite playing limited minutes in just 26 games. Great scorers score in bunches, so it’s a shame there’s just one more game until the Olympic break cools him off again.

Capitals down to their third goalie in a back-to-back​

Clay Stevenson was called into action for Washington after Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren suffered injuries in prior games. This is his second game in two nights, and just his fourth overall in the NHL. Having made 96 starts for the Hershey Bears the past few seasons, there’s some familiarity with the former Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the Flyer lineup tonight.

The former Dartmouth University goaltender didn’t make a ton of saves, but certainly was faced with plenty of chances from the low slot and was the victim of an unfortunate bounce off of his own teammate. With the Capitals undoubtedly fatigued, Stevenson allowed his team to hang around long enough to tie the game in the third period. With an Expected Goals against of 2.75, Washington won’t have any complaints with their netminder.

Travis Konecny’s 700th game as a Flyer​

Travis Konecny is the Flyers’ best player, period, and it feels like just yesterday he was making his debut as a 19-year-old in the orange and black. In his tenth season, he’s been in great form, especially recently — despite the club’s struggles. Tonight, he came back to Earth, and was given a couple of shots against the boards throughout the game. He wasn’t bad, but the reigning NHL third-star-of-the-week had just been on another level until tonight, and still managed to extend his multi-point game streak to four with a couple of late assists.

With just under six minutes remaining, Konecny drew the penalty that led to the late power play goal by Jamie Drysdale — a big shot from the point through traffic on the power play, a rarity for the Flyers. Konecny’s secondary assist on the play was his missed shot attempt, which was then retrieved by Zegras, but it was a worthy reward nonetheless. Konecny would also receive an assist on the empty net goal by Rasmus Ristolainen to ice the game.

Jamie in the clutch #WSHvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/9jRLTCUcax

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) February 4, 2026

Vladar and the Flyers close the door​

With the Capitals hammering away down a goal with minutes remaining, the Flyers relied on their outstanding goaltender to finish the job. Vladar finished with 26 saves and 0.46 goals saved above expected on his way to his 17th win of the season. As a team, the Flyers blocked 25 shot attempts, led by the efforts of Cam York, Jamie Drysdale, and Travis Sanheim, each with four blocks. Sean Couturier had perhaps the most important block of the night on a broken play when the puck found Ovechkin in the low slot with a scrambling Vladar late in the third.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/p...ast-tired-capitals-with-late-power-play-goal/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Flyers GM Danny Briere: The first 1000 days

February 4 marks 1000 days since the interim tag was removed from Philadelphia Flyers General Manager Danny Briere. After a short trial run following the firing of Chuck Fletcher, Briere was given the reins, hoping to shed some of the contracts and players who were no longer fitting, swapping them off for picks, trying to change the team through the draft, and making a handful of deals that were somewhat outside the box. The jury is still out on a few of the draft picks, and will be for probably another 1000 days. Yet, Briere has put his stamp on the franchise in a rather steady, logical manner. He hasn’t yet traded prospects for rentals, nor has he signed over-the-hill unrestricted free agents to try and make the team better today.

This three-pronged approach — in tandem with Flyers President of Hockey Operations Keith Jones and scouting boss Brent Flahr — has steered the team away from seemingly self-destruction. They’re no longer chasing their own tail in the hopes that a first-round playoff series will eventually lead to 16 wins. Sure, they’d love to get there this year — and Briere believed the team would be adding, not subtracting — but thus far, the Flyers are probably going to be life and death to get one of the wild card spots. Or a top three seeding in the Metropolitan Division. The previous stretch of games were ones where Philadelphia had to make hay, particularly against some divisional opponents and other Eastern Conference teams ahead of them in the wild card race. But so far they’ve dropped quickly and rather quietly down the standings.

So, without going into day-by-day detail on every transaction, here’s what Briere has managed to do, and needs to do, to get the Flyers heading in the right direction.

Phase One: Strip it down some​

When Briere arrived, he already had a lay of the land being seated beside Fletcher. And his first deal seemed to set him apart from Fletcher. Weeks prior to the 2023 draft, Briere did some housecleaning. He shipped out Ivan Provorov in a three-way deal, earning a first-round pick in 2023 and two seconds the following year. He also acquired goalie Cal Petersen, as well as defensemen Helge Grans and Sean Walker. Walker evolved into a huge surprise in 2023-24. But as has been generally the case since he arrived, Briere hasn’t fallen in love with short-term acquisitions. While many believed Walker could’ve been signed to an extension, Briere turned him into another first-round pick in a trade with Colorado. Meanwhile in sending out Walker, Philadelphia also obtained Ryan Johansen. Johansen was placed on waivers and, in the summer of 2024, was put on unconditional waivers due to a breach of contract. So in short, Briere managed to squeeze two first-round picks from the Provorov deal. And not strive for a first-round playoff series when the bigger picture required long-term thinking. Later in June, Briere and the Flyers were fortunate enough to have Matvei Michkov fall into their lap with the seventh pick. It’s a move that should still pan out for them in the long haul despite the sophomore slump he’s currently experiencing.

As well, Briere wasn’t afraid to dump a few contracts and eat some of the salaries in exchange. Kevin Hayes found his way to St. Louis and the following year Cam Atkinson was bought out of his deal. The Flyers weren’t exactly contenders and closer to cellar dwellers in hindsight, despite a relatively decent 2023-24 that saw them play 82 meaningful games. Thus, they could easily afford to eat some salary just to get the players who weren’t part of the future out of the way. Now, this summer, those deals along with a few other retained salaries will be off the books for good.

Phase Two: Strip some more, draft some more​

Last season, the Flyers started the year with high hopes, possibly building off the rather surprising 2023-24 and taking the next step in the rebuild. Namely, the 2024 NHL Draft. The Flyers turned a few heads by moving up, selecting Jett Luchanko with the 13th pick. Luchanko seemed an outlier and was thought of as a late first-round or early second-round pick. Briere saw a two-way center who had speed to burn. Even then Flyers head coach John Tortorella was won over by him, leaving Tortorella to go to bat for the youngster and get a brief four-game stint to start the season. Besides Luchanko, Briere and crew selected Jack Berglund (who had a terrific 2026 World Junior Hockey Championships) in the second round, and defenseman Spencer Gill eight slots after Berglund.

