When the Philadelphia Flyers (17-18-4) were heading into San Jose, there was a heavy emphasis on winning games against the teams they should defeat. Now, the Flyers begin to test their mettle against a few of the top-ten teams in the NHL.
What do I mean?
The Vegas Golden Knights (26-9-3), the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Dallas Stars rank in the top ten of the NHL. That is the simple explanation. However, additional context is required to understand how Philadelphia fares against the top half of the NHL. The Flyers are 4-12-4 against teams in the top half of the NHL Standings.
Philadelphia was the underdogs at the T-Mobile Arena. They began with a chip on their shoulder. The Golden Knights needed a shootout to win on November 25th, 2024. Why not the Flyers, right? Unfortunately, Vegas wrote the odds for ‘why not.’
Alexei Kolosov occupied the crease. Sam Ersson (lower body) is out day-to-day. The only ‘good’ that comes out of this is that John Tortorella has to start Ivan Fedotov while Ersson recovers.
First Period
Shots: 8-4, Flyers
Score: 1-0, Flyers
Philadelphia started hot. Tyson Foerster was a highlighted skater ahead of this game for a reason. In the aforementioned shutout of the San Jose Sharks, Foerster blessed the Flyers with his puck-possession skill, drawing penalties, taking the puck away, and playing physically. Last night, Foerster provided a lead, 1-0, cleaning up a loose puck for a goal on Ilya Samsonov.
TYSON FOERSTER SCORES 21 SECONDS IN!!!#Flyers pic.twitter.com/FENCHhDcMS
— Flyers Nation (@FlyersNation) January 3, 2025
Foerster scored quickly, but the Golden Knights started to test Kolosov in the first period. Kolosov stood his ground, making a few saves. He had a bit of help from the defense in front of him, too. Ryan Poehling made a defensive play in the neutral zone, slapping a puck free with his stick.
When Kolosov leaked a puck, his defense cleaned up the damage. Noah Hanifin nearly tied the game, but the puck never crossed the goal line. However, Kolosov made up for the near miss. He closed the post on Pavel Dorofeyev.
On the attack, Philadelphia cycled the puck. Vegas did not allow time and space to create offense. Travis Konecny, Matvei Michkov, and Travis Sanheim were noticeable in the offensive zone at even strength.
“TK [Konecny] and Tip [Tippett], especially TK, tend to be away from the play. He’s watched tape and it’s been a concentration of ours trying to get his game back to get closer. He had Tip tonight early in the first period, almost goes. He’s beginning to find a little success in being close, but it’s determination and support. That’s what makes that line go. It’s very exciting for me because it’s three kids as we move forward as a team.” – John Tortorella; 1/2/2025
On defense, Morgan Frost and Cam York assisted on the backcheck, supporting Kolosov. The underdogs played with bite in the first period through all of the zones on the ice. Poehling served a minor penalty for goaltender interference, but Scott Laughton, Rasmus Ristolainen, and Garnet Hathaway cleared the defensive zone safely. The Flyers finished 1/1 (100%) on the penalty kill.
Second Period
Shots: 19-16, Flyers
Score: 3-1, Golden Knights
Philadelphia got a quick lead in the first period, but it evaporated almost as quickly as it came in the second period.
Mark Stone drove the center of the ice while Jack Eichel entered on a three-on-two following a turnover by Owen Tippett. Egor Zamula picked up Eichel, but Eichel backhanded the puck toward the crease, tipped in by Stone, 1-1. Stone held his position on Rasmus Ristolainen to create the scoring chance.
“One of the mistakes, because we try to do too much, Tip [Tippett], at the beginning of the second period, tries to make a play behind his back. It’s a turnover and it ends up in the back of our net, and Eichel is on the ice. When you’re playing against players like that, you need to play more of a north game.” – John Tortorella; 1/2/2025
Less than two minutes later, Nicolas Hague and Keegan Kolesar won a board battle with Zamula, Sean Couturier, and Joel Farabee along the boards. Hague gained possession of the puck and wrapped around the net to score 2-1. Kolosov did not seal the post in time.
Regaining a sense of composure would be huge for the Flyers. The Golden Knights effectively stacked traffic in front of Kolosov, who recovered after allowing two quick goals to begin the second period. Philadelphia did regain composure, but Samsonov made the saves when he faced pressure. Defensively, they regained structure for most of the period ahead of Kolosov.
“We put in a lot of good minutes tonight. [We] made some mistakes, but I thought we played a good game.” – John Tortorella; 1/2/2025
Yet again, the Flyers proved they are weak against scoring chances off defensive zone faceoffs. Every skater for Vegas had a quick touch of the puck after a faceoff win against Noah Cates. Brayden McNabb and Shea Theodore cycled the puck to Dorofeyev for the snapshot, 3-1, past Kolosov. York tried to make a defensive play, but the puck found a lane through Kolosov.
Third Period
Shots: 27-25, Golden Knights
Score: 5-2, Golden Knights
Another quick start from the Golden Knights in the third period mostly sealed the game. Alexander Holtz waited for Jamie Drysdale to screen briefly, then took his shot from the top of the faceoff circle, 4-1. Kolosov failed to come up with the save. Tortorella never considered replacing Kolosov with Fedotov. After the game, he did not expand on his evaluation of Kolosov.
Finally, Philadelphia took advantage of their 13th overall faceoff group. Hanifin served a minor penalty for holding. The Flyers cycled the puck, similar to how Vegas did when Dorofeyev scored. Instead, Konecny accepted the pass from Tippett before releasing his shot past Samsonov, 4-2.
TK's got us right back in it. 💪#PHIvsVGK | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/qWXmUNhzDg
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) January 3, 2025
Stone served a minor penalty for tripping. Foerster drew every penalty committed by the Golden Knights. He battled net-front for a rebound, but the puck dribbled wide. Philadelphia finished 1/2 (50%) on the powerplay.
Tortorella pulled Kolosov for the extra attacker. The Flyers could not take advantage of a six-on-five attack in the offensive zone. Tanner Pearson scored the empty-net goal, 5-2.
Next Up
Next, the Philadelphia Flyers visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday at 7:00pm/ET.
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