March 19, 2024
The Flyers needed Tuesday night.
Coming off two brutal losses, one of them to the Leafs less than a week ago, and going with the daring call to scratch captain Sean Couturier, the Flyers returned to the Wells Fargo Center Tuesday night against those same Toronto Maple Leafs and responded big time, surviving a late onslaught to take the regulation win, 4-3.
The Orange and Black move to 35-26-8 for 78 points to stay ahead in the playoff race at third in the Metro division.
They're not out of the woods yet, but they just got some big performances, a crucial two points, and a much-needed second to breathe.
Here are five thoughts from Tuesday night's win...
Sean Couturier hasn't been at his best since being named captain last month, and even though he's shown signs of turning a corner over the past few games, they were still far from his Selke-caliber standard.
He had already been skating down on the fourth line in limited minutes, but head coach John Tortorella still hadn't gotten the response he was looking for out of that move to give way to more regular ice time again. So ahead of Tuesday night's game, Tortorella took an extreme measure to the outside eye.
Couturier wouldn't be skating against the Leafs. Healthy scratch. And for a team deep into what's become a tight playoff race with only less and less room for error, a massive, massive gamble– a potentially season-defining one had they not played the way they did Tuesday night.
And hearing Couturier's comments on it after the morning skate in Voorhees, that was alarming.
"Yeah, it's tough," the Flyers captain said. "Feel like I've been putting the work in for a while. I know I've been struggling trying to work on my game, so definitely frustrated with the way I've been treated around I guess lately, but it is what it is."
"I've gotten the same answer as you guys, just need to see more," Couturier continued on whether he talked to Tortorella about what exactly his coach is expecting. "Still looking to find out what that is, but I'm trying every game. It's not like I'm just sitting around doing nothing...I felt the last couple games with the limited ice time, opportunities I've been getting, I've been doing alright, but I guess we're going with the best lineup available to get a win. So it is what it is."
And look, no one should be untouchable when it comes to accountability on and off the ice, not even the captain. But to sit him this late into the game and with a playoff spot at stake? Man was that a risky call.
But it worked out this time.
Now hopefully there's a spark from Couturier coming back after a rest and a reset.
"I just think him, [Cam Atkinson], a number of guys need to play better," Tortorella said after practice Monday. "It's the old chicken and the egg. 'Give me more ice time, I'll show ya.' I've given people plenty of ice time and the people that I've had slotted and given more minutes as we've gone through here I think deserve it.
"There's no special answer I can give you. You gotta play better. I don't care if it's 10 minutes. I don't care if it's 17-18 minutes. I don't care if it's seven minutes. You gotta give me something to hang my hat on to keep on trying to earn more ice time. I'm coaching 20 guys, not just one, or two or three, it's all of them, and those are the decisions I have to make."
With the blue line in the state that it's in – heavily banged up and stretched thin – it's been near required of Cam York and Travis Sanheim to eat up a ton of minutes on the top defensive pairing. And though it's been a rocky stretch of late for the Flyers, sure, you could tell that the two were steadily rising more and more to the occasion, York especially.
On Tuesday night, York and Sanheim might have turned in one of their finest combined efforts yet. They had the puck moving up ice efficiently from the jump, York nearly scored a highlight reel goal in the first with an incredibly slick move to free him up from off the wall – but his backhander rocketed off the crossbar.
YORK ARE YOU KIDDING ME THAT WAS SO CLOSE#TORvsPHI #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/Lnz5pvWlHD
— Flyers Clips (@Flyers_Clips) March 19, 2024
Sanheim snipe 🎯 pic.twitter.com/5Ypl1LowOW
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) March 20, 2024
York and Sanheim had each skated just over 26 minutes by the end of the night, and with his goal, Sanheim matched his career-high of nine from 2018-19 and hit the 40-point mark for the first time, which is a new career-high on its own.
They were both huge in this one.
As were Morgan Frost and Owen Tippett, who were matched up on the top line with Travis Konecny from the shift to the lineup resulting from Couturier's scratching.
They were buzzing.
Tippett found the back of the net immediately for his 25th goal of the season and sixth point over the last four games.
🚨 OWEN TIPPETT. 19 SECONDS IN. WHAT A START. 🚨 pic.twitter.com/Pd1YrberuL
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) March 19, 2024
The Flyers are flying around and through the Leafs pic.twitter.com/iBRVQ5FVfV
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) March 20, 2024
Three strides and Tippett was gone.