The season had its peaks and valleys, then more valleys, and then a chasm. Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost were shipped out to Calgary, and then Scott Laughton was dealt to Toronto for a first-round pick. Meanwhile guys like Erik Johnson and Andrei Kuzmenko were dealt for more picks. The moves — particularly the Laughton trade — showed Briere can separate personal relationships and “good guys” in the locker room with what the team needed to move forward. The biggest move was relieving Tortorella late in the season following a rather trying week for the team and behind-the-scenes incidents. Brad Shaw was left to mop up. Again, Briere felt he needed to make the move then, not simply bide his time til game 82 in Buffalo and then fire the coach the next day. It was decisive, something Briere has been known for since taking the job.

Phase Three: Addressing needs and some additions​

Prior to the 2025 NHL Draft, the Flyers were thought to be zeroing in on getting a high-end center, something they sorely lacked the last few years. Sean Couturier is on the backside of his career. And Noah Cates is at best a middle-six center. However, in the leadup to the draft, Briere secured Anaheim’s Trevor Zegras for what was a rather small package in return. Zegras was considered to be an answer to the lack of center depth. Thus far, the “hybrid center” idea hasn’t really taken hold. The winger has lived up to expectations for the most part, despite a slow last few weeks. He was a piece, and one that was low-risk, high-reward. If things didn’t work out it could be a one-year experiment with Philadelphia still retaining his rights. If it did, all the better.

Days later, with Philadelphia again thought to be focusing on another quality center with the sixth pick, selected winger Porter Martone. Martone, an imposing, game-breaking kind of winger, came as a bit of shock to the Flyer fanbase. Since then, he’s been fantastic in collegiate hockey while holding his own for Team Canada at the recent World Junior Hockey Championships. Briere then pulled off another trade, this time moving up to the 12th spot to get center Jack Nesbitt. Nesbitt is averaging close to a point per game with the Ontario Hockey League’s Windsor Spitfires and, while still a few years away, should help beef up Philadelphia down the middle.

Perhaps the biggest non-Zegras, non-Martone add was the Flyers dipping gently into free agency and signing Calgary goaltender Dan Vladar to a two-year contract. The term was short, the cap hit was not huge. Another low-risk, high-reward possibility without spending money and term on a bigger name goalie. Vladar was terrific the first half of the season as the five Flyers in front of him adjusted to not blocking every shot, instead letting the goaltenders try and make the first save. An injury in January slowed him down while seemingly stopping the Flyers in their tracks regarding winning and staying deep in the playoff hunt. He’ll need to be as healthy and solid the rest of the way if Philadelphia has any hope in getting back in the chase.

Meanwhile, the center depth was addressed by signing Christian Dvorak to a one-year deal. It seemed like another temporary solution. Dvorak was fine on a line with Travis Konecny and Zegras while being good on the faceoff dot and generally playing a good two-way game. Dvorak’s stint has turned into a five-year extension which has some people questioning the wisdom of the trade. But Briere has put enough terms on the deal to perhaps get out from under it in two years if it goes pear-shaped. The move doesn’t truly enhance the center depth, but probably prevents Philadelphia from regressing at that position.

Phase Four: Playoff aspirations but now at a fork in the road​

When the season started, and with a new coach in Rick Tocchet, Briere said the Flyers weren’t going to fold if they didn’t make the playoffs. But the goal for this season was seeing progress among the younger players while putting enough pieces around them to get to game 83. Briere had no crystal ball, and suggested that if the season didn’t go according to plan, he would obviously have to readjust and pivot somewhat.

This year the Flyers were in the playoff seeding the first half of the season. This despite a still inept power play, a generally subpar penalty killing unit, a backup goalie situation that still causes fans to wince, and giving up the game’s first goal in two-thirds of the first 54 games. Toss in the injury to Tyson Foerster, the subpar season of Matvei Michkov in year two, and the Flyers are now looking more like their wilting in pressure situations and the playoffs currently looking like a long, long shot.

Briere spent most of the summer of 2025 preaching patience and that the summer of 2026 was a game-changing phase for the franchise. Free agents would be bountiful, and one or two of those big names would find their way to Philadelphia. But before the season was at the quarter pole, all those big stars were staying with their club. The class of 2026 was essentially nothing more than the over-the-hill gang. It’s not that Briere can’t land a quality center for the team. It’s just that it’s going to require the team losing assets, perhaps significant ones, in order to get that guy.

So, with the team’s current malaise, and the summer of 2026 not looking all that rosy, Briere is probably going to have to readjust his rebuild somewhat. The idea of adding at the deadline looks ridiculous, and something Briere said prior would be out of the question for simply bringing on rental players. The problem is that outside of a hockey trade between now and the deadline, the Flyers don’t have a lot of expiring contracts teams are looking for. Nic Deslauriers, Rodrigo Abols (still injured), Carl Grundstrom, and Noah Juulsen won’t exactly result in anything but mid-round to late-round picks in return at best. Toss in Garnet Hathaway and Rasmus Ristolainen — who both have a year left on their contracts — and the Flyers would probably have to toss a pick into each deal to sweeten it for buyers.

In addition, Briere is going to hope he once again swings for play-making, game-changing prospects in the draft. And this year he doesn’t have the draft capital of previous years with just five selections. Depending on how far the Flyers fall, they could be again in the lottery. Or possibly packaging their higher picks into getting some sorely needed high-end talent that is young, fits the bigger picture, and makes sense for the organization. Some would argue the goaltending situation is still quite in flux, the power play remains poor, and the development of some younger players hasn’t been ideal. And that Briere has shown some flaws with the Dvorak extension, not getting more in the Cutter Gauthier trade, and extending Travis Konecny when he might be much longer in the tooth when the Flyers are hopefully competitive.

