The Flyers were ready when the two-week break ended, spanking the high-flying Oilers 6-3 as Owen Tippett, Sean Couturier and Matvei Michkov dazzled Saturday afternoon before the Flyers faithful.
The basics
First period: 2:07 – Matvei Michkov (Scott Laughton, Egor Zamula), 7:06 – John Klingberg (Ty Emberson, Connor Brown), 9:31 – Leon Draisatl (Matthew Savoie, John Klingberg)
Second period: 1:45 – Owen Tippett (Unassisted), 7:13 – Sean Couturier (Matvei Michkov), 8:33 – Matias Ekholm (Leon Draisatl), 12:26 – Owen Tippett (Matvei Michkov, Sean Couturier), 15:37 – Andrei Kuzmenko (Travis Konecny, Rasmus Ristolainen) (PPG)
Third period: 17:01 – Rasmus Ristolainen (Sean Couturier) (ENG)
SOG: 32 (PHI) – 18 (EDM)
Some takeaways
TCM = Where Then Meets Now
The line of Owen Tippett, Sean Couturier and Matvei Michkov had themselves one dazzling 40-minute stretch, earning eight points and controlling play, leaving the Flyers with a surprising but well-deserved 5-3 lead heading into the third. Couturier was defensively responsible, Tippett had the speed to head both ways hard and Michkov was bolting up ice on nearly every chance he got. The three were all over 70 per cent in chances for at five-on-five,as Michkov and Tippett were both up 15-5 while Couturier was 14-5 to the good.
Ersson makes the stops
Sam Ersson looked great against Team USA in the Four Nations Face-Off. Unfortunately he didn’t look so good on the Oilers’ first goal. Minutes after the Flyers took a quick lead, Ersson let a shot from the point become a juicy rebound for phenom, er, John Klingberg. The recent Oilers addition had most of the net to bury it and he made no mistake.
Moments later, the Oilers looked like they momentarily took control as Philadelphia made a huge mental gaffe. In what should’ve been a simple defensive coverage, Rasmus Ristolainen, Egor Zamula and Ryan Poehling all found themselves behind the goal line. Oilers rookie Matt Savoie got his first NHL point, passing puck to a wide open Draisatl (Poehling’s guy) who beat Ersson clean. Klingberg earned a secondary assist for his second point of the afternoon.
First NHL point for former Sabre Matthew Savoie.
Pass from Savoie to a waiting Draisatl in front
pic.twitter.com/AVwZ5JcCDC
— 2 Goalies 1 Mic (@2Goalies1Mic)
February 22, 2025
The Flyers looked crappy on the third Oilers goal also as Leon Draisatl beat Zamula to feed a dangerous pass to Mattias Ekholm who beat Ersson. And much like the second Oilers goal, the Flyers looked in a fog the following shift, standing around watching instead of being proactive and trying to do something. Finally, after a near 100-second shift by all five Flyers, they made a much-needed clear to get some guys off but not all.
Tippett torpedo
Owen Tippett dashed down the ice in the dying seconds of the first but it amounted to nothing. In the opening minutes of period two, Tippett simply turned on the jets and beat both the Oilers defender and Stuart Skinner, roofing it high over him for a nifty game-tying tally. The Flyers winger was clocked at 36 clicks (kilometers per hour, about 22 miles per hour) coming down ice.
Welcome back to the lineup Owen Tippett! Tippett blows by Brett Kulak and roofs a backhand shot over Stuart Skinner tying the game 2-2.
Goal: Tippett (15)
pic.twitter.com/WzIY2ZMLGd
— Andrew Coté (@acote_88)
February 22, 2025
Michkov starts quick
Matvei Michkov wasted no time getting back on track after the two-week layoff. The forward followed up a bounce off the backboards and buried the shot high over Skinner to get the Flyers off on the right foot.
MATVEI MICHKOV IS BACK!!!
1-0
#FLYERS!!!
pic.twitter.com/mGjm7As50V
— Flyers Nation (@FlyersNation)
February 22, 2025
The lead was a good reward for a strong Flyers start, getting most of the chances, shots and offensive zone time the first six minutes of the game. They also didn’t give Connor McDavid much as Travis Sanheim delivered a clean but hard check along the boards to cut off the superstar’s chance.
In the second period, on an Edmonton icing, the Flyers won the faceoff and Michkov delivered a gorgeous no-look pass to Sean Couturier who scored for his 200th career goal. Could not have come at a better time both for the team and Couturier, who, with the two-week break, might have a little more gas down the stretch for a possible playoff push.
Philadelphia goal!
Scored by Sean Couturier with 12:47 remaining in the 2nd period.
Assisted by Matvei Michkov.
Philadelphia: 3
Edmonton: 2
#EDMvsPHI #LetsGoFlyers #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/nfoCSxjFOx
— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot)
February 22, 2025
The newbies showed up
The new additions from Calgary — Jakob Pelletier and Andrei Kuzmenko — didn’t do a whole lot of anything to start, often reduced to cycling in their own end trying to simply clear the puck. Kuzmenko was down 2-7 in chances for five-on-five while Pelletier was 1-5 over the opening 20. The team seemed to wilt, but not completely implode, following the opening Oilers goal.
Kuzmenko had a decent chance on the Flyers power play (again on a pass from Michkov) initially. Then he hit paydirt, deflecting the puck on a pass from Travis Konecny to give the Flyers a 5-3 lead.
ANDREI KUZMENKO!!!! FIRST GOAL AS A FLYER!!! DOING WHAT HE DOES BEST. PERFECT DEFLECTION. 5-3!!!
#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/QsgQtFj1K0
— Flyers Clips (@Flyers_Clips)
February 22, 2025
True lunacy given the Flyers posted four in the middle frame while it has been the team’s worst period in goal differential. The Oilers meanwhile had the league’s best goal differential in the second. Midway through the third, Scott Laughton fed Kuzmenko an almost gimme but Skinner held the fort.
Oh, more Michkov
With both teams looking rusty in most defensive zone coverage, there were a few costly turnovers by Edmonton in the second that bit them badly. With the score 3-3, Sean Couturier had a great takeaway in the neutral zone. The result was Michkov heading up ice with Tippett.
The Tippett-Couturier-Michkov line has all four goals today for the Flyers. This time it’s Owen Tippett getting his second, 4-3 Flyers.
Goal: Tippett (16) Assists: Michkov (22) Couturier (18)
pic.twitter.com/Ysb9Zenndw
— Andrew Coté (@acote_88)
February 22, 2025
Michkov again with a great pass for the Tippett one-time. Boom. Philadelphia, on what was Michkov’s third point of the night (including two primary assists), had a 4-3 lead. He also had a breakaway late in the second that could’ve been his fourth point, but Skinner made the stop.
Limiting special teams
The Flyers did a good job staying out of the penalty box. Only a minor to Noah Cates with six minutes to go had them down a man. Keeping them to the outside, Philadelphia had a two-man breakaway with Laughton and Travis Konecny but, again, Skinner kept the Oilers with a puncher’s chance. The Flyers gave the Oilers next to nothing in the third, blocking shots and limiting Edmonton to just three shots in the third period.
RASMUScle
Rasmus Ristolainen showed some pop both up ice and knocking a few Oilers over. His best shift came in the third when he went up ice a la Tippett, crashing to the net. He didn’t score but went up ice and bowled over an opponent. Later, with the Oilers’ net empty as they tried to score two to tie, Ristolainen drove a shot down the ice into the empty net, putting a nice exclamation point on what was a rather surprising, perky Flyers effort after the long break.
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