Later into the period, with all kinds of time and space to work with over top, Morgan Frost saw his opening and took it:
Morgan Frost lights the lamp 💡 pic.twitter.com/qZJWTfyQtr
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) March 20, 2024
And paired with the assist on Tippett's goal from the jump, that's also six points for Frost over the last four.
Granted, that hooking call early into the third and William Nylander's ensuing goal on the power play was a blemish on Frost's overall effort, but not enough to cancel out the good, even if it did get dicey by the end.
Because that line did a whole lot of good for the Flyers.
"I think my linemates have been making some good space for me," Frost said. "And I'm trying to shoot the puck a little bit more. I think that's always been a thing with me. I don't have a very hard shot, but you're never gonna score if you don't put it on net. So just trying to throw more pucks to the net, and I think when you're playing with guys like Tipp and TK, sometimes it can be easy to just want to pass to them the whole game and find them. So yeah, kinda just threw that one on net."
And the puck found its way.
Bigger picture, Tippett and Frost are crucial sources of offense for the Flyers and need to be going for them to have a shot, much like York and Sanheim need to be stellar on the back end.
They're still going to need Konecny to get back in swing, Couturier too, but both Tippett and Frost are skating with some authority right now, and there's no better time for it.
"You hope some confidence comes with it," Tortorella said Monday. "With goal scorers, no matter what's going on, if they get some points, you hope that it builds their confidence. And Tipp, [Tyson Foerster], Coots, Cam, all of them, we need to get a little bit more consistency within our lineup."
Nylander didn't score on this and neither did the Leafs on the ensuing scramble right after with Sam Ersson spinning to find and square back up with the puck. The Flyers – with some luck – managed to clear the danger away.
Nylander beats everything but the post pic.twitter.com/upj0AWFIpS
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) March 20, 2024
SAM ERSSON!! #Flyers pic.twitter.com/S8b4ktJv3Q
— Flyers Nation (@FlyersNation) March 20, 2024
The Leafs are no easy assignment for any goaltender with all of their firepower, but the Flyers did well Tuesday night to prevent them from getting too close in front of the crease – well, aside from Tyler Bertuzzi's and John Tavares' late goals where they got right to the doorstep to make it close – and Ersson did his part to stop 27 of 30 Toronto shots, with some timely help from the post, too.
"Yeah, I think I maybe collected some after not getting a bunch over the year," Ersson quipped about his luck postgame. "But it's always ice, and I think as a goalie, you'd like to think you got all the angles covered, that's why they hit the post."
"Ers played amazing," Frost said. "We probably gave [the Leafs] a few too many grade-A chances and I think we ought to do a better job locking it down there in the third period, but I think it doesn't matter how you get it done as long as you get the two points."
And good goaltending can do a lot to bail a team out and grab them. Ersson looked back to form Tuesday night.
"Huge game for Sam, just for him to get some swagger back in his game," Tortorella said afterward. "He was outstanding."
The Flyers are nowhere near safe and still have a gauntlet ahead, but after two tough losses and being left to go without Couturier for a night, the players responded in a major way to take two crucial points from the Leafs and keep a hold of their spot in the playoff and Metro division race for the time being.
They're not out of the woods yet, but the win will definitely make it easier to breathe for a second before getting back at it Thursday in Carolina against a Hurricanes team that has found its stride.
Take things as they come.
"This was a huge one, especially at home," Frost said. "I think our group really needed this one. A lot of guys stepped up and, yeah, it's gonna be a battle going into the end of the season here. Every point matters, so yeah, that was a huge game."
"And nice to beat the Leafs," the Toronto native said with a big smile.
Max Domi plays for the Toronto Maple Leafs. His father Tie, who also played for the Maple Leafs, is pretty well known around here for fighting a fan that fell into the penalty box years ago.
Tie was in the building Tuesday night to watch his son play, and got some recognition during a stoppage midway through from PA announcer Lou Nolan while the clip of that notorious incident played on the scoreboard.
He no-sold his welcome back.
lol pic.twitter.com/27B8rQfd53
— Nick Tricome (@itssnick) March 20, 2024
Follow Nick on Twitter: @itssnick
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