Briere has done an admirable job steering the Flyers towards a hopeful future. It might not be on the timeline or schedule even he anticipated, but it appears he’s going to be the guy to set Philadelphia’s course for the next 1000 days.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/flyers-gm-danny-briere-the-first-1000-days/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Flyers show progress in win over Capitals, but bigger challenge lies ahead

The Flyers, hitting the start of the month of February on a four-game losing streak and at the risk of heading into the Olympic break in free fall, managed to pull together a prompt shift in momentum. Picking up a reasonably tidy 4-2 win over their divisional rival Capitals, the Flyers lifted quite a major weight off of their shoulders, but still sit with a reminder that there’s work yet to be done.

Overcoming the noise​

To deliver the understatement of the century, things have not been going great for the Flyers, of late. With Saturday’s overtime loss to the Kings, the Flyers closed out the month of January with a pretty abysmal 4-8-3 record (which also included two separate losing streaks of four or more games), and with answers to break the skid nowhere in sight — to say nothing of the discourse around the head coach’s handling of a key young player and his comments about it to the media breaking containment into the national sphere — the fervor of bad feelings around the team were reaching a point of criticality, and desperation time had well and truly arrived.

But it’s this particular desperation which made the eventual pulling off of this win ring even more meaningfully, as the Flyers got contributions — tangibly or not — from a number of different areas of their lineup. It was, in all, a well strung together effort.

“Yeah like stacking some good moments,” head coach Rick Tocchet acknowledged postgame. “Obviously giving up the lead [and letting it get to] 2-2, [and then] we get the power play, that was a big moment, right? Because the power play’s obviously been struggling, that was a huge goal for us. And then hanging in there and Risto getting that empty net. So yeah, some moments there that went our way, hanging in there. And I thought it was a great effort from the players tonight.”

Overall, this was not the Flyers’ most commanding win of the season. Finding a way to jump out to an early lead was an undeniable positive — it’s not something they’ve been able to do terribly often so far this season — but that lead was one they did leave the door wide open to get away from them. Between a couple of tough breakdowns leading up to the pair of goals against, which had the game tied for much of the third period, and a conceding of the edge in possession to the Capitals for much of the game in its entirety (the Flyers came away with just 43.02 percent of the share of shot attempts generated at 5-on-5), the Flyers didn’t necessarily make this an easy win for themselves, but they still managed to pull it off, taking their opportunities when they arose and putting out most of big fires when they needed to.

The Flyers, at the end of the day, went into this game and took care of business against a team that they really to find a way around — that is, a Capitals team that was both less rested on the back half of a back-to-back and dealing with some major injuries and icing an AHL goalie for the second night in a row — and found a way to return to their fundamentals along the way, and that counts for something.

“It was better,” Tocchet concluded. “I mean obviously we’ve had some blown coverages, like we’re up 2-0 and a couple of guys are going to the same guy [in coverage]… I thought we were better at that, I think at practice, we had a really good practice yesterday and that helps, but we gotta get [out of] that habit of going two guys to the same guy, there’s a read there that you have to make and it’s gonna take experience… but definitely it was better.”

This might not have been their A-game, but it was still a really solid B-game, and executing on that was enough to finally jolt them from this losing skid and allow them to pull off a big win.

Shifting focus​

This was a big win for the Flyers, there’s no doubt about it, but in some ways the even more significant challenge still lies ahead of them. The Flyers have had no shortage of thrilling and meaningful wins that they’ve been able to pull together this season, and in many ways they’ve often looked their best when they’ve been rallying back from some deficit (be it on the scoresheet or more dramatically bouncing back from a deflating loss). But this is just the thing — the Flyers have not had as much trouble responding to difficult situations as they have continuing to build on the momentum they’ve gained from those major responses, and that’s largely what’s continually gotten them into trouble over this first part of the season.

Just as much as the Flyers need to find a way to deliver more consistent positive results down the stretch here, they need to find a way to begin to shift the narrative around them as a team who can’t play with a lead, in effect. The break looms large as a thing which will still halt (or at least pause) any positive momentum they build up over this last week, but it’s still important for the Flyers to find a way to hit that high note all the same. We’ll see how they fare in this regard tomorrow night back on home ice against the Senators.

All stats via Natural Stat Trick.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/p...ver-capitals-but-bigger-challenge-lies-ahead/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

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

It’s here. The last game we’ll be watching of this dang Philadelphia Flyers team for a whole 20 days. Should we try to savor it? Maybe take in every single minute so that we can keep it in our heads until they return on Feb. 25? Maybe. Or, we could just get through it as fast as possible so we can relax for a little bit. They’re facing Claude Giroux and his Ottawa Senators, by the way.

Puck drop: 7:00 p.m.
How to watch/listen:
: NBCSP
: 93.3 WMMR

Pregame reading​

• Despite being just one of two players from Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off team not heading to the Olympics, and playing on a team not on a playoff trajectory, Travis Konecny has remained a consistent force. [BSH]
• Yesterday marked 1,000 days since the Flyers hired Danny Briere as general manager. Let’s break down exactly what he’s done. [BSH]

Pregame watching​

By the numbers​

Philadelphia Flyers – 25-20-10 (6th in Metro)

Goals: Travis Konecny (22)
Assists: Travis Konecny (32)
Points: Travis Konecny (54)

Ottawa Senators – 27-22-7 (8th in Atlantic)

Goals: Tim Stutzle (27)
Assists: Jake Sanderson (35)
Points: Tim Stutzle (60)

Projected lineups​

Philadelphia Flyers

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

Travis Sanheim — Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York — Jamie Drydale
Nick Seeler — Noah Juulsen

Dan Vladar
(Aleksei Kolosov)

Ottawa Senators

Drake Batherson — Tim Stutzle — Claude Giroux
Brady Tkachuk — Dylan Cozens — Ridly Greig
Nick Cousins — Shane Pinto — Michael Amadio
Stephen Halliday — Lars Eller — Fabian Zetterlund

Jake Sanderson — Artem Zub
Thomas Chabot — Nick Jensen
Tyler Kleven — Jordan Spence

Linus Ullmark
(James Reimer)

Storylines to watch​

Last game before Olympic break for everyone

It’s finally here. The last game we’ll see the Flyers play for a couple of weeks and it involves a whole lot of Olympians. Of course, the ones we know in Travis Sanheim, Dan Vladar, and Rasmus Ristolainen; but on the other side of the ice there are some high-end players who might just be trying to save themselves for Milan. Do we think Brady Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson might not go all-out in a game in Philadelphia before trying to win gold for Team USA? Maybe. Or maybe Tim Stutzle will try to monitor his efforts before he becomes Germany’s second weapon next to Leon Draisaitl next week? No one knows, but it might at least play a part.

