With the Sixers on a win streak and the Eagles prepping for the Super Bowl next week (on a 15-1 heater since early October), there hasn't been a lot for Philly sports fans to boo for recently.
The Flyers have that covered. Looking listless, uninspired and a little lost at times, the orange and black faltered, 3-0, to the Islanders Thursday night in South Philly, falling further back in the hustle for an unexpected playoff spot. It was their third game in five tiring nights.
Here's a look at the good, the bad and the ugly from the Flyers' most recent result:
The good
• Frankly, it was not an encouraging effort from the Flyers on the day following a brutal 5-0 loss in New Jersey. There wasn't a whole lot of good to speak of in the Wells Fargo Center — save for a smattering of E-A-G-L-E-S chants throughout the game. At least there's one team performing well in the city right now.
• It was a long road to absolution, but a pretty ugly turnover on offense — that led to a Bo Horvat breakaway — was somehow kept off the scoreboard as Tyson Foerster went barreling into both Horvat and Flyers' goaltender Ivan Fedotov early in the second period. He took a tripping call and the Flyers went on to kill the penalty. We'll call it a full team bail out effort.
The PK also had no trouble nullifying Bobby Brink's late second period high sticking call, keeping it a 1-goal game for most of the second frame.
• It's entirely possible the Flyers made a trade literally between the second and third periods of this game:
Sources say #Flyers and #Flames are working on a trade involving forward Andrei Kuzmenko.
Deal has not yet been agreed upon, but progressed to point where Kuzmenko has been held out of Calgary lineup.— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) January 31, 2025
Morgan Frost was not on the bench to start the third — we'll see if he was part of the deal when the dust settles.
The bad
• The Flyers' power play continues to frustrate, as it came up empty-handed in four-minute opportunity late in the first period — thanks to Travis Konency sacrificing his face to a stick to draw the penalty. Though there was a close call on a Matvei Michkov no-goal that was called off due to Morgan Frost interference at the net, a lack of urgency seemed to accompany the unit on the double minor.
- MORE FLYERS
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- New Wells Fargo Center shop lets Flyers fans build their own Gritty plush
- Noah Cates is stepping up for the Flyers with the 'door open' at center
Seemingly mired in a lackluster half-ice offense, the Flyers on the season haven't been much better, mustering the fifth worst power play scoring rate in the entire NHL, at a hair below 16%.
• New York was able to get on the board more than a half hour into the game. Simon Holmstrom found a way to net his 13th goal seemingly out of nowhere from the middle of the ice. The 1-0 lead seemed insurmountable after so much offenseless hockey.
The Islanders' second goal was a lot more predictable, as the Flyers squandered possession, tried to make a change as Kyle Maclean streaked down ice, finding Marc Gatcomb — scoring his first ever NHL goal.
You're not gonna believe this, but someone scored their first NHL goal against the Flyers. pic.twitter.com/G4MYp5qAJx
— Flyers Nation (@FlyersNation) January 31, 2025
A third goal midway through the third made Fedotov's day even worse. The goalie made a few solid saves but the defense didn't do anything to make his life easier in the loss — his seventh of the year.
• Philadelphia is rebuilding, and they have the third youngest roster in the sport right now (26.7 years old on average). It's worth being reminded of this for several reasons. Yes, the sparks of success — like four straight home wins before their loss to the Isles Thursday — are hopeful, and the Flyers are still only a few points out of the last playoff spot in the east.
But it felt like nearly a dozen times against New York, fans were left wondering why a Flyers' player didn't see the puck, wasn't in the right place at the right time, why they were unable to handle a good pass, or couldn't get good stick on a puck in a scoring opportunity. The youth shows. And the only real remedy is experience and growth, which is the path the front office has planned for the team over the next couple seasons.
• The Flyers cannot figure out how to score on Ilya Sorokin.
Sorokin in goal for Isles. Career numbers vs. Flyers: 10-3-2, 1.64 goals-against average.
— wayne fish (@waynefish1) January 31, 2025
• There are only two NHL teams who've allowed more goals this season than the Flyers, and Philly didn't do much to help their putrid goal differential, down to minus-26, after this one. Through their first 52 games, 175 shots have found the net (3.37 GAA). They're actually dead last in save percentage too — .874, pretty far behind the second worst Avalanche.
The ugly
• Okay maybe Scott Laughton's beatdown of Maxim Tsyplakov wasn't the prettiest, but a flight at a Flyers game seems like a perfect "ugly" for our purposes. The first period fist fight didn't last long, and came after a physical five minutes of ramp up between two teams that know one another pretty well.
Scott Laughton comes out swinging at Maxim Tsyplakov right off the draw 🥊 pic.twitter.com/dNRUXJSnK1
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) January 31, 2025
The fight was the 12th of the season for Philadelphia, via hockeyfights.com — well behind the NHL's more incendiary teams like the Predators (24 fights) Bruins or Flames (19 fights each). But the altercation did little to spark offense from either team. Skirmishes broke out all game long.
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