A raucous crowd, a worthy villain and a Flyers shutout win? The vibes were back in the Wells Fargo Center, for one night at least. Let’s wrap on all the sights and sounds of a dominant win for Philly:
Pregame: Joel Farabee a Healthy Scratch; Olle Lycksell In
Joel Farabee’s streak of consecutive games played ended Saturday at 216 straight games. Farabee has struggled mightily for the majority of the year, as the 24 year-old is on pace for just 12 goals and 28 points this season. Amid the struggles, Farabee did get a positive endorsement from John Tortorella pregame, however. The head coach said that he is “not going to give up on him” so one would imagine that this will be short stint in the press box for Farabee.
Olle Lycksell skated in his place and was flanked by Matvei Michkov and Sean Couturier. The 25-year-old Swede took 17 shifts and logged 13:00 TOI in the rout.
Cut Him Up
Cutter Gauthier played his first game in Philadelphia since being traded to Anaheim on Jan. 8, 2024 for Jamie Drysdale and a 2025 second round pick. If you remember, Gauthier is the Flyers’ former first round pick that told the organization that he would not play for them a couple of seasons back, forcing his way out of Philadelphia. The Flyers appeared determined to make the 20 year-old’s night as uncomfortable as possible, but to John Tortorella, it was just another night at the office.
“All I told our team was let’s worry about ourselves and win a hockey game,” Tortorella said of the outside noise. “The bullshit is for you guys. All the drama, that’s for you guys, whatever you need to do with it. You know what I hope? I hope we can play in front of a crowd like that about something meaningful. Not the shit, whatever you guys are talking about, I hope it means something to the organization as far as winning and losing. That’s when we wanna see a crowd like that.”
Of course, Flyers fans welcomed the kid the only way they know how by raining down obscenities and boos towards the 20-year-old winger. This game was deeply personal to them, as it should’ve been. They showed up and voiced their displeasure and created a loud, playoff-like atmosphere.
The coach probably could’ve answered this in a better way.
Crowds like Saturday will in fact return once the Flyers actually start playing for something meaningful. The situation surrounding Gauthier isn’t something that was created by outside noise. The Flyers front office fanned the flames publicly last season regarding why they traded Gauthier. For the coach to act as if that came from some media driven agenda is nonsense.
Gauthier took 18 shifts, logged 13:19 of TOI and was on the ice for a goal against in his team’s loss.
Sharing the Sugar
The Flyers not only posted six goals, but got contributions from a number of different players. Five different Flyers registered multiple point nights in the win, while six different players tallied a goal in the win. Travis Konecny picked up four assists, feeding his teammates pucks in high danger areas of the ice all night long. Perhaps though, the night really belonged to defensemen Jamie Drysdale. The 21-year-old not only scored and picked an assist against his former team, but was greeted to Flyers fans serenading Cutter Gauthier with “Jamie’s better!” chats throughout the night.
“It was pretty special,” Drysdale said. “You hear the crowd going like that, it brings so much energy to myself and the whole team. Unbelievable fans and they were rocking tonight.”
Since arriving in Philadelphia, Drysdale has dealt with a number of different injuries and just general inconsistency when he has played. Nevertheless, the young defender still possesses a tantalizing skillset centered around plus skating ability and mind for the offensive zone. Even prior to Saturday’s game, Drysdale’s play has notably picked up the last few games since he and Nick Seeler have become a pair. Both by the numbers and eye test, Drysdale is beginning to see notably progression.
They Said It
John Tortorella on Jamie Drysdale and Matvei Michkov breaking out of scoring slumps: “You hope it helps them confidence wise. They’re both struggling offensively and sometimes I think it affects other parts of their game. I hope it helps them”
Travis Konecny on the games atmosphere: “It helped that the crowd was really into it tonight. It was awesome.”
Sam Ersson on his 22-save shutout: “I think I’m in a pretty good spot. I had a half-a-shutout in the game got injured, but I think my game is in a good place.”
Did You Know?
Per NHL Stats, Travis Konecny (0-4—4) became the fifth different player in Flyers history with multiple four-assist outings in a single season and first since Eric Lindros (3 in 1997-98).
On Deck
The Flyers will return to action Monday when they play host to the Florida Panthers at Wells Fargo Center. Puckdrop is set for 7:00 p.m. EST and will broadcast locally on NBCSP.