Bye bye Flyers, for 20 whole days.

Claude Giroux’s return, of course

It might be getting a little stale and him being on this team is more of a distant memory than we would like, but Claude Giroux is returning to Philadelphia once again. It is now his sixth game facing the Flyers as part of the visiting team, all with the Senators, and he has certainly been a productive forward during those reunions. From earning three assists in his first game back since the trade in 2022 that sent him to the Florida Panthers, to earning a tidy single assist in the game earlier this season, Giroux has never been left off the score sheet whenever he has come back to Philadelphia. With a total of one goal and eight points in the five games, he certainly likes being back in the building.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/flyers-vs-senators-how-to-watch-lineups-and-gamethread-2/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Takeaways: Flyers score late but Senators win it 2-1 in overtime in tight-checking game

The Flyers scored late to tie the game 1-1 and earn one point thanks to Jamie Drysdale. However, it was the only point they got as Ottawa defeated Philadelphia in overtime 2-1, leaving the Flyers with 61 points at the Olympic break.

The Basics​

First period: No scoring
Second period: 9:55- Nick Cousins (Shane Pinto, Michael Amadio)
Third period: 18:46- Jamie Drysdale (Bobby Brink, Trevor Zegras)
Overtime: 0:47- Tim Stutzle (Brady Tkachuk)
SOG: 16 (PHI) – 27 (OTT)

Some Takeaways​

Almost whistle free

The opening period went quite quickly. Both teams had the neutral zone clogged up well. And both sides played as if all players had planes to catch to begin their break immediately afterwards. Low event and not much angst or vitriol from either side. The only big hit came courtesy of Garnet Hathaway who nailed defenseman Artem Zub in his own end. As well, the lone penalty was against Ottawa’s Drake Batherson for hooking with under a minute to go in the first.

Although the power play went away rather timidly, Philadelphia had an extended shift in Ottawa’s zone which had the Sens on the heels. Unfortunately the Flyers couldn’t capitalize. The tone of the game wasn’t all that different from start to finish. It sort of felt like an exhibition game, with the atmosphere more on simply getting through the game in one piece than anything else. Late in the second, the Flyers had the Senators in a world of hurt as Dylan Cozens lost a skate blade and the Flyers were briefly dominating Ottawa.

Michkov does some good, nyet on the backhand passes

Matvei Michkov’s opening shift saw him dumped in the corner by former Flyer Claude Giroux. With the controversy a little bit behind him and the coach after Philadelphia general manager Danny Briere attempted to clear the air somewhat. However, he made a bad cross ice pass on the subsequent shift which nearly cost Philadelphia a too many men on the ice penalty. In the second Michkov had a decent opportunity to break the scoreless game with a backhand chance, but James Reimer turned it aside.

If Michkov can get the backhand pass in his own end out of his game, it will be a huge plus. In the second he made a similar mistake, this time with Dan Vladar bailing him out. Aside from a shift late in the middle period where Michkov made two laps around Ottawa’s defensive zone, the forward was like most of the Flyers: not making much of a difference.

Tippett one of a few who showed up

Owen Tippett continued playing well, anticipating a faceoff win and getting the puck right off the hop. The play resulted in a near chance by Denver Barkey seconds later but he couldn’t cash in against Ottawa goalie James Reimer. Philadelphia wasn’t exactly sluggish to start, but were still waiting for their first shot on goal over nine minutes into the contest. While that’s not a credit to the Flyers, Ottawa’s defense has been one of the better ones in the league. They don’t give up a lot. But you’re not helping your cause much when you can’t get a shot against them.

Tippett nearly had the first shot on a behind the back shot but it was blocked by Senators defenseman Tyler Kleven. He finally set up Barkey for the first one with under five minutes left in the first, resulting in a Bronx cheer from the hometown fans. And while he wasn’t lighting things up regarding the various underlying metrics, he appeared to be putting in an honest effort.

Total team being rather terrible through two

Through two periods of play, Rasmus Ristolainen, Travis Sanheim, and Trevor Zegras were the only Flyers above 45 per cent in terms of expected goals for. There were eight skaters who were under 20 per cent in the same metric. With such a rather poor effort across the board outside of a few players (and one goaltender), Philadelphia needed the riot act read to them in the second intermission.

Vladar very good, slightly pissed off

Dan Vladar was tested a few times early thanks to some missed assignments and a bad turnover by Travis Konecny. His best save early was against Shane Pinto as Philadelphia had their wires crossed in their own zone. It was an eventful period for Vladar who lost his stick while making the save. He was later in a collision with Giroux but neither one was hurt. In the middle frame, Vladar made a fantastic save on a delayed penalty to the Flyers as Nick Cousins was foiled when the Flyers keeper got his right pad on the puck. On the ensuing penalty kill, Vladar stoned Thomas Chabot on a clear one-timer, keeping the Flyers in it despite being outshot 12-4 nearly 28 minutes into regulation.

The goalie couldn’t do much on Ottawa’s opening goal. A Shane Pinto shot through traffic was picked up by former Flyer (and punchable face owner) Nick Cousins who powered his way through the dirty area before Barkey was able to get the puck.

