Flyers find power in the man advantage, and other takeaways from a big win over the Sharks

SAN JOSE, Calif. ― The Flyers closed out 2024 with a bang.

After a disappointing loss on Sunday night to the Los Angeles Kings, where they played well but couldn’t hang on against one of the top teams in the NHL, they continued to trend in the right direction. This time, it was a wire-to-wire 4-0 victory against one of the bottom teams in the league, the San Jose Sharks.

Here are four things to know about the win that got the Flyers back to .500:

After stopping all 15 shots he faced across the first two periods, the Flyers goalie did not come out for the third period because of an undisclosed injury. Coach John Tortorella wasn’t sure when it happened but did say he thought it occurred when Ersson collided with Luke Kunin late in the second frame.

“The way it’s gone for Sam, it’s a concern. For a goalie, going through some of the injuries that he has, it’s not just getting healthy, it’s just mental,” Tortorella said.

Tortorella did not know if the injury was a recurrence of the one that caused Ersson to miss a pair of games in early November. It was reaggravated two games later, and the Swedish netminder missed 11 more.

Aleksei Kolosov played the third period and made seven stops, including two consecutive saves on guys wide-open in front. One was on Macklin Celebrini.

Pop the champagne, the power play got on the board — technically twice. In the first period, Morgan Frost tapped in the puck, but the goal was overturned on an offside on the zone entry. Nine seconds into the Flyers’ second power-play opportunity, Travis Konecny made it count with a one-timer off a circle-to-circle pass from Owen Tippett in the second period.

“We moved it well, moved it quick on both the goals; one counted, and one didn’t,” defenseman Jamie Drysdale said. “But just good, quick puck movement.”

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The Flyers went 1-for-3 with the man advantage and showed two new units. One unit had Konecny, Tippett, Frost, Joel Farabee, and Drysdale. The other had Matvei Michkov, Noah Cates, Bobby Brink, Tyson Foerster, and Rasmus Ristolainen. It was the first power-play goal in nine games and snapped a 0-for-17 skid.

“I’m not even sure what the word I can use for what it’s been,” Tortorella said. “It’s something we work on and talk about every day, but a little bit of a different unit tonight. It worked. I just liked the puck movement. It wasn’t as deliberate as it has been.”

Entering the game, all eyes were on Celebrini and Michkov. The Flyers’ Russian phenom led all rookies in points (29) and was tied with Celebrini for the most goals (12). Of Celebrini’s 27 points, 19 were at even strength, while Michkov led all rookies in power-play goals (five) and points (12). Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson was one point behind Celebrini (26) and led all rookies in assists (17).

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After the first period, Celebrini had three shots on goal. It was surprising, considering that he wasn’t very noticeable. He finished with 18 minutes, 25 seconds of ice time — at all strengths — and had 10 shot attempts, including six on goal. Celebrini had a plus-minus of minus-1, as he was on the ice for Egor Zamula’s goal.

In the first period, Michkov didn’t have a shot attempt but was quite visible, and in the second period, he came alive. First, he put a hard shot on Alexandar Georgiev from the right wing. A few minutes later, he received a pass from Frost in the slot and had a key chance, but the shot went off the stick of Mario Ferraro and into the netting. Michkov played 14:39 and had six shot attempts, including two shots on goal.

“I think he just has so much already on his shoulders that I think it’s just who he is,” forward Ryan Poehling said when asked if Michkov elevates his game when facing someone like Celebrini, a leading candidate for the Calder Trophy, which goes to the top rookie.

“He’s handled it great, and I think every game he feels like he has something to prove. So whether that’s just doing more of what he’s been doing — because I think he’s had a great year so far and just learning from other guys — I think he brings that kind of same energy every game, which is great to see from a young guy.”

The line of center Cates and wingers Foerster and Brink remained intact. As did the new line of Frost, Michkov, and Scott Laughton, which debuted against the Kings. But the other two lines saw a flipping of centers. Poehling was elevated between Konecny and Tippett, and Sean Couturier was dropped between Farabee and Garnet Hathaway.

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Tortorella liked his four lines and thought there was more balance.

According to Natural Stat Trick, the lines played equal time with the Cates line at five-on-five and posted eight shot attempts while allowing just two. They were together for Zamula’s goal and had the best expected goals for percentage at 92.29%; the Frost line wasn’t far behind at 91.78%. The new Poehling line led with 13 shot attempts, three from high-danger spots. And the Couturier line was on the ice for the first goal by Nick Seeler.

“When you win a hockey game, everything you seem to like, right?” Tortorella said. “I thought Coots and TK had dried up. I didn’t like Coots, TK, and Tip at all for the past couple of games. And wanted to change some things. I felt Tip was ready to get going. I just don’t think it was working with him and TK and Coots on that line there. So we switch the centers.”