Author: Jackie Spiegel

DENVER ― Standing in the hallway outside the Flyers locker room on Wednesday in Utah, coach Rick Tocchet said his team needed to learn “how to play winning hockey.”

Two nights later, they handed the NHL’s No. 1 team its second regulation loss at home this season. The Flyers wrapped up a three-game road trip with an impressive 7-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche, leaving the new “Death Valley” through Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, and Denver, with five out of six possible points.

It wasn’t easy, especially in the first period against Colorado’s high-octane offense, but Sam Ersson put on a show.

The Flyers’ goalie committed robbery several times as he faced 17 shots, including a torrent of high-danger chances by the Avalanche in the opening frame. Across the full 60 minutes, he would stop 32 of 35 shots on the way to his eighth win of the season.

Just 45 seconds into the game, the Flyers were shorthanded after Travis Konecny took a hooking call. Although the Avalanche entered the night ranked 26th on the power play, they still have guys like Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar who can score at will.

But Ersson stood up to the task. He stopped Martin Nečas with his glove and then stoned not just a Victor Olofsson snapshot from the bumper but Nečas on the rebound at the right post.

At even strength, after Konecny couldn’t control the puck and lost it in the Flyers’ end, Ersson had to make a save on a tipped shot by Gavin Brindley. But then he made a beauty of a glove save as the rebound went back to Brindley in the slot for the quick shot. With 3:33 left in the period, he made another impressive save, snaring a quick shot by Brock Nelson after the puck popped out to him in the slot.

Owen Tippett got the Flyers on the board first with a snipe from the right circle. The forward got the puck and skated through the neutral zone, going one-on-one with Avalanche defenseman Sam Malinski.

The speedster pushed Malinksi back and then put on the brakes. After the blueliner blocked the initial shot, Tippett picked up the loose puck and beat goalie Mackenzie Blackwood stick side.

Philly took a 2-0 lead with 63 seconds to go in the opening frame on a power-play goal by Denver Barkey. The second power-play unit of Cam York, Matvei Michkov, Tippett, Noah Cates, and Barkey had a great shift by maintaining pressure and composure.

Tippett sent the puck down to Matvei Michkov at the goal line by the right post. The Russian winger then fed it up to Barkey, who was waiting patiently in the right circle, and sent off a quick shot. The youngster, who scored his second career goal, also had the primary assist on Tippett’s goal.

Colorado is the NHL’s best for a reason, and they tied things up in the second period on goals by Parker Kelly and Olofsson. Christian Dvorak turned the puck over to Kelly in the Flyers’ end before Kelly finished the play by scooping up a rebound. Olofsson scored his goal after he got the puck and skated down into the left circle, beating Ersson glove-side.

But the Flyers did not break, and 32 seconds after Olofsson tied it 2-2, Bobby Brink gave the Flyers another lead.

Skating in on a two-on-one, Brink fed Cates, who didn’t get good wood on the puck. But he tracked it down, and he and Brink played catch before Brink used his feet to keep the puck loose. Brink, who returned to the lineup on Monday after missing six games with a concussion, got it back atop the crease and roofed it for his 13th goal of the season. He set a new career high.

Two-time Norris Trophy winner Cale Makar tied it back up 1:11 after Brink scored, but the Flyers came out for the third period on fire. They clearly learned from their mistakes in Wednesday’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Utah Mammoth and did not sit back.

Tippett scored his second of the game 56 seconds into the final frame to give the Flyers a 4-3 lead. Sean Couturier intercepted the puck near the Flyers’ blue line and started the rush up the ice. Tippett got the puck and kept it as Barkey went to the net. The power forward skated into the left circle and beat Blackwood glove side.

Sixty-four seconds later, Michkov notched his 11th goal of the season as he tipped in a point shot by Emil Andrae to make it 5-3. As the Flyers worked the puck around the boards, Michkov skated to the bottom of the left circle and planted himself perfectly for the deflection.

But the Flyers weren’t done finding the back of the net — led by Tippett, who would snag the second hat trick of his NHL career. Killing a penalty by Barkey, Tippett picked off a pass attempt by Makar inside the Flyers’ blue line and took off. He skated down the ice and put the puck five-hole for his 18th goal of the season.

