The Philadelphia Flyers’ 4-1 win against the San Jose Sharks had a little bit of everything on Tuesday night. It started with two rookie laps, an EBUG, a major career milestone, and a 4th line goal. Oh, and the Flyers absolutely dominated for 60 minutes – something we have not seen much of.
This game had everything you wanted.
Let’s start with the rookie laps. Yes, there were two.
Most notably, Flyers rookie Ty Murchison made his NHL debut on Tuesday, getting a spin around the ice by himself.
Murchison got his rookie lap, except he was not entirely alone on the ice. In the other end was Sharks’ emergency backup goalie Justin Kowalkoski, who is the EBUG at every Flyers’ home game.
Sharks’ starting goaltender Yaroslav Askarov was out on Tuesday with an illness, so the Sharks had to call on Kowalkoski to back up Alex Nedeljkovic. Kowalkoski’s services were not needed.
Read More: Flyers Dominate in Murchison’s NHL Debut
Murchison’s debut
As for Murchison, well, he fit right in on the Flyers’ blueline. On Monday, he said he felt his game was a better fit for the pro game than college. That remained true on Tuesday. He played strongly, physically, and very smart. Rick Tocchet even trusted Murchison on the penalty kill late in the game.
Flyers alternate captain Travis Konecny touched on Murchison’s game after the win. “He did a good job; he played well, he didn’t look out of place at all. You know, he did his job tonight, and it was great for him. Just keep building on it.”
Konecny and some unnamed teammates played a prank on Murchison after the lap. They made him go without the helmet, and when they gave Murchison the helmet back, they gave him one without the visor.
Before the game, Murchison was sitting in the stands, taking in the empty arena.
The Flyers’ rookie said he usually does this before every game, but this one was special. He said, “[It was] crazy looking around and being in a rink like this, kind of looking forward to [NHL debut] and trying to settle the nerves.”
Murchison’s physicality was tested on multiple occasions by one of the toughest players in the league, Ryan Reaves. The young defenseman handled himself well, not backing down, and even giving it back to the notorious NHL bruiser.
Read More: Flyers Rookie Set to Make NHL Debut
Konecny earns his 500th point
Lost in the headlines of Murchison’s debut, Travis Konecny entered Tuesday’s game with 499 career NHL points. After the Flyers’ first goal, the team’s alternate captain was sitting at No. 500.
Konecny floated a puck through the neutral zone with an alley-oop pass that bounced perfectly off Trevor Zegras, leading to the Christian Dvorak goal.
In his 647th game in the National, Konecny earned his 500th point. Later in the game, Konecny buried an empty-net goal for good measure, giving him 501 points. He has 206 goals and 295 assists in his 10-year NHL career.
4th line gets on the board
The Flyers’ 4th line has been a topic of conversation lately. Bench boss Rick Tocchet knows that the bottom of his lineup has been struggling, but continues to use his guys regularly. He knows they’re NHL players and capable of producing; they just have to find their confidence.
If Tuesday’s game did not have everything, it certainly did after Carl Grundstrom’s goal to give the Flyers the lead in the second period. It marked just the second point that the Flyers’ 4th line has contributed to the team this season.
It could not have come at a better time, with Tocchet addressing and backing up his usage of the unit on Monday.
Speaking of a better time, what better time for Grundstrom to score his first goal as a Flyer than against his former team? He talked about it postgame.
“It feels great. Obviously, it was fun,” Grundrstom said. “You always want to beat your old team, that’s for sure. So it feels really good.”
Grundstrom was a part of the return for the Flyers in the trade that sent Ryan Ellis’ contract to the Sharks.
Read More: ‘I’m a Culture Guy’: Rick Tocchet Defends Decision to Play 4th Line Late vs. Avalanche
Dan Vladar was excellent for the Flyers once again
It would be criminal not to mention the impact that Dan Vladar had on Tuesday night’s game.
The Flyers’ netminder had not played since December 1st, when he gave up five goals to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Vladar recognized that Ersson is playing really good hockey right now, and said he was “Happy for him that he got a couple of games in a row. I thought he deserved it.“
That said, Vladar had some rust to knock off. It’s hard to do that when you don’t see a shot for the first 11:33 of the game. San Jose scored on its first shot of the game. After that, Vladar locked in.
The Flyers allowed few shots. In fact, it was just 18. However, the chances the Sharks did have were quality looks, including five high-danger chances, per Natural Stat Trick.
Vladar held his ground and made a handful of big stops, keeping his team in position for the dominating win.
This is the kind of performance the Flyers need in net to have a chance at the postseason.
Read More: Flyers Postgame Blog: Measuring Stick? Konecny Believes They’re Past That