The Philadelphia Flyers entered Tuesday night in desperate need of a spark. Losers of two straight and a middling 3-4-1 in March, the team’s grip on a playoff spot has become rather tenuous. By points percentage, the Washington Capitals even jumped them for the third spot in the Metropolitan Division, relegating the Flyers to a wild card position.
A Flyers team with new line combinations that excluded a familiar face delivered the type of energized performance the team desperately needed. Philadelphia gained the lead less than 60 seconds in and, despite a shaky third period, never relinquished it. The Flyers won for the first time in the third game of their ongoing seven-game gauntlet against playoff teams, taking down the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3.
Early Period Goals Fuel the Flyers
The home crowd hadn’t even fully settled into their seats at the Wells Fargo Center before the goal horn blasted for the first time. The Flyers took full advantage of their first zone entry of the night, cycling the puck until it came to Owen Tippett near the top of the left circle. Tippett showed off his deadly wrist shot by threading the puck through traffic largely created by Ilya Samsonov’s teammates that beat the Russian goaltender. The goal came just 19 seconds into the match, tying a goal by Pat Maroon on Nov. 7, 2023, for the fastest opening goal of a game this season.
The Flyers didn’t slack around to start the second period, either. Ryan Poehling pounced on a mishandle by TJ Brodie in his zone, eventually forcing the puck free to Garnet Hathaway. He threaded a cross-ice feed to Travis Sanehim at the edge of the right circle, 10 feet away from the nearest defender. Sanheim wisely took his time, picking his spot far side as Poehling and Brodie jockeyed for positioning in tight.
Eventually, Philadelphia decided to extend their goal-scoring beyond the opening minutes of periods. Good work along the wall by Ronnie Attard allowed the Flyers to maintain possession in the offensive zone, with Morgan Frost opening up near the blue line. The Ontario native drifted toward the middle before unleashing a seeing-eye wrister that eluded Samsonov, who may have been screened by teammates once again.
Busy Night for the Goal Posts
By the numbers, the Flyers’ play through the first half of the game was indicative of the score. Philadelphia held a 55.89% expected goals share in the opening 20 minutes and continued to control play early in the second. However, several near misses on both sides could have changed the complexion of the game. Each side struck iron multiple times in the opening frame. The Flyers hit the post on a pair of deflections, then Cam York rang a backhander off the frame after making a silky deke toward the front of the net.
Close calls were again a theme in the second stanza. Toronto caught iron twice more, the first on a tricky wrist shot by John Tavares and the second off a nasty deke by William Nylander, who had Samuel Ersson beat but couldn’t control his body while being checked as he tried to complete the move.
Nylander was dynamic all night for Toronto, generating several scoring chances and eventually getting the Maple Leafs on the board with a power-play marker early in the third. However, the Flyers were fortunate it took so long for Toronto to break through. Ersson had to make several high-quality saves in the second period, including a breakaway stop on a short-handed bid by Bobby McMann. A backdoor pass from Auston Matthews on essentially a 2-on-0 for Max Domi failed to result in a goal as well, as York got back in time to block it. Matthews eventually got the theme of the night, though, ringing a short-handed 2-on-1 shot off the crossbar just before the halfway mark of the third.
New Lines Deliver Better Defensive Performance
After allowing six or more goals Saturday (March 16) in Boston for the third time in four games, John Tortorella didn’t just shake things up — he made arguably the most seismic decision of his two seasons behind the bench in Philadelphia. Sean Couturier, who was named the team’s captain two months ago before a game against Toronto was healthy scratched against them on Tuesday. Couturier has certainly had his struggles in 2024 — his assist on Saturday was his first point in seven games and his third stretch of at least four games without a point in the calendar year.
“It’s tough,” Couturier said. “I feel I’ve been putting the work in for a while, I know I’ve been struggling, trying to work on my game. Definitely frustrated with the way I’ve been treated around, I guess, lately. It is what it is.”
Couturier coming out of the lineup was the biggest change Tortorella made, but hardly the only one. Rookies Olle Lycksell and Adam Ginning were recalled from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Monday (March 18). Lycksell was skating in just his 10th NHL game of the season and first since March 4, when he played just 6:58. Ginning had only played two games in the NHL before Tuesday — the final game of the 2022-23 season and Feb. 29 of this year, the day after the Flyers traded Sean Walker and lost Nick Seeler to injury.
Cam Atkinson and Marc Staal also came out of the lineup, with Staal sitting for the first time since Feb. 10 after being a fairly frequent healthy scratch over the previous months. Another rookie, Bobby Brink, also got the chance to play. Tortorella also separated the very effective third line of Noah Cates, Ryan Poehling and Garnet Hathaway, moving Cates back to center for the first time since November.
After permitting 4.12 and 3.03 expected goals per 60 at 5-on-5 the prior two games, the Flyers held the talented Maple Leafs to a much lower 2.11. That number was still higher than Philadelphia’s previous three contests, including the 7-0 thrashing at the hands of the Lightning, so it wasn’t a perfect performance — especially in the third period. Tyler Bertuzzi buried a point-blank chance with just under half of the period to play and Scott Laughton took a necessary penalty to prevent Tavares from scoring into an empty net moments later, putting the outcome in serious jeopardy.
Thankfully for the Flyers, the Maple Leafs struggled to move the puck on the power-play, highlighted by an errant pass as Laughton exited the box, which led to him scoring in a chaotic sequence at the other end. Tavares cut the lead back to one with 2:10 remaining, but the tying goal never came.
Big Picture: Updates on East Playoff Race
The Flyers got some help in the playoff picture on Tuesday, although not as much as they could have. The best news came from Long Island, where the New York Islanders lost their fifth straight, falling into an early 3-0 hole against the Carolina Hurricanes en route to a 4-1 defeat. Both the Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils are fading fast, although it was ideal that their head-to-head matchup didn’t go to overtime, with New Jersey prevailing 5-2.
The Columbus Blue Jackets were 13 seconds away from making it a perfect night with what would have been a stunning road win over the Detroit Red Wings. But Lucas Raymond’s late equalizer and Patrick Kane’s overtime winner ensured the Red Wings got their two points, although they continue to look shaky.
Related: Wayne Simmonds Signs 1-Day Contract to Retire with the Flyers
With the latest batch of results, the Flyers are back to holding the third spot in the Metropolitan Division with 78 points in 69 games (.564 points percentage). Looking at their divisional rivals, they sit three points ahead of the Capitals, who have played two fewer games, and five above the Islanders, who have one game in hand. They lead the Red Wings by two points and are tied with the Lightning. Detroit has also played 69 games, while the Lightning have played just 67. The Buffalo Sabres (.514 points percentage), Devils (.507) and Penguins (.507) remain on the outskirts of the bubble.
Advanced Stats via Natural Stat Trick