And then the 21-year-old Michkov, who was skating well all night and had his legs, would add an empty-netter to seal the win. Konecny picked off a pass attempt — akin to his two goals against Vegas on Monday — before pulling the veteran move and passing the puck to Michkov for his second two-goal game of the season.

Breakaways

Forwards Nikita Grebenkin and Nic Deslauriers, and defenseman Hunter McDonald were the healthy scratches. … The Flyers have a three-game point streak. … Jamie Drysdale, Cates, and Michkov were all plus-3 on the night. … Tippett tied his career high with four points. … Garnet Hathaway got his first assist of the season on Michkov’s first goal, giving him two points in 44 games this season. … Konecny extended his point streak to four games (three goals, three assists).

Up next

The Flyers head home for a meeting with the New York Islanders on Monday (7 p.m., NBCSP).

SALT LAKE CITY ― Standing in the hallway outside the Flyers’ locker room at the Delta Center after a 5-4 overtime loss to the Utah Mammoth on Wednesday, Rick Tocchet was the most frustrated and direct he’s been all season after a loss.

“Obviously, we had good parts of it, but that’s unacceptable what happened tonight. So [there’s] really not much to say,” the Flyers coach said.

“I’ve been here [49] games, and there’s some really good stuff,” he added. “But when the pressure hits this team, we’ve got to learn how to play winning hockey.”

The Flyers had the game on their sticks. Literally.

Garnet Hathaway skated in on an empty net with Utah goalie Karel Vejmelka pulled and nothing standing in his way of making it a two-goal game with 1 minute, 27 seconds left in regulation. Instead, he dallied, got his pocket picked, and never got a shot on goal.

Nick Seeler then had a shot that was blocked by Clayton Keller, the eventual tying- and winning-goal scorer, with 1:16 to go. Travis Konecny had a third chance at the empty net from the right point blocked by Jack McBain with 53 ticks remaining.

Those came after Trevor Zegras had been robbed by the glove of Vejmelka and Owen Tippett nailed the crossbar. Zegras also hit a post with 2:55 left. But those were just missed opportunities to ice the game.

The Flyers also allowed the Mammoth to climb back into a game in which they led 3-0 and 4-2.

Noah Juulsen rushed to defend Jamie Drysdale and got tagged for an extra minor, leading to the 4-3 goal with less than eight minutes to go. “I love Juuls, but take a punch in the mouth,” Tocchet said afterward. “You’ve got to win the game. … You can’t take a penalty there.”

Then there was veteran defenseman Travis Sanheim getting dog walked by Keller on the tying goal with 35 seconds left, and Konecny losing the puck to Dylan Guenther deep in the Utah zone in the lead-up to Keller’s overtime winner.

The Flyers also could have done with one more timely save along the way from Sam Ersson, who allowed five goals on 27 shots.

As Ersson said, “Obviously, it [stinks], losing this game, but it’s not on one guy, it’s on everybody.”

Tocchet can say that they’ve got to “keep building certain people, and get some of these young guys to understand that and go that direction.” But this was on the veterans.

Regardless, the game is now in the past. Mistakes happen. It’s what one does in response that matters.

“I thought for the most part, we were the better team [and] played some good hockey,” said Christian Dvorak, who scored twice. “Sat back a little bit. It’s a tough loss. It stings, but we can’t let it tread on the next game.”

That next game is Friday against powerhouse Colorado. The Avalanche, who have only five regulation losses all season, are 20-1-4 at Ball Arena.

With the Flyers sitting three points out of a playoff spot at 23-17-9 and with the 16th-best points percentage in the NHL, this is a big game. Leaving a three-game road trip with at least four points out of six across the new Death Valley would not only keep the Flyers in the playoff picture but be a good return considering they entered the week riding a six-game losing streak.

The Flyers need to do what they did well early on against the Mammoth:

• They need to play as aggressively as they did in the first period, when Cam York scored after sneaking down from the point to bury a rebound, and Dvorak got behind the defense and scored around a sprawled-out Vejmelka.
• The power play scored twice, with Bobby Brink getting one of the goals. The Flyers moved the puck well and created good momentum, but as Tocchet said, “I liked it early, and we did a good job, but then the last one or two, we revert to old style again.” After going 2-for-6 on the power play, the Flyers have moved up from 32 to 30 (15.5%) but will have a tall task against the NHL’s best penalty kill (85.0%).

