Flyers searching for answers with their floundering power play: ‘We’re going to continue to work on it’

PITTSBURGH ― At the start of the season, the Flyers power play looked new and improved.

Over the first four games, the Flyers scored five goals in 19 opportunities and were ranked No. 11 in the NHL at a sparkling 26.3% conversion rate.

But the shine wore off quickly. After all, this is a Flyers power play that has finished last in the NHL in each of the last three seasons — including under a different coaching staff in 2021-22.

Across the last 30 games, the Flyers power play is clicking at just a 13% efficiency rate. That is 10 goals in 77 opportunities. Yikes. In the last five games, it’s a goose egg in 10 chances. Double yikes. For the season, the Flyers rank 27th out of 32 teams at 15.6%.

“To me, it’s not seeing the ice. I think there are times there’s plays to be made,” coach John Tortorella said. “We’ve got Jamie [Drysdale] running it, who is very inexperienced. [Egor Zamula] has struggled a little bit just with the speed of it. ... We’re going to continue to work on it, that’s all I can tell you.”

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It came as no surprise then that when the Flyers worked on their power play at the morning skate, after Tortorella spoke on Monday, Zamula was no longer on the second unit. Rasmus Ristolainen had taken his spot on the point.

“I’ve played some power play over my career. So just keep it simple, move the puck, [and] if there’s an opening take a shot,” said the big, right-shot defenseman who has 293 career points, including 117 on the power play.

Ristolainen will play on the man advantage alongside Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee, Tyson Foerster, and a red-hot Owen Tippett, who has six points during a three-game point streak, including a four-point night — and the game-winner — in the Flyers’ overtime win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.

A mainstay on the power play, Tippett has 14 power-play goals in 210 games with the Flyers but none this season. In fact, only four players have registered a goal with the man advantage in 2024-25: Travis Konency, Foerster, Drysdale, and Matvei Michkov. The rookie Michkov is second on the team — behind only Konecny’s six goals — with five, but he has failed to register a goal at any strength in the last seven games. He has one power-play assist during that stretch.

“We’re struggling, period,” Tortorella said. “We’re struggling at quarterback on our power play, we’re struggling on the wall with certain reads. It’s something we continue to work at. Mich has leveled off. Mich’s game has leveled off. It’s been a little bit of a struggle with him. He was a very important part of giving us some life on that power play.”

When asked if part of his stalled offense, specifically on the power play, is that teams have learned how to play against him, Tortorella responded:

“Maybe, I don’t know. I think it’s just been a little bit of a struggle for him. It’s the National Hockey League. He still has a ton to learn as far as what it takes to play through a schedule. We’ve had a really hard schedule [and] I don’t think he’s used to that. I am really happy [with] how much we’ve gotten from him already in the first [34 games] here. We figured there’d be dips along the way, with such a long schedule, the travel, and just the nature of the National Hockey League. I think he’s handled it really well, but I think he’s in a little bit of a dip right now.”

The Flyers’ power play has struggled with zone entries, maintaining possession — according to NHL Edge, they spend 32.7% of their power-play time in the defensive zone and 53.2% in the offensive zone, which is worse than the league averages of 28.1% and 57.8%, respectively — and making quick passes.

They have been better at moving the puck but still struggle with getting shots on goal, or even attempting them. After starting off the season well — averaging 12.5 in those first four games — the Flyers’ shot attempts with the man advantage have dropped considerably. According to Money Puck, they are averaging five shot attempts during five-on-four power plays over the last 10 games.

It doesn’t help that the Flyers power play hasn’t had much time during games. The team has spent the sixth-fewest minutes with the man advantage, averaging 4 minutes, 15 seconds.

“I think power play is something that you get into a rhythm, or you get momentum and you feel good about yourself, you get confidence, you get ups and downs,” said captain Sean Couturier, who will return to the lineup after missing Saturday’s game for the birth of his second child.

“Obviously, I think we’re in a slump right now, but just need to kind of come back to the basics. Try to get one and get it rolling again because it can be a big factor in games.”

Couturier will be on the top power play with Michkov, Drysdale, Bobby Brink, and Konecny. The top points-getter on the Flyers, Konency doesn’t want to use the lack of time as a reason there have been struggles.

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“No, there’s no excuse,” he said. “I know maybe that you’re looking for a reason here, but we just need to be better, we know that. We just got to keep working at it. It’s what we’ve been saying for the last however long, just got to keep working at it and I know that nobody in this room has quit on it.

“It’s just about figuring it out. Eventually, when it clicks, it’ll click. You probably look at all the best power plays in the league, at some point in the last 10 years, they probably weren’t the best. So, yeah, it’s just a matter of time. It takes time. You’ve got to learn. You’ve got to be patient and figure out positions and how they work ... but it’ll come.”

Sam Ersson will start in goal for the Flyers against the Pittsburgh Penguins (7 p.m., NBCSP). ... Forward Olle Lycksell was returned to Lehigh Valley on Sunday.