The Philadelphia Flyers (8-8-2) are the hottest team in the NHL Metropolitan Division.
They are taking advantage of their schedule. Nine of the first ten games this season consisted of teams ranking in the top half of the NHL. The only outlier was the Montreal Canadiens. In that stretch, the Flyers began 3-6-1. Philadelphia is 5-2-1 in their last eight games, and three opponents rank in the top half of the NHL.
John Tortorella would be among the first to mention that ‘there are no easy games’ in the NHL. The Flyers are taking their season a game at a time, focused on getting better. In large, Philadelphia is winning the games they should to correct the start of the season.
“We’re playing better. The biggest thing is that we’re playing in fives. The two biggest things we worked on when we were all disjointed was playing in fives and making sure we see a third guy high all the time, because that allowed us to play on our toes; that allowed us to check forward. That’s been a lot more consistent in our game, but look how we played against Ottawa [Senators]. It comes and goes. I was asked a question, I think it was out in Ottawa, about why teams aren’t consistent. It’s concentration level, and that’s something that the athletes and coaching staff have to keep reminding ourselves that we have to try to get better each and every day because it goes quickly, comes back, [and] goes quickly. The teams that get there in the end, and the teams that become just who they are, who they want to be, are the ones that do it consistently. I don’t think we’ve crossed that bridge yet. We’re eighteen games into it and we’ve been up and down. We’ve steadied ourselves, but there’s still a little ways to go.” – John Tortorella; 11/16/2024
When the Flyers hosted the Buffalo Sabres, each team missed skaters from their lineup. However, Philadelphia started hot and never looked back, putting them in a place to test the threshold of the NHL and the Metropolitan Division.
Earlier, the New York Islanders lost to the Seattle Kraken. The Flyers jumped the Islanders and trail the New York Rangers by three points in the NHL Metropolitan Division. Suddenly, Philadelphia is in the second wildcard spot. More than the NHL Metropolitan Division, Tortorella is coaching the hottest team in the NHL Eastern Conference.
First Period
Shots on Goal: 10-8, Flyers
Score: 2-0, Flyers
Ivan Fedotov went head-to-head with Devon Levi on ‘Star Wars Night’ at the Wells Fargo Center.
“Still a small sample size. He’s [Fedotov] played really well [in] three games. He’s going to have to continue. This is five or six games for him and I think he certainly feels more comfortable. He’s more competitive. He looks the part. He didn’t even look the part [in] his first starts. He looks the part now. He’s just going to stay within himself and keep on playing.” – John Tortorella; 11/16/2024
Erik Johnson, competing in his 1000th NHL game, disrupted the early attack from the Sabres. Johnson tapped the puck out of the defensive zone, allowing the Flyers a moment to reset. Alex Tuch missed his shot, and then Philadelphia pressured on the attack. Levi dove across the crease to make a save on Travis Konecny as the high-danger scoring chances presented themselves. Travis Sanheim had a look on a mostly open net but missed wide.
“You know how I felt about him [Sanheim] in my first year. I did not see any of this. I hope Hockey Canada is watching because if that guy isn’t on that team when they pick that team, I’m not sure what the date is; he’s just been so impressive. You watch him play, but just how he carries himself. I always talk about that, but I think that’s very important to how the players present themselves. He’s taken off. He’s got a level of confidence that it’s outstanding.” – John Tortorella; 11/16/2024
Connor Clifton served a minor penalty for cross-checking. Egor Zamula put a shot on goal, and Levi surrendered a rebound. No one was there to clean up the opportunity. Konecny put himself in a good shooting area, but his shot was not deliberate. Buffalo killed the penalty.
Peyton Krebs put Johnson in the spin cycle while on the attack. Krebs is a skater who does not get enough credit against the Flyers as he displayed his skating on the veteran defenseman. Moments later, Noah Cates was under siege, forcing a poor turnover to Nicolas Aubé-Kubel. Fedotov made the save, bailing out the mistake by Cates.