• The penalty kill was good early on and looked like the unit that went 6-for-7 against the Vegas Golden Knights’ potent power play on Monday. But it came up short in the end, with Guenther given space to put a shot on goal that hit Barrett Hayton to make it 4-3. “You’ve got to come out and block the shot, play aggressively, and we sunk,” Tocchet said. “We let Guenther, one of the best shooters in the league, go and shoot the puck. Obviously, we unraveled, and we’ve got to put the pieces back.” One positive — the Avalanche’s power play, given its immense star power, is surprisingly not clicking much better than the Flyers’ at 16.5%.
• Turnovers are going to happen. It’s inevitable when you’re playing in a 200-by-85-foot enclosed space with 10 people typically skating around 20 mph. But the Flyers need to minimize them, especially when facing guys like Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, who can turn it into a goal in a heartbeat.
• Whether it is Ersson or Dan Vladař returning from his injury in goal, the Flyers need saves. Early on, like he played in Vegas, Ersson was impressive against Utah, playing with confidence as he read the puck well, especially through traffic. The late goals were not entirely his fault, as one was a deflected shot, and the game-winner saw a guy left wide-open in the slot, but the Flyers will need big-time saves against the Avs. Ersson was in net for the Flyers’ 3-2 loss at home to Colorado in December, and let in three goals on 28 shots, with the game-winner coming off a cross-ice pass.

SALT LAKE CITY ― The Flyers were in control until they weren’t.

After ending a six-game losing streak on Monday, and snapping the Vegas Golden Knights’ seven-game winning streak in the process, they lost to the Utah Mammoth, 5-4, in overtime on Wednesday.

The Flyers had a 3-0 lead early in the second and led by two going into the final frame. It was only the fourth time after leading after two periods that they did not come out victorious.

Clayton Keller scored in overtime from the slot after he tied the game with 35 seconds left in regulation during a six-on-five situation.

The Utah captain tied the game when he knocked a bouncing puck away from Travis Sanheim. Keller skated around the defenseman, cut across the crease, and backhanded one over Sam Ersson. On the game-winner, Travis Konecny lost the puck deep in the Utah zone to Dylan Guenther, who carried it up the ice and eventually fed Keller for the shot.

Philly had chances to extend its lead several times, with Owen Tippett ringing one off the post after a sick dangle with 5 minutes, 55 seconds left, and Garnet Hathaway with the puck on his stick and skating in alone toward an empty net with just under 1:30 to play. But Hathaway didn’t pull the trigger fast enough and had his pocket picked by Nick Schmaltz.

It was a stinging loss as the Flyers led the game just 30 seconds in.

Defenseman Cam York slammed home the rebound on a turnaround shot by Sanheim. The goal came off sustained pressure by the defensive pair with the line of Christian Dvorak, Konecny, and Trevor Zegras, with the latter two using the boards before Konecny fed Sanheim.

The goal was York’s fourth of the season, tying his total from last year across 66 games.

Just over four minutes later, the Flyers were up 2-0 for the first time since Jan. 4 against the Edmonton Oilers. The Flyers broke out of their own end with Noah Juulsen sending an outlet pass up in the air to Konecny at center ice.

Konecny knocked the puck down and led Dvorak with the pass and he took off. The center skated between the defense, cut across the crease, and put the puck around the right pad of Karel Vejmelka.

The Flyers took a 3-0 lead with a power-play goal 58 seconds into the second period. After a clean zone entry, the unit of Zegras, Konecny, Jamie Drysdale, and Bobby Brink got to work.

Zegras and Drysdale played catch above the circles before Zegras put a shot on goal from inside the blue line. Brink had been in the bumper but then rotated into the left circle before dropping down and burying the rebound on Zegras’ shot.

The goal was Brink’s 12th of the season, tying his career high set last season.

Utah started to pick up its game after a hard and borderline high hit by Liam O’Brien on Tippett in the neutral zone. Initially, the referees called a major penalty, but after a video review, ruled that it did not warrant a penalty. Tippett left the game but returned to the bench later in the second period.