Nick Cousins was drafted 68th overall by the Flyers in 2011. Since leaving the organization in 2017, he's played 19 games against them. Now, he finally has his first career goal against Philadelphia. pic.twitter.com/pSAQWjGOMt

— Andrew Wilimek (@AndrewWilimek) February 6, 2026

Vladar looked somewhat upset in the television timeout afterwards, heading to the bench and clearly voicing his opinion about something he didn’t like. Given the fact the shots were 18-5 at the time, maybe it was to light a fire under the backside of his teammates. Had the team had the same work ethic or attention to detail as Vladar had on this night it might have been a different story through 40 minutes.

Third period more of the same

Although the Flyers were still just one shot away from tying things up with 13 minutes to go in the third, they could not get much momentum going. Everywhere a Flyer turned they were met with a stick, body or some combination of the two from Ottawa. Head coach Rick Tocchet juggled the lines a bit to find some combination to tie it. Sean Couturier had an excellent chance coming in from the wing, looking as if he finally ended his goal streak but Reimer got his left pad on it.

With the goalie pulled, and Tippett, Cam York and another Flyer in front, Jamie Drysdale managed to beat Reimer to tie things up at 1-1. It was the fourteenth shot on goal for Philadelphia, but the one that counted the most.

JAMIE DRYSDALE! THE FLYERS TIE IT WITH THE GOALIE PULLED WITH 74 SECONDS LEFT!
pic.twitter.com/sg2PjbR37S

— SleeperNHL (@SleeperNHL) February 6, 2026

Unfortunately, the Flyers lost the game in overtime. Konecny was part of a two-on-one but shot the puck wide. The puck went up the other end and Senators forward Tim Stutzle ended it with a great move against Vladar.

TIM STÜTZLE ARE YOU KIDDING ME??????

WHAT. A. GOAL.#SENS WIN IT IN OVERTIME THANKS TO THE GERMAN.

SIMPLY SENSATIONAL.

OTTAWA BENT BUT DID NOT BREAK. MASSIVE TWO POINTS. LFG!!!

pic.twitter.com/JTRypOtD4A

— SENS TALK (@senstalk_) February 6, 2026

All stats courtesy of Natural Stat Trick and NHL.com

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/p...in-it-2-1-in-overtime-in-tight-checking-game/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Missed opportunities marred Flyers’ final game before Olympic break

The Flyers, riding high after snapping their losing streak with a big win over the Capitals on
Tuesday, went into their final game before the break with a significant challenge on their hands — keeping their positive momentum rolling now that they finally had it. And while there were pieces in the matchup which worked in their favor, between a similarly matchup Senators team broadly, but more precisely one starting a 37-year old James Reimer only a handful of games into his stint with Ottawa after a recall from the AHL, the Flyers ultimately failed to capitalize on runway that they had in front of them.

What went wrong​

The issues facing the Flyers in this game were numerous, but most foundational to their struggles was their inability to get much of anything going as far as their offense was concerned. It was a meager two shots on goal that the Flyers were able to generate through the first period of play, and this would be an apt tone setter for the rest of the game. The offense was, in a word, anemic, and while they were able to break through with a bit of scoring late in the game, and while this was enough to get them to overtime and earn them the one standings point, there’s no doubt still that there were opportunities to pull away in this game left on the table.

And even in an immediate impression of how this one unfolded when it was all said and done, it was not hard to pinpoint where it went wrong.

“A lot of missed nets,” was head coach Rick Tocchet’s assessment after the game. “Blocked shots. You’ve got to be able to… you know there’s some skill to that, to be able to fake shots and go around people. It seems like you get struggling scoring goals [and] you’re, you just put your head down and shoot. So there’s got to be a little bit more skill when it comes to that. And then there was a sequence there where we had the puck a lot, we had about four missed chances, shots over the net. So that’s a thing we’ve got to keep working on.”

It’s no secret that the Flyers are in the midst of a difficult stretch — with just four wins through the whole month of January and a precipitous dropping down the standings looming, the Flyers have quickly found themselves in desperation time, but are struggling to balance the need to get back to their fundamentals of their game which will ground them with executing on some of the higher level plays which are equally necessary to helping them stack some wins. And chief among that is their ability to manufacture quality offense.

“There’s skill to that,” he went on. “I mean, it’s taking a little bit, there’s technique, taking a little bit off the shot. Sometimes when you have somebody going to the net, sometimes you don’t have to pick a corner, you’re looking for like a location shot, they call it, where there’s a rebound and somebody puts it in. Those are plays too. It’s hard to score from the blue line with nobody in front. You know, you’ve got to shoot the puck where you’re hitting the net where there’s a rebound, or somewhere you can get a retrieval. And that’s something we’ve been working on, and it’s experience, and things like that.”

The experience of it all​

The note on managing these game situations well and coming through with better shot selections being a matter of experience in Tocchet’s eyes was, though, a bit of a strange one in some ways. After all, this Flyers’ lineup struggled pretty unilaterally to get the chances they were creating actually on net, and it’s not as though the veteran group saw the most efficiency there.

In fact, it was only four players in the lineup who, across all situations, were able to get half or more of their attempts on net, and they overwhelmingly came from the group of players aged 25 or younger — it was Noah Cates and Denver Barkey with one of two shots on goal, Jamie Drysdale with two of four, and then Matvei Michkov who got both of his two shot attempts on goal.

So, perhaps it is experience which might drive more success in this area over a longer term, but it was not their most experienced players who delivered their most efficient efforts last night.

All the same, whether experience is the difference maker or not, last night made it abundantly clear that there’s still quite a bit of tinkering that needs to go into the team’s approach to generating offense. Now, on the other side of the Olympic break, the schedule isn’t going to be lightening up any, and they’re not going to have the benefit of a wealth of practice time to polish things out, but the hope is that a bit of a reset from the time off, a return when things might feel a little less dire, can help them along as well.

All stats via Natural Stat Trick.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/p...arred-flyers-final-game-before-olympic-break/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Takeaways: Phantoms battle hard but lose to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 6-5 on Friday night

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms had a season-high 41 shots and scored five times, but Wilkes-Barre/Scranton were one better thanks to Matt Dumba’s hat trick and a sensational night from goaltender Joel Blomqvist for an entertaining 6-5 victory over the hosts Friday night.