Zach Benson served a minor penalty for slashing. Joel Farabee put his shot on goal, leading to another rebound. Anthony Richard and Tyson Foerster attacked the loose puck, but Foerster put Philadelphia ahead, 1-0, with 6:03 remaining in the first period. The Flyers finished 1/5 (20%) on the powerplay versus the Sabres.
Konecny collected the puck deep in the attacking zone and labeled a pass to Zamula. Zamula skated in to bait Levi before slipping a pass to Sanheim for the snap, 2-0, with 3:59 remaining in the first period.
Second Period
Shots on Goal: 24-19, Flyers
Score: 4-0, Flyers
Richard entered the attack, swooped behind Levi, and cycled the puck back to Zamula at the blue line. Zamula took a slap shot, removing the stick out of the hands of Benson, and the puck saw its way into the net, 3-0, with 17:52 remaining in the second period.
Ryan McLeod went high on Owen Tippett. Tippett did not head down the tunnel into the locker room but did take an elbow. Effectively, McLeod put a premature end to a shift for Tippett, but this is about the moment where this game turned into a chippy affair.
Cates rang a shot off the post, nearly extending the lead for Philadelphia. The Flyers remained hot throughout most of their clash with Buffalo. Rasmus Dahlin took away two powerplays due to his undisciplined play. Konecny served two minutes for slashing, but Dahlin created a four-on-four scenario due to serving for interference. Emil Andrae served two minutes for hooking, but Dahlin undid that man advantage with a minor penalty for slashing.
Matvei Michkov and Konecny took advantage of the four-on-four, creating a two-on-zero attack on Levi. Timing the scoring play to perfection, Michkov pulled the trigger on the one-timer set-up to Konecny, who increased the lead to 4-0 with 2:53 remaining in the second period.
After the scoring play, Benson tried to take a run at Michkov. It has been some time since Philadelphia instigated an opponent by pure scoring.
“I always talk about our room, and that’s a huge part of it. That has just come together. If there’s one thing that’s come together in our rebuild, it’s that. We subtracted people, and I always preface this with really good people. It just was not the right time for those guys being here. That was probably one of the biggest things that we did to start this rebuild; try to figure out where we’re going to go with people and some guys that just weren’t going to be a part of it. The room has just grown that way. Sticking up for one another doesn’t surprise me. We don’t talk about it. They just do it because that’s what that room is.” – John Tortorella; 11/16/2024
Third Period
Shots on Goal: 32-25, Flyers
Final: 5-2, Flyers
Rasmus Ristolainen began the third period with some stellar defense to help preserve a shutout bid for Fedotov. He parked his body on the crease to turn away the Sabres’ attack, then moved the puck out of the defensive zone with a pass to Nick Seeler. However, Jacob Bryson represented one of few high-danger scoring chances for Buffalo, ringing a puck off the post.
At the other end, Michkov nearly fit the puck in another tight window. The puck deflected off of the mask of Levi, off the crossbar, then back off the mask before avoiding the net. Michkov has a knack for fitting the puck in tight spaces, which describes his game-winning goal from overtime against the Ottawa Senators.
Sanheim served a minor penalty for holding. Dahlin, who ruined all previous Sabres powerplays, redeemed himself with a slap from the blue line, 4-1, to put Buffalo on the board with 9:54 remaining in the third period. The Flyers were successful on 3/4 (75%) penalty kills.
JJ Peterka put a shot on goal, and the puck was loose under Fedotov. McLeod cleaned up the loose puck, 4-2, on a six-on-five advantage with 1:05 remaining in the third period. Lindy Ruff pulled Levi.
To put the proverbial cherry on top, Konecny scored the empty net goal, 5-2, with 0:18 remaining in the third period.
Up Next
Next, the Philadelphia Flyers host the Colorado Avalanche on Monday, November 18th, at 7:00pm ET.
