The regular season concluded for the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night with a whimper, not a bang, and that was totally fine. The Flyers had their breakthrough moment the night before, clinching their first playoff spot in six years in exhilarating fashion. They knew before they’d be playing the Pittsburgh Penguins before the puck dropped against the Montréal Canadiens at Xfinity Mobile Arena, where they will return next week after playing the first two games of their series on the road.
Only Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim and Sean Couturier have ever played playoff hockey in Philadelphia. If Rick Tocchet sticks with his Game 81 lineup to open the first round, 10 players would make their Stanley Cup Playoff debut (not including backup goaltender Sam Ersson).
While Tuesday’s game wasn’t completely meaningless, offering players on the bubble a chance to boost their chances of a playoff debut at some point and others a chance to earn some precious NHL action (including the NHL debuts of Oliver Bonk and Hunter McDonald, who combined for three points), everyone in Philadelphia is naturally looking ahead. Here are three things to pay attention to when Flyers playoff hockey returns.
The Kids
The spark that Porter Martone brought to Philadelphia when he arrived in the NHL on March 31 has been undeniable. The Flyers might not still be playing if Michigan State had won one more game to reach the Frozen Four; otherwise, Martone would have played a maximum of three NHL games instead of the nine he got into.
That would’ve made his point-per-game status a bit less impressive, which Martone secured Tuesday with a deflection of a Matvei Michkov wrist shot for a 6-on-5 goal. He added one more for good measure by winning a net-front battle to set up Alex Bump for an insurance goal. Martone has given the Flyers a net-front presence they’ve lacked since prime Wayne Simmonds, with both his points Tuesday coming within a few feet of the crease.
Michkov’s resurgence over the last month is also a crucial reason for the Flyers’ late-season surge. He also closed the season on an extended point-per-game run, with 18 points in 16 games since March 18. That was the first game of the team’s California road trip that Owen Tippett identified as a turning point for their season after Monday’s victory over the Carolina Hurricanes, and that it coincided with Michkov’s best stretch of play isn’t a coincidence.
It won’t be all about offense, though. The Penguins had eight players record at least 40 points this season, tied for third-most in the NHL, so the Flyers will need to step up defensively. Tyson Foerster is also a quality two-way player, and the Flyers will need them to lead the defensive charge from up front. It’s been a huge boost getting him back for the team, as he gives the Flyers options to mix and match their wingers throughout (and even beyond) the top nine and can be trusted in any matchup.
Related: Flyers’ Youth is Facilitating a Playoff Push
The same goes for Jamie Drysdale on the back end after the 24-year-old won the Pelle Lindbergh Memorial Trophy as the most improved Flyer, as voted by his teammates, in his second full season with the Flyers. Drysdale matched his career-high of 32 points this season while improving his all-around game. A playoff series against Sidney Crosby and company will test how far he’s come.
Denver Barkey and Alex Bump will likely both factor into the series at some point, with Barkey likely having the upper hand first after his stellar feed to Michkov got the Flyers on the board on Monday. Barkey hasn’t been intimidated at all this season by NHL physicality despite his diminutive stature. The playoffs will certainly be a step up for him and Emil Andrae. The latter’s play will be especially notable as he looks to prove the Flyers don’t need to worry about having a blue line that’s too small with him, Drysdale and Cam York.
Dan Vladař
It’s hard to imagine a better first season in Philadelphia than Dan Vladař. The 28-year-old seized his first chance to be an NHL starter, delivering the best numbers of his NHL career despite exceeding his previous career-high in games played by 22. His 13.9 goals saved above expected (per Moneypuck.com) are 11th in the NHL, and his play is one of the more compelling reasons to believe the Flyers will be a tough out.
An underwhelming playoff performance wouldn’t diminish the work Vladař did in the regular season. But if he continues to shine under the bright lights, it could convince Daniel Brière to prioritize a contract extension for Vladař, who is signed through next season.
Goaltending is a notoriously fickle position to predict, and there’s absolutely risk to committing long-term to someone with a limited track record as a starting netminder. A strong playoff run wouldn’t completely erase those fears, but it would add more evidence that Vladař’s breakout season is for real.
The Returners
Both the Penguins and Flyers have exactly three players remaining from their last playoff meeting in 2018, which is also the last Stanley Cup Playoff series played in Philadelphia. All six players wear letters for their teams. While Philadelphia’s group of Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim is inferior to Penguins icons Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, that trio will all be counted on by Tocchet.
Konecny, in particular, has a lot to prove in this run. He scored in his second career playoff game against the Penguins in 2018 and, including the 2020 round-robin games, he’s gone 20 playoff games without a goal since. In both of those runs, Konecny wasn’t the leading figure he is now, still a young player in the shadow of veterans like Claude Giroux and Jakub Voráček. Now, he’s counted on to be a driving figure.
The same goes for Sanheim, who got a much-earned rest Tuesday (as did Konecny, Couturier and more). Sanheim is 16th in the NHL in time on ice per game this season, but ninth highest after the Olympics, during which he played in each of Canada’s final five games. This will be his first playoff run since emerging as a true top-pair defenseman over the last few seasons, and the Flyers will certainly need him to lock things down and move the puck well.
Couturier, of course, doesn’t have the same responsibility as the other two. But he’ll still play an important role and look to build off his strong finish to the season, which included a three-game goal streak from March 24-28 and a three-point game on Saturday.
This will be his first playoff series as captain, and it’s worth remembering what Couturier did in his last playoff game in front of a home crowd – a hat trick and two assists, all while playing on a torn MCL. The Flyers won’t be counting on him for anywhere near that level of offensive production. But if he can provide a similar effort, even in a fourth-line and penalty killing role, the Flyers will take it.
East Playoff Picture Set
With Montréal’s loss and the Boston Bruins’ victory, all four matchups in the Eastern Conference are locked in. It will be the Buffalo Sabres and the Bruins, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Canadiens, the Hurricanes and the Ottawa Senators, and, of course, the Penguins and the Flyers. The team listed first has home ice in each series.
There’s definitely some new blood in the water this spring. The Sabres are snapping a playoff drought that makes the Flyers’ look like a blink of an eye in comparison. Only the Bruins, Lightning and Hurricanes have been playoff regulars in recent seasons. Even Boston is coming off a playoff miss and will be without Brad Marchand this time of year for the first time since 2010.
Ottawa is seen as one of the more dangerous underdogs in the playoffs. With Carolina’s goaltending in a weird spot with Pyotr Kochektov potentially returning for the first time since December, it’s not a shoo-in that the Canes reach the second round for the eighth straight season. That would probably benefit the Flyers if they advance. But right now, it’s just time to enjoy the ride.