The basics​

First period: 1:14- Matt Dumba (Ville Koivunen, Tristan Broz) 4:11- Ville Koivunen (Tristan Broz, Melvin Fernstrom), 15:34- Lane Pederson (Unassisted) (SHG)
Second period: 1:40- Maxence Guenette (Anthony Richard, Adam Ginning), 4:09- Matt Dumba (Melvin Fernstrom, Tristan Broz), 19:02- Phil Tomasino (Devin Kaplan, Oliver Bonk)
Third period: 3:57- Aidan McDonough (Atley Calvert), 7:32- Rafael Harvey-Pinard (Matt Dumba, Aidan McDonough), 9:21- Matt Dumba (Ville Koivunen, Tristan Broz), 10:49- Lane Pederson (Christian Kyrou, Cooper Marody) (PPG), 18:24- Jacob Gaucher (Maxence Guenette)
SOG: 41 (LHV) – 23 (WBS)

Some takeaways​

Special teams show some pop but not enough

The Phantoms went to the power play five minutes and change into period one. And with a middle-of-the-pack unit, Lehigh Valley got some traffic in front of Penguins goalie Joel Blomqvist but couldn’t bury it. They also had a decent second half to the first power play, finding a few seams but Blomqvist stood tall for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. After a strong start by the Penguins, Lehigh Valley responded with the next seven shots.

The Phantoms’ second power play of the first didn’t have much oomph as defenseman Oliver Bonk had his shot from the point blocked. Meanwhile, Lehigh Valley’s penalty kill was put to the test after blueliner Helge Grans went to the sin bin. The Penguins, as horrid in the American Hockey League as the Flyers are with the man advantage, coughed up the puck with a bad cross-ice pass at the Phantoms blue line. Tucker Robertson intercepted the pass and dashed up the ice, beating Blomqvist with a nifty move to give Lehigh Valley a much-needed boost.

That is Tucker Robertson ‍ #LVvsWBS | #LVPhantoms pic.twitter.com/P9rQjXZ6zR

— Lehigh Valley Phantoms (@LVPhantoms) February 7, 2026

Seconds later, the Phantoms had an almost comical four-on-one but couldn’t tie things up. Lehigh Valley scored a power play goal midway through the third, making it a 6-4 game and giving the Phantoms a puncher’s chance at a comeback. In the third, the Phantoms had a few chances to make it a one-goal game in the dying minutes but just couldn’t cash in on their numerous opportunities. They did score seconds after their last power play of the night when Maxence Guenette made a great pass to Jacob Gaucher who redirected it in quickly.

Flyers brass in attendance

With Philadelphia not doing much of anything for the next little while, Flyers general manager Danny Briere and Philadelphia’s President of Hockey Operations Keith Jones took in the game Friday evening. And they couldn’t been pleased with Lehigh Valley’s start. The Penguins hemmed the Phantoms in early and often, opening the scoring just over 70 seconds into the contest when veteran NHLer Matt Dumba fired a one-timer in the slot beyond Bjarnason.

Dums from the top of the slot! pic.twitter.com/h4AqzgMngd

— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) February 7, 2026

The Penguins didn’t let off on the gas. Lehigh Valley again were caught in their own zone when Ville Koivunen beat Bjarnason who had some traffic in front for a quick 2-0 lead.

Koivy sends another one to the back of the net for us, and Fernstrom collects his first AHL point with the assist! pic.twitter.com/PrYkyYE4yG

— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) February 7, 2026

The Phantoms nearly cut the deficit in half when Hunter McDonald beat Penguins goalie Joel Blomqvist but couldn’t beat the iron.

Tomasino has his chances

Former Penguin Phil Tomasino had his share of opportunities to score, none better than late in the second period when he was alone in front. However his wrister was quickly gloved by Blomqvist without much hassle. The second period didn’t feature a lot of chances after Dumba’s second goal of the night, as both teams seemed to lock things down a bit more than they did in the opening 20 minutes. Late in the second, the Phantoms started taking it to the Penguins with a few prime chances from Jacob Gaucher and Alexis Gendron. Both shots were in close but were denied by the netminder.

Finally, after more pressure from Lehigh Valley — with two Phantoms basically blinding Blomqvist, — Tomasino put a tap-in behind Blomqvist to tie things up with just under a minute before the second intermission. Tomasino led all forwards on both teams with five shots through 40 minutes.

Snuck that one right in #LVvsWBS | #LVPhantoms pic.twitter.com/2c2iaXYgii

— Lehigh Valley Phantoms (@LVPhantoms) February 7, 2026

Warm-up Olympic-inspired jerseys

During the pre-game warm-up, the Phantoms could be seen wearing Olympic-inspired jerseys with each Phantom wearing the colors of their respective nations. Whether it was Adam Ginning wearing the yellow and blue of Sweden, or Zayde Wisdom and Phantoms starting goaltender Carson Bjarnason sporting Canada’s colors, the jerseys were well-timed with the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics which took place earlier in the afternoon in Italy.

Max-imum effort

Phantoms defenseman Maxence Guenette (who had a helper late in the game) was having a rather so-so game after the first period but tied things up for Lehigh Valley early in the second. Guenette’s goal was his first of the year against a goaltender as his other tally was an empty-netter.

Anyyywaayyy, that was a SNIPE!#LVvsWBS | #LVPhantoms pic.twitter.com/Xb7zSp7pZa

— Lehigh Valley Phantoms (@LVPhantoms) February 7, 2026

They nearly took the lead seconds later but a shot hit the post, much to the surprise of fans who thought they had scored. No dice. Sadly, minutes later Dumba’s howitzer of a shot beat Bjarnason to give Wilkes-Barre/Scranton the lead again.

A for Dums’s second of the night! pic.twitter.com/3oyRWSSmRA

— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) February 7, 2026

Dumba also earned a point on the Penguins’ fifth goal of the night. But that was before he put the game on ice with his third of the night for the hat trick. The third goal was similar to his first of the night where he snuck in without much difficulty to put the puck behind Bjarnason.

