The Flyers looked like the second-best team on the ice for almost all of Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Center. Despite getting within two in the third, Dallas stifled Philadelphia the rest of the way for a comfortable 4-1 win.
The basics
First period: 1:45 – Mavrik Bourque (Matt Dumba, Logan Stankoven), 9:38 – Roope Hintz (Evgenii Dadonov, Jason Robertson)
Second period: 8:41 – Wyatt Johnson (Jamie Benn, Nils Lundkvist)
Third period: 6:47 – Morgan Frost (Travis Konecny, Egor Zamula), 16:47 – Miro Heiskanen (Esa Lindell, Jason Robertson) (ENG)
SOG: 27 (PHI) – 23 (DAL)
Some takeaways
Plug pulled on cardiac comeback
After looking dead in the water for much of the night, the Flyers broke the goose egg seven minutes into the third when Morgan Frost buried a bounce off the backboards behind Casey DeSmith.
Morgan Frost breaks the shutout!#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/wfzCc2LgOQ
— Flyers Clips (@Flyers_Clips) January 10, 2025
The Flyers somehow can still make a game of it despite looking outclassed by a far more talented team Thursday evening. With ten minutes to go the Flyers also got an important power play when Matt Dumba interfered with Ryan Poehling. Despite having a decent amount of zone time, Philadelphia only had one chance (that was deflected wide) during that time.
With time winding down, the Flyers decided to pull Sam Ersson with about 4:30 left in the third. Despite some pressure and a shot that just went wide, the Stars put the game on ice with an empty-net goal by Miro Heiskanen.
Playing in a fog
On a night where the team’s founder was being honored and celebrated, the team just came out flat. Poor passing in the neutral zone caused easy turnovers and chances for Dallas. A bad Tyson Foerster pass nearly made it 3-0 but thankfully Ersson made a save to keep them only down two. Noah Cates’ line looked as bad as Poehling’s line looked strong. But it didn’t take long for Tortorella to start tossing lines together to get some momentum. Joel Farabee found himself with Poehling and Konecny for a bit early in the second and created the team’s best chance in the second when he won a race to the puck, shot and saw Konecny take a swing at the puck but missed at what looked to be a sizeable amount of net unattended. Konecny also beat Casey DeSmith in the second, but not the goalpost.
The defensive low point wasn’t even a goal allowed but a ridiculous nearly four-minute shift by Egor Zamula and Rasmus Ristolainen that Ersson bailed the team out of with some fine stops. Matvei Michkov wasn’t out as long but was on the ice for a substantial amount of that four minutes. The fanbase were just as befuddled, leading to a Bronx cheer when the Flyers were able to get the puck in the offensive zone.
Deja vu? Not tonight
Remember the magical Tippett highlight reel goal last year? Remember one of the more complete games of last season? Yep, against Dallas in a convincing 5-1 win. Thursday night the Flyers hoped for a similar performance. For the first time in a few games. Cates’ line was on the bench and instead the line of Ryan Poehling, Travis Konency and Owen Tippett started the game. Tippett, mired in a seven-game goal drought, had his legs early and often but nothing came of it after one. His closest call came when he hit the post coming out of the penalty box early in the third. Seconds later the Flyers missed a wide open net when Scott Laughton saw a gimme vanish thanks to a good stick by a Stars player.
Tippett nearly beat DeSmith in the waning minutes of the third but DeSmith made the save as Tippett went tumbling over him. No highlight reel on this night despite looking like he was ready to break out of the slump.
SAD = Seeler And Drysdale
Goalie Sam Ersson wasted no time in … giving up the game’s opening goal. However, the defensive pair of Jamie Drysdale and Nick Seeler looked naked and alone backchecking, Ersson wasn’t able to get his pad to stop a Mavrik Bourque deflection from a Matt Dumba pass. A similar play transpired a few minutes later in the Dallas end, but Tyson Foerster wasn’t able to put the biscuit in the basket.
Seeler and Drysdale again looked horrid on the second Dallas goal as Roope Hintz got behind Drysdale for the rebound. It was one of those nights where you might think it’s game over so soon as nothing seemed to go going in the right direction for the Flyers, despite coach John Tortorella giving a pep talk of sorts during a television timeout. If there were any bright spots in the pair’s play, it came when a baseball swing by Seeler didn’t connect with the puck nor a Stars’ player’s head. Not to be outdone, Drysdale’s backwards pass on the power play late in the first was nearly taken away by the Stars.
Ersson’s return
There wasn’t a lot to get excited about regarding Sam Ersson’s return from injury, at least not by the halfway point. While none of the goals were his fault, and he did make a few quality saves, most of the team in front of him was off most of the night. It was the type of game you would’ve expected Tuesday night against Toronto, the first one back after a long road trip. Ersson saw a three-on-one midway through the third that left him scrambling as Wyatt Johnson beat him high on the glove side. As strange as it sounds, one hoped Dallas peppered Ersson late in the game to at least get his save percentage at or a hair over the .900 level. Not to be.
Couturier cold
Sean Couturier wasn’t having a great game, but late in the second the captain found himself alongside Michkov and Hathaway for a bit as the straw-grasping continued heading into the second intermission. Despite being outshot by one after 40 minutes, the ice looked like it was heavily tilted towards Dallas after two periods. Couturier, who has one goal since Nov. 29, looked marginally better in the third thanks to Michkov’s help.
