Nothing much to write home about here. In the final home match of the year, the Flyers compiled a pedestrian home record of 20-20-1 in 2024-2025 in the shutout loss. Let’s wrap:
Pregame: Prospects’ Kaplan, Bump Join Organization
Fresh off the NCAA Frozen Four, the Flyers have signed 2022 3rd round pick Devin Kaplan to a three year entry-level contract on Tuesday. The first year of Kaplan’s contract will be used immediately since he is joining the Flyers for the final two regular season games.
Alex Bump, on the other hand, will be signing an amateur try-out deal to join the Phantoms for the rest of the year. He will reportedly will be singing his entry-level contract at the beginning of the 25-26 season.
Kaplan and Bump have been on completely different trajectories in recent seasons. Kaplan’s game has plateaued in recent seasons at Boston University, only posting 23 points in his best seasons offensively in the NCAA. On the contrary, Bump has been one of the Flyers most under-the-radar prospects. He’s coming off not only a National Championship victory this season at Western Michigan, but also a gaudy 47 points over 42 games played. One would imagine that would’ve been Bump who got the opportunity to play for the Flyers first, but nonetheless, it’s nice to get a look at some prospects this time of year.
Goalie Duel
The goaltending was strong for both team’s in this game, but it was the Blue Jackets’ Jet Greaves who pitched the 29-save shutout. The 24-year-old undrafted netminder for Columbus was calm and collected in his crease, making a few difficult saves look routine. Sam Ersson didn’t play poorly in this one, though he would probably like to have back the second goal on the penalty kill.
After winning the offensive zone face-off, Jackets defender Zach Werenski sauced a puck to Sean Monahan at the near side circle. Monahan quickly passed the puck to Kent Johnson, who then beat Ersson five-hole.
“In a game like this, the first goal is pretty important,”Ersson said. “They got a couple of bounces and I think a little unlucky maybe for us.”
Nevertheless, Ersson ended his night with 31 saves in the loss, despite playing well enough to win.
They Said It
Brad Shaw on if the Flyers matched Columbus’ intensity: “Not as much as we needed to. We knew this was a game where they were playing for something real. I thought our start was good. I just didn’t think we had the resilience. We didn’t have the ability to stay with it and I thought they started to pull away the second half of the game.”
Sean Couturier on bad habits creeping in during a meaningless game: “It’s maybe human nature, I guess. At this time of year, the situation we’re in. At the same time, we got to learn and improve on our game. Maybe mature our game too.”
Sam Ersson on the Flyers season coming to an end: “It’s obviously disappointing for us. We want to be in the playoffs. That’s why you work so hard in the summer and why put in all the work during the year. I think we have some lessons to learn from this year. You have to remember how much this sucks and use it as fuel and let it motivate you to work even harder to get where we want to be.”
Bobby Brink on getting voted most improved player by his teammates: “I think I’ve made some strides this year and it’s nice of my teammates to recognize it.”
Did You Know?
According to NHL stats, defensemen Zach Werenski recorded his 57th assist on the opening goal of the game. He therefore passes former Flyer Jake Voracek for the second highest single-season total in Blue Jackets history.
On Deck
There’s just one more game left in 2024-2025 campaign for the Flyers. On Thursday, the orange and black will head to Buffalo to take on the Sabres to conclude their season. Puckdrop is set for 7:00 p.m. and will be broadcast locally on NBCSP.