Bjarnason has bumpy ride

After giving up the first two goals of the game, Bjarnason (who has the Phantoms mascot Melvin on the back of his goalie helmet which has new artwork) composed himself and made a very solid save in the first against Rafael Harvey-Pinard in close. It could’ve been a game-changing goal given how well Wilkes-Barre/Scranton have played against the Phantoms. But by keeping it a two-goal deficit, it game his team a chance to cut the deficit in half. Late in the first, the goalie thought he had the puck covered but it looked to be loose. The Penguins weren’t able to bang the puck home fortunately.

Although Bjarnason didn’t stop both Dumba goals, he was able to settle down through much of the second when he stopped a similar shot from the point courtesy of Penguins defenseman Owen Pickering. The goalie also made a key save early in the third when he fought through some traffic to stop Alexander Alexeyev and swallowing up the rebound. The biggest concern with Bjarnason was minutes after the Alexeyev stop when he collided with an falling opposing player. He took some time to get up but remained in the game after being pushed deeply into his net.

Bjarnason didn’t have much puck luck in the third when he made a strong save but could get across to stop the rebound as Aidan McDonough buried it behind a diving Phantoms goalie. That seemed to open the floodgates for Wilkes-Barre as they began distancing themselves from Lehigh Valley.

Hunter has some hits

Phantoms defenseman Hunter McDonald was his usual churlish self on this night. In the second he delivered a heavy hit on a Penguin but seemed to take as much punishment as he delivered. He got up okay but was holding his neck briefly after the collision. McDonald’s game mirrored Lehigh Valley’s heavy approach most of the night. With about 13 minutes to go in regulation, the Phantoms had 17 hits compared to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s eight.

With the game not technically over, Phantoms’ Garrett Wilson nailed Ryan McAllister up high and near the head region. The hit resulted in Zach Gallant fighting Wilson and Wilson dropping him with a right hook. Wilson’s hit on McAllister was deemed to be legal, resulting in the Phantoms forward getting just five minutes for fighting.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/p...to-wilkes-barre-scranton-6-5-on-friday-night/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

3 Flyers who probably don’t want an Olympic break

The Flyers finished their pre-Olympic gauntlet Thursday night with a 2-1 overtime loss against the Ottawa Senators. The Flyers capped off this stretch of 56 games with a record of 25-20-11. And while some players we mentioned previously well more than happy to see the Olympic break now for a few weeks, there are a few other players who maybe hate the fact they’re now having some down time. It’s not every Flyer, but we take a look at three Flyers who are playing quite well of late, and would just as soon want to keep playing versus watching the world’s best face off in Italy for Olympic gold.

Travis Konecny​

Konecny has his bumps and bruises, and he started off the season rather slowly. However, what a difference a new calendar year makes. While the winger has been consistent most of the year, he’s been one of the few Flyers in recent weeks who has seemingly upped his game, rising to the pressure of the games when a lot of his teammates are struggling with embracing that pressure. Since the turn of the calendar year, Konecny has amassed nine goals and nine assists for 18 points. He’s been pointless in just five of the games in 2026 while registering four consecutive multi-point games before not registering anything against Ottawa on Thursday night. One of the more impressive individual performances was Konecny — clearly not 100 per cent healthy — pulling Philadelphia back into the fight against Columbus on Jan. 28 with a hat trick only for the Flyers to lose in regulation.

TRAVIS KONECNY HAT TRICK TIES IT pic.twitter.com/hm6KOktXe0

— Nasty Knuckles (@NastyKnuckles) January 29, 2026​

Perhaps it’s because he wants the Flyers to make the playoffs, and detesting the fact they could be on the outside for a sixth consecutive season this spring. Or it could be that he wasn’t selected for Team Canada’s roster at the Winter Olympics and has a huge chip on his shoulder because of the snub. Regardless of what is causing him to play so well, it’s a style and resilience that a lot of other current Flyers could draw inspiration for when the final stretch of 26 games starts on Feb. 25. Konecny was seemingly in Trevor Zegras’ shadow for much of the first half, but is shining of late, particularly when players need to rise to the occasion.

Owen Tippett​

If there’s been a player who’s been the proverbial pulse of the Philadelphia Flyers this season, that distinction would most likely go to winger Owen Tippett. Tippett has been a force and quite visible each and every shift of late. His speed is more of a weapon this year, his style is becoming more of a power forward judging by the checks he’s delivered to get himself going, and as he goes, so goes the Flyers. In 25 games where the Flyers have won heading into Thursday’s game, Tippett has 14 goals and 11 assists for 25 points and is a plus 13 on the plus/minus scale. Meanwhile in losses he just has five goals, five assists for 10 points and is a rather dreadful -20. In short, if Tippett is flying, the team is more often than not soaring. When he’s not, they’re floundering at best.

The forward is just one goal away from matching last season’s total. And he still has 26 games to surpass that total. With 35 points so far, it’s quite conceivable Tippett ends the season in the 50-point to 55-point range, meaning he could surpass his season-high total of 53 points back in 2022-23. He could also eclipse his high in goals with 28 in 2023-24. There appears to be a 30-goal to 35-goal scorer in Owen Tippett. This recent stretch has only solidified that notion. Hopefully he picks up exactly where he left off with some time for rest.

While he was still with a few question marks after last season where he didn’t take that next step, Tippett looks like he could be here for a long time.

Jamie Drysdale​

Jamie Drysdale has been having a fine year. In just 53 games thus far, he’s got five goals and 18 assists for 23 points. Last year he had seven goals and just 13 assists for 20 points. So he should surpass his goal total of last year while possibly ending up with career highs in goals and points. Perhaps even more impressive is how well the youngster has developed on the other side of the puck. Defensively Drysdale is just a -6 in the plus/minus scale. Compare this to -32 last year and (and -26 when he scored a career high of 32 points) and you get the sense the blueliner has turned a corner of sorts.

