January 11, 2025
Everyone in the Wells Fargo Center knew what Saturday night was about, whether they wanted to openly admit it or not.
The Flyers were facing the Anaheim Ducks, which meant former top prospect Cutter Gauthier was in Philadelphia for the first time in his NHL career, and the first time since he was notoriously traded away just over a year ago due to a falling out and refusal to play for the organization – the source of which is still unknown and probably won't be until he outright says it himself.
And there was energy, the most a hockey game has had in this building in quite some time. It was undeniable, and the Flyers fed off it.
They flew out of the gate, Morgan Frost and, poetically, Jamie Drysdale scored early for the lead; Owen Tippett, Ryan Poehling, Matvei Michkov, and then Garnet Hathaway twisted the knife with four more tallies; Sam Ersson made 22 saves for the shutout; and the Flyers never relented in a 6-0 wash of a victory – by far their most complete effort of the season, and just a couple of nights after their most deflating in the loss to Dallas.
And oh yeah, Gauthier was booed and taunted all night by the crowd, and got drawn into a good amount of scrums on the ice.
Everyone knew what Saturday night was about, and as inconsistent as the Flyers have been so far this season, this time, they made sure they didn't miss.
"It was pretty special when you hear the crowd going like that," Drysdale, one of the night's many heroes, said. "It brings so much energy to myself and the whole team. Unbelievable fans. They were rocking tonight."
From the moment the schedule was released, Flyers fans had Saturday marked.
The Ducks being in town meant Gauthier would be playing his first game in Philadelphia since he forced the Flyers' hand into a trade a year ago, as the story that is out there goes.
It was for sure the one that fans were running with.
A bit of a bigger crowd than usual gathered up by the visiting team's side of the ice for warmups. It was never a secret who they were waiting for.
One fan, Solomon, and his friends were stationed up by the glass opposite from Anaheim's bench. They had a sign laid out along the boards: "CUTTER IS SOFTER THAN BUTTER," and it was a popular one among the surrounding group of Flyers faithful.
.@solomonfox12 and his friends have been waiting for Cutter Gauthier and the Ducks to come here since the trade happened a year ago.
— Nick Tricome (@itssnick) January 11, 2025
The sign they had by the Ducks' side ahead of warmups:
"Cutter is softer than BUTTer"
Well played. pic.twitter.com/nyBdwgBYc9
Solomon said he and his friends had been waiting for that first game against the Ducks since the trade happened. They were going no matter what, and it just so happened to align perfectly with when they were all home from college.
"It's not so much anger, but like...I'm embarrassed for him, for what's gonna happen to him tonight," Solomon said. "The move he made, from what we know, it's just so childish. It's not professional. He deserves what's coming tonight."
It started with boos, first for Gauthier and then an usher after the sign got confiscated, then a "WE WANT CUTTER!" chant.
The Ducks emerged from the tunnel for warmups, and as soon as fans saw his 61 jersey, the boos got heavier...and heavier...and heavier.
When the game started, taunting chants of "CUT-TER!" carried through the building, followed by even harsher boos when he finally stepped onto the ice for a shift (which never relented throughout the night) and, eventually, chants of "F--- YOU, CUTTER!" then "JAMIE'S BETTER!" as a show of support for Drysdale, who, for better or worse, will always be tied as the return in that trade.
Hell hath no fury like Philadelphia scorned.
It was the liveliest and most engaged Wells Fargo Center crowd in quite some time, and the Flyers rode that wave.
They put the Ducks on their heels immediately, a Travis Konencny shot bounced off Frost in front of the net and in, and then later on in the first period, Drysdale crashed the net on the zone entry and slipped the puck five-hole through Ducks goaltender John Gibson to the crowd's eruption.
That’s OUR guy. #ANAvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/2i9Bzv9q00
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) January 12, 2025
Poetry.
"Most supportive fans in the league," Drysdale told NBC Sports Philadelphia's Ashlyn Sullivan during the first intermission.
"The building is bumping...Most supportive fans in the league."#ANAvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/WpIWattw2a
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) January 12, 2025
The end of the first period started getting chippy, and that carried into the second.
Garnet Hathway wanted a word with Gauthier in a scrum, then Konecny in a later one.