The Mammoth then scored two quick goals 36 seconds apart, the first by JJ Peterka and the second by Lawson Crouse.

On the goal by Peterka, there was a scramble at the side of the net, and he jammed in the loose puck. The Crouse goal came after Sean Durzi’s shot went off the stick of Brink, and Emil Andrae couldn’t handle the bobbling puck. Crouse knocked it away from the Flyers defenseman, and Schmaltz fed Crouse for the quick snapshot.

Flyers coach Rick Tocchet called a timeout to settle down his club, and it worked.

The Orange and Black had some chances, and then Dvorak added his second of the night with a power-play goal. He got the puck in the neutral zone, gained the zone, and fired a wrister from the right circle. Vejmelka couldn’t control the rebound, and Dvorak knocked the follow-up in.

With his second multigoal game of the season, Dvorak now has 12 goals, tying his total last season with the Montreal Canadiens. His career high is 18 set in 2019-20.

Utah cut it to a one-goal game with 7:13 left when Barrett Hayton deflected a Guenther shot from the left circle on a power play past Ersson. The Mammoth had the man advantage after Juulsen dropped the gloves with Jack McBain and got an extra two minutes for roughing. Juulsen went after McBain, who ran over Drysdale.

Breakaways

Making the start for the second straight game — the first time since Dec. 18-20 — Ersson stopped 22 of 27 shots. … Forward Carl Grundström was a healthy scratch for the first time since entering the lineup on Dec. 9. In that 21-game span, he had seven goals and nine points. … Defenseman Hunter McDonald and forward Nic Deslauriers were also healthy scratches. … The Flyers extended their point streak to two games.

Up next

The Flyers head to Denver to face the NHL’s best team, the Colorado Avalanche — who have only five losses in regulation on the season — on Friday (9 p.m., NBCSP).

SALT LAKE CITY ― Familiarity and opportunity.

Those are two reasons that several free agents signed with the Flyers this season, as Christian Dvorak, Noah Juulsen, and Dan Vladař did. It’s why Lane Pederson did, too.

After spending the last two seasons with the Edmonton Oilers organization, the centerman saw Philly as a place where he would have an opportunity to return to the NHL. And he had familiarity with Rick Tocchet and assistant coach Jay Varady. On July 1, he signed a one-year, two-way deal worth $775,000 in the NHL.

On Wednesday, Pederson will skate in his second game for the Flyers against the Utah Mammoth (9 p.m., NBCSP). The 28-year-old will be the pivot on the fourth line, replacing Rodrigo Ābols, who went down with a long-term injury on Saturday.

In the Flyers’ win against the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday, he played his first NHL game since March 30, 2023, with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Pederson skated a little under nine minutes in a game filled with special teams. It’s a departure from his deployment by John Snowden, the coach for Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League, where Pederson had 13 goals and 28 points in 37 games. With the Phantoms, he was centering the team’s top line — between Denver Barkey and Alex Bump.

“Just a really great human being, down-to-earth, and made me feel welcome in Lehigh right away. So really appreciative of him, obviously,” Barkey said. “A special player, really reliable, 200-foot, but also really smart. He skates well, holds on to pucks, and kind of does it all. So it’s exciting to have him here.”

Largely a career minor leaguer, Pederson entered the season with 71 NHL games across four teams: the Arizona Coyotes, San Jose Sharks, Vancouver Canucks, and Blue Jackets.

His tenure in Arizona overlapped with those of Tocchet and Varady, with the former at the NHL level and training camps, and the latter in the AHL. He was also with Tocchet for a few days after the bench boss was hired by Vancouver before being claimed off waivers by Columbus.

“Jay was awesome for my development [during] my time in Tucson,” Pederson said. “It’s a familiar face and someone I can kind of lean on and go ask questions, and he’s helped me along the way. He’s open door and open book, so he’s been great.

“We’ve kind of kept in touch throughout the years, text here and there, congratulate one another on milestones and stuff like that. So it’s awesome to be able to work with him and Tocc again.”

