For the first time since last April, the Philadelphia Flyers returned to the Wells Fargo Center ice. While their third of seven preseason contests did not carry nearly the same weight as the playoff implications from the spring, it was an opportunity for some of the team’s top players to play against another organization for the first time in months and for new faces to make their proper debuts in Orange and Black.
The Flyers won the game by a 2-0 final, taking the lead on a third-period goal by Erik Johnson, the lone Flyer to score in the team’s 2023-24 regular-season finale. Top prospect Matvei Michkov, who notched a secondary assist on the goal, potted the empty-netter for his first goal in the Flyers home rink. Here’s what stood out in Philadelphia on Thursday night.
Top Line, Ersson Leads the Charge
A team’s best players don’t always pop in preseason. These games are more of a tune-up for them, and they can naturally take a back seat to prospects or depth players fighting tooth and nail for an NHL role.
But that wasn’t the case for the Flyers. The Owen Tippett-Morgan Frost-Matvei Michkov line got its second look of the preseason. Though they didn’t show up much on the scoresheet before the New York Islanders pulled their goaltender, the trio continues to build chemistry together. Michkov in particular was stellar as a playmaker, making several crafty entry passes to spring his linemates into the offensive zone with speed. While his assist was secondary, it was pretty impressive, setting up Travis Sanheim right in the slot, with Johnson burying the rebound off the boards. He probably should have drawn a tripping penalty in the third period, although no call was made.
Michkov the sniper had a bit rougher performance. He had two particularly great looks, both on one-timers set up by each of his linemates, but he couldn’t beat Marcus Högberg on the first and missed the net on the second. He also doinked an empty-net bid from the red line off the post before converting a second chance seconds later and showing his emotion to the crowd.
It wasn’t just the Michkov show, even if No. 39 drew the largest ovations from the sparsely populated crowd. Tippett and Frost had a nice give-and-go sequence in the first period and one of Tippett’s best shifts came on a mish-mash line with Rodrigo Abols and Garnet Hathaway. Tippett’s five shots led the team, which is hardly surprising for the 24-year-old sharpshooter.
However, Johnson’s goal was all the support Samuel Ersson needed between the pipes. The Swedish netminder stopped all 34 shots the Islanders fired his way, including an onslaught early in the second period and several tricky scramble situations at point-blank range. All in all, he finished with a 37-save shutout.
Ersson’s struggles at the end of last season were likely just due to the heavy workload he shouldered, but it was nice to get a little more confirmation that his first-half form wasn’t a mirage.
Luchanko Solid But Not Spectacular
By the numbers, one might think 2024 No. 13 pick Jett Luchanko increased his odds of making the Flyers out of camp as an 18-year-old, at least for the nine-game trial granted to Canadian Hockey League prospects without burning a year of their entry-level contract. His 59.13% expected goals percentage was fourth best among Flyers forwards. He earned a regular role on the penalty kill, which performed well all night and was a respectable 46.2% in the face-off dot, an area young centers often struggle in.
However, Luchanko didn’t do much to stand out. Other than a couple of blocked shots, he was absent from the stat sheet, and he only attempted one shot (although it was a high-danger chance). By The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn’s game score metric, his overall performance was more in the middle of the pack, and acting head coach Rocky Thompson didn’t come away wowed, either.
For Luchanko to make the Flyers on his first attempt, he must bang the door down. Just being in the conversation for a roster spot makes this a successful camp for Luchanko, but returning to his junior team (the Ontario Hockey League’s Guelph Storm) looks more likely after last night.
Depth Players Fail to Pull Away
Luchanko was the main player on the roster bubble to watch last night, but a few others had an opportunity to impress. Up front, Abols had a couple of scoring chances and was also part of the aforementioned stout penalty kill. Oscar Eklind struggled with turnovers on a few occasions, though. He also couldn’t handle a potential breakaway feed from Sanheim late in the first and played a game-low 11:04 at 5-on-5.
Emil Andrae and Adam Ginning both had some good and bad moments throughout the game. Ginning stood out early before making some sloppy mistakes, including a rough failed clear on the penalty kill that could have easily resulted in a goal. Thompson said he liked Andrae’s game, as well as Helge Grans’. The 22-year-old isn’t likely to break camp with the Flyers — he’s waiver-exempt and still looking to find his stride as a prospect. But it’s only a good thing if he enters the American Hockey League season with positive momentum and he may have earned another preseason game with his efforts.
Up Next
The Flyers return to the Wells Fargo Center 48 hours after the start of Thursday’s game for their second home preseason game, this one against the Boston Bruins. They’ll also play the Islanders once more in the exhibition season, heading up to UBS Arena on Monday.
Related: Flyers Who Could Win Team’s Final 2024-25 Roster Spot
On Wednesday, the Flyers cut 14 players from their training camp, returning five prospects to their junior teams and assigning nine others to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. That brings their roster down to 44. Realistically, there are only about 30 players with strong hopes of making the team, so another roster reduction may come in the next few days.
All advanced statistics via Natural Stat Trick unless otherwise stated.
