PITTSBURGH — Stuart Skinner was as frozen as the statue of Mario Lemieux just outside Highmark Gate at PPG Paints Arena.
Did Porter Martone seriously just do that? Did a 19-year-old kid who was playing college hockey three weeks earlier to the day, really just drive the puck deep, slam on the brakes creating immediate separation from a defending Noel Acciari, and fire an against-the-grain missile on his back foot, short side, bar down, past the 6-foot-4 goaltender?
Skinner’s mask hid whatever look of shock must have been painted on his face. His body language said it all, though. After remaining locked in position with a frozen glove hand at the ready for a moment or two after the puck had already bounced in and out, Skinner then slowly, confusingly turned around to peer at the net behind him.
What just happened?
“First, kind of when I stopped up there, I scanned the ice to look for someone open,” Martone explained of the goal. “They had pretty good coverage, so I tried to use (Acciari) as a screen. Tried to shoot there, and luckily it went in. It was a big goal.”
While Travis Sanheim’s tiebreaker midway through the third period was the most important play — and was also remarkably skillful — in the Philadelphia Flyers’ 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday in their first playoff game in six years, it was the rookie’s astonishing score that sent Flyers fans online into a tizzy.
Martone acknowledged that “as a teenager” he can’t completely disassociate from social media. “But for me, I just try to not get caught up in it,” he continued.
Good luck with that if you keep making those sorts of plays, Porter.
The circumstances under which Martone arrived in Philadelphia, joining the Flyers late in the season and making some key plays to help them clinch an unlikely playoff berth, coupled with a dazzling highlight-reel goal in his playoff debut against a hated rival, suggest it’s not too early to believe Martone could be on a short path to becoming the face of the franchise. If the Flyers make any sort of spring playoff run, or even if Martone just keeps contributing against the Penguins on a Flyers team that’s now widely viewed as on the rise, it’s going to be difficult for Martone to not to get a fuller sense of just what’s going on here — whether he’s scrolling on his phone or not.
Fortunately for him, he has someone he can lean on.
Matthew Schaefer is Martone’s good friend, playing with him on Team Canada in both the Under-18s in 2024 and the World Junior Championships in 2025. The first overall pick in the 2025 draft — five spots ahead of where the Flyers took Martone — Schaefer seemingly resurrected a franchise all by himself, helping what looked to be an aging New York Islanders team stuck in the mushy middle become relevant and fun again.
Considering what’s happened in such a short period of time, Martone could conceivably do the same in Philadelphia. He may be prepared for it, too. Martone and Schaefer kept in touch during Schaefer’s massively successful rookie season while Martone was marinating at Michigan State.
“I’d call him a lot of times throughout the year, ask him how things were going,” Martone told The Athletic after a Flyers team practice on Sunday. “You obviously see him, he’s a special talent, what he did this year. Not many people can do that. I stayed in touch with him throughout the year. He gave me tips for when it was my time to make the jump.”
Was there any specific piece of advice from Schaefer that was particularly valuable?
“I think the big thing that made him successful was, he was himself,” Martone said. “You see how much of an impact he made on that organization, how much he contributed to that team. For me, that’s what I try to do coming here. Just be who I am, as a player and as a person.”
What was also notable about Martone’s Game 1 goal is that he was mostly quiet in the game to that point. A high-volume shooter when he’s at his best, including 32 shots in his first nine regular-season games, that third-period goal was his only attempt on net in nearly 16 minutes of ice time. That’s despite Martone playing on the top power-play unit, too, as the Flyers went a discouraging 0-for-3.
Coach Rick Tocchet suggested Martone may have been a little overwhelmed at the start of Game 1. Not that anyone would blame him, of course, as the Penguins’ home arena was easily the loudest atmosphere the young Flyers have been in all season. There were surely some nerves at play for Martone and many others.
Still, that Martone — or Marty McFlyer, as he’s been dubbed by the team’s social media team — was able to make that kind of an impact on the game despite not being all that effective earlier speaks to what kind of player he is, and, perhaps, what kind of player he can become.
“That’s maturity,” Tocchet said after the game. “There’s going to be some games you don’t have it for 30, 40 minutes. He’s trying to figure (out) the pace. He had a couple of turnovers. He knew it — and then he gets a goal like that. It’s hard to find guys like that.”
Flyers fans know that all too well, particularly after watching Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin for the better part of the last two decades. Schaefer’s quick emergence after the Islanders got lucky in the draft lottery last year surely had some Flyers fans wondering why they couldn’t ever enjoy that kind of good fortune.
Martone’s arrival and immediate success offer some hope that maybe they finally did.
“He seems to be a quick learner out there,” said Christian Dvorak, who has been Martone’s linemate since his arrival. “I think to fit in right away, just (his) hockey IQ, the way he sees the ice, and how smart he is — that’s not easy to do right out of college.”
While Martone might have been trying to avoid social media on Saturday night and into Sunday, he still got a fair amount of messages from friends and family. Martone became the youngest Flyers player to ever score in his playoff debut, and just the fifth teenager to score a game-winning goal in his first Stanley Cup playoff game.
“They’re just really happy we got the win,” Martone said of those texting and calling him. “They want to continue to see the Flyers play hockey.”
They’re not the only ones now, as the Flyers get set to host their first home playoff game in eight years, in front of what is likely to be the most boisterous crowd in a very long time. They will be there to watch the team, but there will be plenty of eyes trained on No. 94 now, too.
Martone is embracing the moment as best he can.
“The Stanley Cup playoffs, it’s a dream come true,” Martone said. “It’s really exciting.”