According to Tocchet, Varady and Pederson spent time together going over video and on-ice reads since he joined the Flyers for the three-game road trip that ends Friday in Denver against the Colorado Avalanche. Consistency is something that Pederson has been chasing, but the bench boss likes what the Saskatchewan native can bring to the bottom of the lineup.

“He’s got some speed up the middle, something that we want, we need, and I think that can help his wingers,” Tocchet said. “So if he can play [with] speed up [but] now the reads and sometimes he’s got to know puck decision stuff, that’s stuff he’s going to have to learn at this level to be consistent. But it’s tough to find those speed up the middle guys.”

Breakaways

Sam Ersson (7-8-4, .860 save percentage) will get the start for the Flyers. It will be the first time he starts back-to-back games since Dec. 18-20. Last season in Utah, the Swede had a masterful performance, with the Flyers ultimately losing in overtime despite Ersson stopping 39 of 42 shots. … It looks like Nikita Grebenkin will slot back in on the fourth line. Carl Grundström stayed out on the ice during the optional morning skate. …. Goalie Dan Vladař continues to work his way back and was on the ice for the optional skate at the Delta Center after not participating in the team’s practice on Tuesday. He did skate on his own on a different rink.

LAS VEGAS ― On Saturday, captain Sean Couturier stood in front of reporters in the Flyers locker room at Xfinity Mobile Arena after a 6-3 loss to the Rangers and said, “We [stunk]. Plain and simple. We can’t show up.”

Fast forward to Monday night at T-Mobile Arena after a 2-1 win against the Vegas Golden Knights, and Couturier said, “Yeah, it was a gutsy win.”

It wasn’t always pretty, but it was a win. Finally, after losing six straight, the Flyers were able to hold off the red-hot Golden Knights.

Here are four stars.

4. The penalty kill

The Flyers’ penalty kill has been dreadful. Since Jan. 1, it entered the game as the league’s second-worst unit at 57.7%. That led to assistant coach Todd Reirden, who is in charge of the penalty kill, calling a meeting on Monday morning. According to Travis Konecny, it was a detailed, long meeting focused on reminding the players what made them so successful early in the season.

“We had a really good meeting this morning, and had a game plan going into their power play,” defenseman Nick Seeler said. “Obviously, they’re a top-10 power play in the league. I thought our pressure was a smart, pressure, right? So, try to take away time and space for [Jack] Eichel, he’s a heck of a player, obviously. We did a good job, obviously. We need to stay out of the box, but, you know, PK was good tonight so that’s a positive.”

Eichel did help Vegas get its lone goal when he sent a shot-pass to Tomáš Hertl as he glided in front and deflected the puck past goalie Sam Ersson.

But when you’re facing the fourth-best power play in the NHL, and you allow just one goal on seven power plays, that’s pretty darn good. And one of those penalty kills was in the last 1 minute, 33 seconds of the game when Owen Tippett sent the puck over the glass — in a one-goal game. The Flyers made two big blocks during that kill, one by Seeler and one by Cam York.

The structure was better as they didn’t collapse or shift into the box too often; coach Rick Tocchet likes to employ the diamond on the penalty kill. According to Natural Stat Trick, Vegas had 12 shot attempts, five shots on goal, seven scoring chances, and five high-danger chances. But in the end, the Flyers and Golden Knights each got a goal while the home team was on the man advantage.

“Obviously, on the PK you’re going to have to give up some shots. So just knowing which ones we want to kind of give up and the ones we need help to take away,” Ersson said. “Like a lot of our penalty kill, I think we build on like our urgency and our willingness to block shots. I think that’s huge for us to have success.

“And we did that tonight, and it kind of leads the way and gives so much momentum to the team when guys put their body on the line like that.”

3. Nick Seeler

Speaking of guys who like to lay their body on the line, Seeler came up big in several ways Monday.

Although Tocchet had shown different defensive pairings during recent practices and morning skates, he stuck to his pairings. Seeler was paired with Noah Juulsen and was on the ice during the final 1:33 of the game. Seeler slid and made a massive block with 44 seconds left on a Shea Theodore shot to preserve the win.

But it was earlier in the game when he made the biggest play.