Drysdale managed to score goals this week against Washington and Ottawa, the latter a game-tying goal late with goaltender Dan Vladar pulled for the extra attacker. He appears to be taking that next step in his development. A few players might relish the time off to watch the Olympics and have some down time, but Drysdale isn’t one of them. He’s evolving into a top four defenseman and has a goal and four helpers on the power play, which isn’t bad considering just how terrible the special team has been. With a fresh set of legs under him and his game developing into one of consistency, the Flyers defenseman is probably chomping at the bit to get back on the ice for the remaining 26 games.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/3-flyers-who-probably-dont-want-an-olympic-break/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Takeaways: Phantoms fall behind early, drop matchup with Islanders 5-1

The Phantoms hit the road for a quick trip up to Bridgeport this evening, for the final game of the weekend and their final game before the break. They were looking to close this one out on a high note, and prevent the Islanders from gaining any more ground on them in the standings, but between a stilted offensive effort and a bit of shaky goaltending, they struggled to get themselves off the ground, and instead came away with another quite lopsided loss.

The basics​

First period: 6:09- Adam Beckman (Drew, Maggio), 12:50- Liam Foudy (Highmore, McWard), 16:11- Matthew Maggio (Beckman, Drew), 19:04- Lane Pederson (Richard, Tomasino)PPG
Second period: No scoring
Third period: 10:45- Liam Foudy (George), 19:55- Liam Foudy (Beckman, Thiesing)EN
SOG: 32 (BRI) – 20 (LHV)

Some takeaways​

Starting on time

The Phantoms were looking to close out this weekend (and the final bit of action before their brief All Star break) well, and bounce back from a tough loss to the Penguins last night. And there was all but certainly a particular hope to find a way to start this game better, after a poor start was one of the things that really sunk them last time out, but this pretty pointedly did not pan out for them.

The Phantoms came out with reasonably good energy, but their execution was simply not up to the level it needed to be at. For their own part, they were having trouble stringing together chains of passes, and hitting the net with the chances they were able to create, and their poise with the puck on the defensive side was lacking — the team was plagued by turnovers and bobbling of pucks at the worst times. And once again, all of this amounted to them falling behind early and putting themselves in a position where they have to be chasing the game, rather than dictating it themselves.

Kolosov struggling

After backing up last night at home, Aleksei Kolosov, back from his most recent stint up with the Flyers, was given the start tonight, tasked equally with stopping the bleeding for his team and also bouncing back from a difficult showing in his last time out. And this, too, was a struggle.

It was a three goal hole that the Phantoms found themselves in, and none of those goals were great looks for Kolosov. The first saw him make an aggressive play, coming out beyond the blue paint to make an initial stop on an incoming rush chance, but the rebound sent out to the left circle was picked up by a trailing player (who the Phantoms defender could not tie up), and Kolosov was too out of position to defend agains the second chance. His second and third goals against played out similarly — misplays with the puck behind the net set up scrambles in front, and Kolosov couldn’t seem to pick up where the puck was going in the midst of it all, and ended up getting beaten. All three of these plays were ones, in fairness, where the support in front of him certainly could have been better, but the work Kolosov was doing for his own part was not overly sharp, either.

There’s credit due here, too, for how Kolosov was largely able to settle in as the game went on. The Islanders did throw a lot at him in this one — 32 shots across the whole of the game — and he was able to keep things under control through the whole of the second period, but when the big moment came in the third period, when they really needed him to bail them out one more time to keep their game alive, he lost track of the puck carrier in a bit of traffic in front of him and let in the fourth goal against him of the night. And that, truly, was the game for the Phantoms.

The power play breaks through

This game was largely a bit of a struggle for the Phantoms to generate offense, but they did still manage to pull together some bright spots. Most notably, the Phantoms were once again able to break through on the power play tonight, as the play for a bit of cycling culminating in a quick pass over to Lane Pederson in the left circle for a snipe once again paid dividends for them. Pederson, too, picking up right where he left off before his recall, notched his 16th goal of the season tonight, and his third in as many games.

The Phantoms would have two more opportunities on the power play (including one late in the third which was turned into a two-man advantage with Kolosov pulled), and while they were able to create a few more good looks, they didn’t look quite as threatening as they did on that first attempt of the night, and ended up leaving some looks on the table with some bits of overpassing (but more on that later).

Tomasino buzzing

Another bright spot for the Phantoms on the offensive side of things was the pop that Phil Tomasino was able to bring. His production has been waking up nicely — his picked up a goal last night and assisted on Pederson’s goal tonight — and this has been driven nicely by quite a focused underlying process. Tomasino has been, in short, buzzing recently and tonight was no exception. He’s playing with some nice pace and bringing a high level of creativity to the chances he’s creating. Now, tonight didn’t see him looking the most efficient in his generation either — he had a few misses on shot attempts from prime scoring areas — and while he really does need to start burying those soon, the fact that he’s at least getting the opportunities feels like a sign of good things to come.

On the defensive side, too, he stepped up with a big play late in the game — of course, the Islanders did still ultimately come away with the empty netter before long, and Foudy still completed his hat trick, but the point stands and it was a nice effort for Tomasino, all the same.

Frustration creeping in

This game was, in a lot of ways, a tough one. We’ve alluded to it a couple of times by now, but the Phantoms did some good things to get themselves into the right areas to score from, but they just weren’t able to capitalize on that work. Whether it was a bit too much passing, not quite enough urgency on the setups, or a shot sailing wide of the net, the execution just simply was not there for them tonight. And in all of this, it’s impossible to avoid the feeling that in these struggles, some frustration was beginning to rear its head in their games.

It’s understandable, in a way, as this stretch more broadly has been a really challenging one, but it’s reinforced that perhaps the break is coming at just the right time for the Phantoms. Some reinforcements might well be on the way on the other side of it, but even more critically, the hope here is that a chance for a reset will serve them well. They’re pressing a bit, and that’s getting in the way of even the things that they are continuing to do right. It’s a bit of a tough spiral, but perhaps a bit of time off to regroup will give them the chance to snap out of it.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/p...behind-early-drop-matchup-with-islanders-5-1/