PHILADELPHIA — John Tortorella was one of the in-studio ESPN analysts for the Philadelphia Flyers’ 3-2 overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena. What he saw from the Flyers’ power play must have looked familiar.
In a game in which the Flyers won the five-on-five battle, they again failed to capitalize with a man advantage, going 0-for-3 and managing only one shot on goal over six full minutes.
In their last 16 games, the Flyers are just 5-for-38 on the power play, with two of those against the lowly Buffalo Sabres. Their 13.2 percent success rate places them 29th in the league over that span — close to where they finished the previous three years under Tortorella, their former coach, when the power play ranked 32nd, 32nd and 30th (after Tortorella was fired with nine games left in the 2024-25 season).
The Flyers had a prime opportunity to take a third-period lead when Vegas’ Brett Howden was called for elbowing Carl Grundstrom with 4:48 remaining in regulation in a 2-2 game. After their previous two power plays were mostly a waste of time, coach Rick Tocchet put Noah Cates and Bobby Brink out with Trevor Zegras and Travis Konecny, with Jamie Drysdale at the point. It was a mishmash of his two previous units and did not work. In fact, after Brink whiffed on a shot, he was forced to hustle back and prevent what would have been a two-on-one Vegas rush the other way.
Why shuffle it up at that stage of the game?
“Did you see the first two power plays?” Tocchet said. “What would you have done?”
Fair enough.
“We had a good game, I don’t want to get negative, but the power play, we’re not getting middle shots,” Tocchet said. “Other than Trevor, our flanks are having a tough time making a play. And we’re not using the middle of the ice. … We’ve practiced it, and for some reason under pressure, we kind of lose our bearings. It’s not just one guy, it’s everybody.”
Vegas, on the other hand, capitalized on one of its two power plays in the form of a Mark Stone goal at 12:53 of the second period. Stone got the game-winner in overtime, too, when Konecny blatantly gave the puck away to Jack Eichel, who promptly found Stone sneaking behind Sean Couturier for a slam dunk at 2:47 of the extra session.
Travis Sanheim, who has been mostly manning the top unit lately, also bemoaned the lack of power-play success. But, like Tocchet, he made sure to accurately point out that other than that, the Flyers put forth a solid performance against a legitimate Stanley Cup contender that improved to 5-0-1 in its last six.
“Obviously, (the power play has) been struggling a little bit,” Sanehim said. “Like to find a way to make a difference, and especially in a game like that where it’s tight. Find a way to win the special teams; it makes a difference. And they got one, so (we had to) kind of even it out. But overall, it’s a good team over there. We stuck with them.”
Considering the Flyers twice fell behind, 1-0 and 2-1, just getting a point out of the game was admirable. It’s become part of their identity that they’re never going to get overwhelmed by whatever circumstances they’re facing.
After Christian Dvorak turned the puck over just inside the Flyers’ offensive blue line, leading to Zach Whitecloud opening the scoring at 6:07 of the first period, the Flyers responded about 10 minutes later. After a lengthy shift in the offensive zone, Sanheim’s seam pass to Zegras was an easy conversion for the Flyers’ leading scorer. Zegras tallied his 11th goal of the season, just one shy of his total last season with the Anaheim Ducks (in 57 games).
Trevor Zegras is one goal away from matching last season’s total in less than half the games. (Eric Hartline / Imagn Images)
Later, even though their power play faltered in the second period with a chance to tie it, Dvorak made up for his earlier error by putting the puck on a tee for Noah Juulsen, who bombed a shot past Akira Schmid at 16:08 to make it 2-2 before the second intermission. It was Juulsen’s first goal in 75 games.
“There was that hunger and belief we’ve been talking about the whole year,” said goalie Dan Vladar, who finished with 18 saves. “I felt it in the intermissions and stuff, guys were positive on the bench. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, but we’re going to keep playing this way (and) I’m pretty sure we’re going to have more and more success.”
“It was a good effort against a good team,” Couturier said. “It’s too bad we couldn’t get the extra point.”
Tocchet seemed particularly displeased with Konecny’s turnover in overtime. In an attempt to throw the puck off the boards and into the neutral zone, he carelessly handed it to Eichel. Vegas’ top-line center easily spun past a fatigued Konecny before zipping it to Stone.
“Yeah, just can’t do that,” Tocchet said. “(Konecny) probably feels bad. Can’t make those turnovers.”
Before that, though, the Flyers played a tight game against the high-powered offense of the Golden Knights, who have gotten a huge boost since Stone reentered the lineup on Nov. 26.
That includes rookie Ty Murchison, who again made an impact in his 13:41 of ice time after his NHL debut on Tuesday. The 22-year-old threw the Flyers’ biggest hit of the game just 1:43 into the first period, lining up Golden Knights defenseman Kaedan Korczak along the wall. Then, midway through regulation, Murchison showcased his escapability. He sensed danger behind the Flyers’ net, pivoted and charged up the ice and through the neutral zone.
Tocchet mentioned Murchison’s name unprompted after the game, signaling how much the youngster has opened his eyes. “I thought Murchison, for a young kid again, he looked poised out there,” Tocchet said.
“He’s been great,” said Juulsen, who has been paired with Murchison on the back end. “It’s his first two games, but he’s been a real pro. His breakouts have been good, and he’s cooking, so it’s nice to see.”
The Flyers wrap up their six-game homestand against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday and face the Hurricanes again on Sunday in Raleigh, N.C. It’s likely the power play will have to find a way to contribute against a team that has been one of the league’s best even-strength clubs for several years now under Rod Brind’Amour if the Flyers are going to have a chance.
“We have to fix (the power play) somehow,” Tocchet said.
That’s been a familiar refrain for years.