In the second period, he faced a two-on-one when Juulsen pinched down the right boards. Seeler was the lone man back facing two of Vegas’ best in Ivan Barbashev and Mark Stone. He stayed on his feet and blocked the Stone pass intended for Barbashev across the crease.

It was a big moment in the game but also a big moment considering what Tocchet said Saturday after the loss to the Rangers.

“We’re just doing things,” an exacerbated Tocchet said. “Even on two-on-one, the guys on the outside site, why are you leaving your feet and letting them pass [across]? Just hold them; that’s something we’ve really worked on this year and have done a good job.

“But now we’re sliding again, and we’re trying to block a shot now. How many weakside goals have we been giving up lately? That’s something that I’ve been preaching since the start of the year: You cannot give weakside goals up.”

The play was huge as it kept it a one-goal game.

“Yeah, [Tocchet] likes the D to try not to leave their feet,” Seeler said. “Obviously, there’s situations where you need to desperation-wise, but, yeah, it’s good. It’s nice to break those up and get going the other way.”

2. Travis Konecny

From the onset, it looked like the alternate captain was determined and focused on ending the losing streak. In the end, he led the way with a pair of goals, each scored off turnovers by the Golden Knights.

His first goal came off a Hertl turnover just inside the Flyers blue line as the Czech center tried to pass to Vegas defenseman Kaedan Korczak. Konecny poked the puck away from Korczak and took off. He skated in one-on-one with goalie Adin Hill and beat him glove side to open the scoring 3:46 into the game.

“I wanted to make sure I had a good start, our line had a good start, because that had been something that was creeping into our game that we were struggling with,” Konecny said.

In the third period, he picked off an errant pass by Eichel during a Vegas power play and took off again. This time he went blocker side because he was “just trying to mess with [Hill’s] head a little bit.” Konecny knows Hill, who was also his teammate at 4 Nations, and his father, as the Flyers forward spends his summers in Calgary, where the Golden Knights goalie grew up.

“Yeah, he’s a great player,” Couturier said. “That’s what he does, he scores goals, uses his speed well. And what I love about it is, his two breakaway goals he’s in the right spot defensively and jumps on loose pucks and reads and reacts the right way and gets rewarded.”

1. Sam Ersson

Nine days ago, after allowing seven goals on 23 shots to the Tampa Bay Lightning, Ersson spoke to The Inquirer. He called his season tough and the loss to Tampa Bay embarrassing. Nineteen games into the season, he was 6-8-4 with a bloated 3.43 goals-against average and an NHL-worst .855 save percentage among goalies who played in at least 15 games.

With Dan Vladař on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury, Ersson got a chance to right the ship on Monday. And it was evident from the jump that this night would be different.

In the first minute of play, he made a confident save on defenseman Noah Hanifin before stopping a Stone tip-in from seven feet out.

“It’s a nice way to get in the game, get in a groove and a flow of the game, getting some shots early, and obviously nice to come up with some big stops,” Ersson said. “So it definitely helps [with confidence].”

The Swedish netminder moved well, tracking the puck and positioning his body well in advance of shots. According to Natural Stat Trick, he stopped 12 of 13 high-danger shots. He finished with 24 saves.

“Awesome. Again, we know it. He just proved us all right,” Konecny said. “He’s an unbelievable guy, unbelievable goalie, and, guys that work hard like him, who are just like the most likable guys, you really want to push for those guys, and I’m just really happy for him. Awesome teammate and stud goalie.”

Ersson earned a lot of praise from his coach postgame.

“Nobody’s going to feel sorry for Sam. He doesn’t have that attitude,” Tocchet said. “It’s almost like he’s got that closer mentality. I’ve given up a bunch of home runs, but I want the ball again. And he took the ball and closed the game for us.”

LAS VEGAS ― The Flyers put all their chips in.

And it paid off.

The Flyers snapped their losing streak at six games with a 2-1 victory on Monday against the Vegas Golden Knights. They ended the Golden Knights’ seven-game winning streak in the process.

After allowing at least five goals in the past five games, the Flyers were stingy, allowing just one goal for the first time since Sam Ersson stopped 20 of 21 shots against the Chicago Blackhawks on Dec. 23.

