In a huge contest to expand their playoff odds, the Philadelphia Flyers fell flat at home against a Chicago Blackhawks club that had a 6-29-1 record on the road this season. Losing 5-1, the Flyers didn’t play like they were in the midst of a postseason chase. They fell to the last playoff seed in the Eastern Conference after holding third place in the Metropolitan Division and not giving it up since late January. What were some takeaways from this one?
Flyers Can’t Hand Over Goals
Even though the Flyers lost pretty decisively on the scoreboard, it didn’t have to be that way. They shot themselves in the foot a bit in this one. For starters, the opening goal was a bad one. A wraparound tally from Lukas Reichel of the Blackhawks put his team up early, and it was one he got two cracks at as he was stopped the first time. Netminder Sam Ersson was left to deal with those chances alone, and he wasn’t able to stop them both.
But the second goal was especially frustrating and definitely didn’t have to happen. Something that led to a turnover earlier in the game was when Joel Farabee entered the Chicago zone, curled back slightly, and lost the puck. It didn’t cost the team a goal, but it was noticeable. The Flyers didn’t really learn their lesson from that, though.
Ryan Poehling, trying to salvage a play after thinking he’d lose a race to defenseman Seth Jones to the crease after entering the offensive zone, skated backward and lost the puck. If he were to have driven the net and lost the puck, there probably wouldn’t have been a huge chance for the Blackhawks to go the other way. Since he hung onto the puck, two Flyers were caught behind the play, and a 3-on-2 rush resulted. With open ice in a good shooting area, Philipp Kurashev sniped one past Ersson to double his team’s lead.
It’s difficult to determine what exactly resulted in that play occurring the way it did. If it was drawn up, it was poorly thought out schematically. Instead of the Blackhawks sticking with their man, they did the smart thing and had Jones peel off Poehling and have a forward attack on him. At best, he would have gotten the puck to the point to Cam York, but Chicago’s positioning was pretty good with no high-danger passing lanes being present — it was a low-reward, high-risk maneuver.
This second goal pretty much took the Flyers out of the game. With just three minutes remaining in the first period, a goal like that is a crusher for a Philadelphia team whose biggest weakness is scoring. Tallies cannot just be handed to any opponent for no reason—even a team with as poor of a record as the Blackhawks will take advantage.
Foerster is Shining Bright; His Future Could Be Brighter
After starting off the season pretty slow compared to some of the high expectations many had for rookie forward Tyson Foerster after scoring seven points in eight games in 2022-23, the 22-year-old has finally found his offensive game. From the start of the season through Jan. 25, a 48-game sample size, he had just six goals and 11 assists for 17 points.
Head coach John Tortorella had Foerster more involved in the forechecking and defensive game than anything shooting-wise, which drove down his numbers. For a player whose shot is undoubtedly his biggest asset, having a 10-goal pace over a full season isn’t the best. However, he has completely turned things around. In his 22 contests since then, he has 14 goals (including the Flyers’ lone tally here) and two assists for 16 points — a quietly elite 52-goal pace.
Foerster is definitely not a true 50-goal player, but this split shows just how much he has evolved. With his 20th goal of the season here, he joined some pretty good company in age-22 seasons in team history. Since the 1999-00 season, he became just the fourth player to reach 20 goals in their age-22 campaign, joining Mike Richards (28 in 73 games), Brayden Schenn (20 in 82 games), and Travis Konecny (24 in 66 games).
All of the following players were first-line forwards at some point in their careers, each being a good top-six forward during their prime. If that’s what Foerster projects to be, that’s already a steal at the 23rd-overall selection in the 2020 NHL draft.
Related: Flyers’ Tyson Foerster Deserves Calder Trophy Consideration
Based on Foerster’s progression throughout this season and what he’s working with, he could become a staple to the Flyers’ future first line. He is a player who relies on open space to score goals, and he often takes advantage when he gets it. The problem? The Flyers aren’t a good team at creating this kind of room. Teams like the New York Rangers, Edmonton Oilers, and Colorado Avalanche are, and that’s because they have skill throughout their lineups and have elite passers.
Philadelphia lacks the high-end talent that those teams have, and that is an elite passer. Prospect Matvei Michkov could be the solution to that, as he has a generational offensive mind with a rather overlooked passing game. His talent as both a shooter and a passer could create lanes for Foerster to take advantage of in the future. If the two end up being linemates, which could definitely end up being the case, they might be a match made in heaven.
That bodes well for both of their futures, especially if Foerster can take his game to the next level in the coming seasons before Michkov arrives in North America. If the 19-year-old finishes his contract in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), he and the 22-year-old could be familiar with one another as soon as the 2026-27 season.
On Apr. 1, the Flyers will take on the New York Islanders as they try to get back in the win column for the first time since Mar. 23. On a four-game losing streak, Philadelphia has to win their next contest. They have seven games left and a two-point lead on a wildcard spot over the Detroit Red Wings. As for the Islanders, a regulation win for them would allow them to potentially overtake the Flyers if they win their games in hand. All games are important, but that will be a big one.