God bless Travis Konecny. pic.twitter.com/23fijR1Yo4
— Ryan Quigley (@ryanquigz) January 12, 2025
In the latter half of the second, Owen Tippett threw a check on Gauthier in the offensive zone, then up the other way on the same shift, Rasmus Ristolainen knocked him into his own guy behind the net and straight down to the ice.
The crowd roared for both, Tippett scored not long after on an odd-man rush down the ice, then barked something at Anaheim's bench once he got to the end of the fist-bump line at his own.
Owen ordered some extra sauce on that. 🥵#ANAvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/5brH82TErt
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) January 12, 2025
The Ducks had no coming back from that.
No one in the building was going to let them, and definitely not after Poehling took off and buried one right at the start of the third to make it, 4-0...
Came out firing. 🎯#ANAvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/8ng9AkhYZ5
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) January 12, 2025
Or after Michkov tucked in a bounce from in tight on the power play:
MM39 doing his thing. 😤#ANAvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/9x0LNwSMF3
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) January 12, 2025
The vibes were immaculate.
"I hope we can play in front of a crowd like that about something meaningful," head coach John Tortorella said postgame, as someone who has repeatedly waved off the noise that the Gauthier storyline brought. "Not the s--- that whatever you guys are talking about. I hope it means something to the organization as far as winning and losing, that's when we want to see a crowd like that...
"I want it to be that we're a team to be reckoned with in a playoff series, or whatever it may be. Not this s---."
Sam Ersson got his second straight start in net Saturday night.
Thursday night's loss to the Stars was rough, but Tortorella noticeably didn't pin that on goaltending – and at a time when there hasn't been much stability for the Flyers between the pipes.
Ivan Fedotov and Aleksei Kolosov have had their struggles, and Ersson has been battling injuries, but as their No. 1 on the depth chart, if anyone was going to right the ship, it was going to start with him.
So he shutout the Ducks, while the Flyers did their own part in front of him to keep him clear.
He only faced 22 shots, but he stopped all of them and allowed the Flyers to move up the ice and pressure.
"I think you got to find ways to kinda allow positive things to give you energy as well," Ersson said of the arena's energy and the game's tempo. "Just things like that, and obviously, us playing well, scoring a lot of goals is just going to feed into my game as well."
And again, Anaheim had no answer. With arguably weaker offense than the Flyers themselves right now, they weren't equipped to.
Joel Farabee sat for Saturday night, and Olle Lycksell took his spot in the lineup.
Production-wise, Farabee has been about as snake-bitten as you can get, but up until recently, you could a least say that he was involved and noticeable.
That fell by the wayside though, and Tortorella realized it, too.
"Unfortunately he doesn't score," Tortorella said at the morning skate in Voorhees. "Sometimes the guys he fed didn't score, but the past couple of weeks it's just gotten stale, so he'll sit out tonight."
Farabee only has 14 points on the season and six (three goals, three assists) since the start of December.
Tortorella was sure to note that the scratching wasn't a punishment and that he believes the effort is there with Farabee.
It's just that little has been working for a while now with him.
"Sometimes you take players out for punitive stuff," Tortorella said. "Sometimes you take players out just to let them get away from it for a bit.
"So this isn't punitive. I need to get him playing better. Maybe he watches, and I'm not sure where it goes after the game, we'll see where we go."
The Flyers on the whole, unless it's been Matvei Michkov or Travis Konecny, have been struggling offensively, so Farabee doesn't exactly sit in isolation here.
But he is a key part of this team, Tortorella said, adding that he is very aware that Farabee's name has gone around the rumor mill.
The coach would much rather have him contributing, and hopes the press box reset sparks that.
"The guy cares," Tortorella said. "His name is being bounced around, right? During the deadline and all this. He wants to be here, and I'm not going to give up on him."
Gauthier's stat line from Saturday night: minus-1, 3 shots on goal, 13:19 played.
Drysdale, with the caveat that defensemen do usually get more time: 1 goal and 1 assist for 2 points, a plus-1 rating, 2 shots on goal, and 18:11 of ice time.
Michkov, as the clear face of the Flyers' rebuild: A power-play goal (which doesn't count as a plus), 4 shots on goal, and 15:57 skated.
Ristolainen's check of Gauthier into his own teammate in the second period was also announced as the check of the game by PA announcer Lou Nolan in the third period.
The replay was shown on the video board. The crowd erupted again.
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