Vegas gave it their all to tie it up during a gut-wrenching end as Owen Tippett was called for delay of game with 1 minute, 33 seconds left in regulation. But Nick Seeler made a big block on Shea Theodore, and Sam Ersson stopped a slap shot by Jack Eichel with 23 seconds left on the clock. Golden Knights forward Pavel Dorofeyev was blocked twice, by Cam York and Travis Sanheim, as Vegas had six shot attempts in a final flurry.

Travis Konecny played his cards right and scored both Flyers goals. He gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead 3:46 into the game

Skating just inside the Flyers’ blue line, Vegas forward Tomáš Hertl was getting pressured by York and tried to feed a pass to his defenseman as he crossed in front of him.

The Flyers winger poked the puck away from Kaedan Korczak and took off. He skated in one-on-one with goalie Adin Hill and beat him glove side.

Konecny then gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead in the third period on a similar play — this time while shorthanded.

Eichel carried the puck across the Flyers’ blue line and passed it backward, thinking the Knights had numbers. Instead, it went right to Konecny, who outraced the defense for a breakaway. After beating Hill glove side, he went blocker side this time for the Flyers’ fourth shorthanded goal this season.

Asked postgame if he went blocker side on the second goal to switch it up, Konecny said with a smile, “No, that’s just more about, I’m just trying to mess with his head a little bit,” he said. Konecny knows Hill and his dad, as the Flyers forward spends his summers in Calgary, where the Golden Knights’ goalie grew up. The two also won gold at the 4 Nations Face-Off last February together.

Konecny now has 17 goals and 43 points in 47 games this season. He missed one game with an upper-body injury.

The first goal by Konecny came 42 seconds after Ersson made a spectacular save on Alexander Holtz. Ersson’s Swedish countryman got behind Sean Couturier and Emil Andrae for a tip-in chance off a centering pass by Cole Reinhardt.

It was one of several big-time saves by Ersson in the first period as Philly was outshot 11-4. He also read the play perfectly and stopped Hertl from the bumper during a Vegas power play. In his 18th start, it was the fifth first period this season that he did not allow a goal.

In the second period, he got some help when Seeler made a fantastic play on a two-on-one. Skating alone after Noah Juulsen pinched, Seeler stayed up as Mark Stone tried to go back to Ivan Barbashev and knocked the puck away.

The Flyers’ penalty kill, which allowed eight goals in 21 opportunities during the six-game losing streak, looked good across the first three power plays for Vegas. But if you keep giving the NHL’s fourth-best power play (26.5%) chance after chance, it is going to strike.

So on the fourth one, they did. Hertl, making up for his mistake earlier, glided through the slot and deflected in the shot-pass by Eichel past Ersson.

Ersson stopped 24 of 25 shots to earn his first win since Dec. 23.

Breakaways

The Flyers’ penalty kill went 6-for-7, and the power play went 0-for-2. … Konecny had his first multi-goal game of the season. … Center Lane Pederson made his Flyers debut after being recalled from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League on Sunday. He played 8:38. … Winger Bobby Brink returned after missing six games with an upper-body injury. He played 13:28 and had one shot, two missed shots, and blocked two more. …

Up next

The Flyers head to Utah to take on the up-and-coming Mammoth on Wednesday (9 p.m., NBCSP+).

LAS VEGAS — As the Flyers try to work their way out of a six-game losing streak, they’ll have to do it without Rodrigo Ābols.

The fourth-line center and penalty killer was injured Saturday, 6 minutes, 10 seconds into a 6-3 loss to the New York Rangers at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Ābols appeared to get his right toe stuck in the ice along the boards in the offensive zone, and his ankle buckled.

One of the first players named to Latvia’s team for the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics, Ābols was unable to skate off the ice without help. Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said postgame, “It’s not good. I’m not going to get into it, but it’s not good.”

On Sunday, the 30-year-old was placed on injured reserve. He had three goals and 10 points in 42 games while averaging 10 minutes, 43 seconds of ice time leading up to Saturday. Ābols doubled his point total from last year in 22 games, one of which was his NHL debut.

In a corresponding move, Lane Pederson was called up from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League. Although Pederson was not at practice on Sunday at T-Mobile Arena, as he made his way from Allentown after playing for the Phantoms on Saturday night, coach Rick Tocchet said he could get some time in the NHL with the center position now thin.

“We need a centerman, a quick centerman, some speed through the middle,” the coach said. “Can he supply that for us? Yeah, maybe he can. He’s looking for consistency, and so hopefully we can help him.”

Signed by the Flyers to a one-year, two-way deal worth $775,000 in the NHL on July 1, Pederson was centering the top line for the farm team — at one point between Denver Barkey and Alex Bump. Pederson has 13 goals and 28 points in 37 games, with three of his goals on the power play, one shorthanded, and two game-winners.

A career minor leaguer, the 28-year-old has played 71 NHL games across four teams: the Arizona Coyotes, San Jose Sharks, Vancouver Canucks, and Columbus Blue Jackets.

His tenure in Arizona crossed paths with Tocchet, the team with whom he made his NHL debut on April 2, 2021, during the COVID-19-shortened season. An undrafted forward, Pederson scored his first NHL goal in his debut.

And they worked together briefly in Vancouver. Tocchet was hired on Jan. 22, 2023, and Pederson was picked up on waivers by Columbus six days later.

“He’s a good skater,” Tocchet said. “The thing he’s been chasing is consistency. We had him for a couple of games, and then it’s a drop-off, right? So, he’s been around the block. Here’s a chance for him. We need him.”

McDonald is no longer on the farm

Hunter McDonald got a front-row seat to the Flyers’ recent woes on Saturday. The hulking 6-foot-4, 235-pound defenseman was pulled aside by assistant general manager Alyn McCauley after the Phantoms game on Friday and told to pack his bags. He watched the loss to New York from the press box before joining the Orange and Black on the flight to Nevada.

“Obviously, excitement. Called my parents right away and stuff like that. So just sharing the good news and more work to be had,” said McDonald, the Flyers’ sixth-round pick in 2022.

The recall became official Saturday night after Rasmus Ristolainen was placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. Although a team source said the early findings were positive and that they may have avoided the worst-case scenario, the defenseman did not make the trip west. He was placed on IR to give the Flyers a seventh defenseman.

Although his parents are on standby in Western New York, there are no guarantees McDonald gets into one of the three games on the road trip this week, beginning Monday against the Vegas Golden Knights (8 p.m., NBCSP). He skated with forward Nic Deslauriers, who was originally drafted as a defenseman, on the fourth pair at practice.

“He’s played better,” Tocchet said when asked about the reports he received on McDonald. “I think he had a tough start, from what I’ve heard, but I think the last couple of weeks, I think he’s finding his game a little bit.”

McDonald has five assists in 33 games and is plus-7 with the Phantoms. He has 61 penalty minutes but has been working at finding the line between being a physical defenseman and not getting sent to the penalty box. But don’t worry, the guy who was called a “throwback” to the Broad Street Bullies days by Jerry Keefe, his coach at Northeastern, is still there.

“I think a bit. Kind of, hitting people,” McDonald said with a chuckle. “I know that’s kind of like what it is, but coming near our net, I want to get a stick on you, ending plays. I think that’s a super important part of the game. If I can end these plays in the D zone, be a pain to play against, and then we can go play offense.”

Tocchet wasn’t one to shy away from the physical game during his days with the Flyers and called a player who can toe the line between physical and not taking penalties “the ultimate player.”

“I think like for him is just being a good first-pass D, being really good in front of the net,” Tocchet said. “And he skates pretty well for a big guy. Big guys, you get a guy that can skate, so there’s something there.”

Breakaways

Bobby Brink was a full participant at practice Sunday and skated alongside Matvei Michkov and Noah Cates, with whom he was on a line before suffering an upper-body injury. Brink has missed six games after a blindside hit by Jansen Harkins of the Anaheim Ducks on Jan. 6. … Goalie Dan Vladař, who was injured against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday, made the trip but did not participate in practice. … It looked like Tocchet mixed up the defensive pairings with Travis Sanheim and Emil Andrae together, and Cam York skating with Noah Juulsen. Nick Seeler and Jamie Drysdale were reunited. … The Flyers will not face former teammate Carter Hart in Las Vegas. The goalie suffered a lower-body injury on Jan. 8 and went on IR on Jan. 15.