Author: Jackie Spiegel

Two Januarys ago, the Flyers were riding a wave, building steam for the postseason beach.

But a loss to the Eastern Conference’s worst team, the Ottawa Senators, in Game 2 of what proved to be a five-game losing streak sent that wave crashing down before it came ashore. It was a turning point in an otherwise promising season.

Heading into their Thursday matchup at Xfinity Mobile Arena (7 p.m., NBCSP), the Flyers and Senators were in a different predicament. Both teams are on the outside looking in at the playoff picture, but they are tied in points percentage (.545), with the Flyers having a game in hand.

It is the last game for each team before the NHL takes a break for the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics. The Flyers hoped end the unofficial first half of the season with a two-game winning streak.

“Just play how we can play,” forward Noah Cates said Wednesday after practice. “Obviously, a big win [Wednesday], but kind of struggled a little bit there. But try to flush it and get one more before the break.

“Put ourselves in the best spot possible for that push coming in late February, March, and April. So it’s kind of getting back to the way we have been playing when we’ve had success and kind of the team game that we can play.”

Cates was quick to mention that the Flyers’ record after a win isn’t great — it’s 9-11-4. Two of those losses, one in regulation and one in overtime, came at the hands of the Senators.

Although he knew the stat, he and his teammates aren’t paying too much attention to it. After all, Flyers coach Rick Tocchet stresses keeping an even keel and never reading too much into the highs or the lows.

But the bench boss has been down this road before and knows he needs to keep his team focused, as a nice break is on the horizon.

“You’re concerned a guy’s mind is somewhere else,” he said Thursday during an optional morning skate. “I think [assistant coach] Todd [Reirden] told the story about, I think Sidney Crosby, before an All-Star break, or this sort of thing, is one of the leading point-getters of all-time.

“Sometimes their minds are already, ‘Hey, where [are we] going?’” he said. “This is a big game. This is a mindset game. So, yeah, even keel, 100%.”

The Flyers are off the ice until 2 p.m. Feb. 17, when they will practice in Voorhees. They do not return to game action until Feb. 25 at the Washington Capitals (7 p.m., NBCSP).

Ersson update

Sam Ersson was back on the ice with his teammates and participated in the optional morning skate with forward Nic Deslauriers, defenseman Emil Andrae, and goalie Aleksei Kolosov at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

The goalie was injured last Thursday during the Flyers’ loss to the Boston Bruins. Ersson allowed five goals on 20 shots and did not come out for the third period after suffering a lower-body injury.

“I would expect it, yes,” Tocchet said when asked if Ersson should be good to go after the Olympic break. “I mean, 21 days [until the next game]. I would expect it for sure, especially that he’s on the ice now.”

Breakaways

Dan Vladař (17-8-5, .904 save percentage) will start against the Senators. He was in goal for the 2-1 loss in October, allowing two goals on 33 shots. Kolosov will serve as the backup. … Forward Garnet Hathaway slots back into the lineup and Deslauriers comes out. … Despite Tocchet saying he didn’t want Andrae to remain out of the lineup too long, the defenseman will sit again Thursday for the fifth straight game. Andrae has not played since Jan. 26, a 4-0 loss to the New York Islanders. “I was talking to [Reirden], he’s kind of liked the PK the last 3-4 games,” Tocchet said. “I think it’s helped us the last couple of games, even with confidence. … We’ll reset after this game. We have two weeks off, we’ll figure things out from there.”

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Foreigner blasted from the stadium’s speakers.

“You’re as cold as ice,” Lou Gramm sang.

For the 74,575 fans packed into West Shore Home Field at Beaver Stadium, it’s fair to say that was an accurate description of how they were feeling Saturday. The faithful stayed outside in freezing temperatures — it was 16 degrees Fahrenheit at puck drop, but felt colder — willing to sacrifice their own bodies to watch Penn State host Michigan State in the first outdoor game at the home of the Nittany Lions.

“I think it’s cool. It’s like going back to hockey’s roots,” said Penn State alum Billy Maney. “It’s just a different environment and each stadium I’ve been to, or each event, it’s been unique.”

Sporting a 2010 Winter Classic Flyers jersey, Maney — who said it was way colder in Happy Valley than for that game at Fenway Park — wore three to four layers. His game plan to stay warm was to run the stairs, like how Montreal Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis does at the Bell Centre after his team’s morning skate.

He wasn’t the only one strategizing how to stay warm as the sun arced east to west during the three hours it took to complete a 5-4 overtime victory for the Spartans. Michigan State’s Charlie Stramel, a Minnesota Wild prospect, capped off his hat trick in the extra session to win it for the Spartans.

Boxes and boxes of hand warmers welcomed revelers as they entered, with each person bundled up and ready to face the tundra of Beaver Stadium. That is, everyone but the students standing under the press box shirtless for most of the game.

The men, who dwindled from 15 down to five as they turned redder and redder from the cold with each passing goal, would yell “Take it off” to other fans, intermixed with the usual “We are” chants from the rest of the crowd.

“It’s the first time,” explained Brian Keck, a Penn State alum who traveled from York to stand in the cold all bundled up with 15 of his former classmates and their families for a winter weekend, something they’ve done for the last 20 years.

“It’s going to be a great event, and always, Penn State sporting events are the place to be when it comes to sports.”

Despite the ice needing repairs throughout, it was truly a spectacle as No. 5 Penn State hosted No. 2 Michigan State. It had a football vibe as the Blue Band played, and flags with “We Are” and “Penn State” ran up and down the field after every goal for the hometown team. And the team that normally calls the field home, lined the rink and marveled as pucks hit the glass — and some went over the netting — during warmups.

“It’s one of our first experiences with another team here,” said Tony Rojas, a linebacker for the Nittany Lions, in a custom hockey jersey with his No. 13 on the back. “It’s a cool experience and obviously to cheer on the guys at Penn State. We’re all together.”

But it also had an NHL vibe with jerseys for the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, Pittsburgh Penguins — former Flyers forward Jaromír Jágr was spotted on one — Winnipeg Jets, New York Rangers, and of course, the Orange and Black dotting the crowd. Flyers orange is an easy color to spot at games in general, and Saturday was no different, as prospect Shane Vansaghi could see the faithful while on the rink.

“So fun,” Vansaghi said of the experience. “Probably one of the best experiences I’ve ever been a part of in terms of my hockey career. It’s got to be up there with probably the most fun game that I’ve ever played.

“And just the way it ended, the way it went, it was fun. … Competitive, tight game back and forth, so it’s just fun to be a part of those games, especially playing in front of [more than] 74,000 people.”

Growing up in St. Louis, Vansaghi didn’t get to experience outdoor hockey often, although there was a bitter cold snap when he was 12 or 13 years old, so he had about two weeks to skate outdoors. Despite his inexperience, he was an old pro at it with eye black and zero extra layers thanks to the heated benches; however, he did confess his toes and his hands were a little cold at the end of the game.

His teammate and fellow Flyers prospect, Porter Martone, “grew up and found the love for the game on an outdoor pond,” as a youth in Ontario, Canada.

“It is pretty special to play an outdoor game,” said Martone, who had three assists on Saturday after collecting the game-winner and two assists in Friday’s 6-3 win at Pegula Ice Arena.

“I remember when I was 2 years old, just skating on that rink and just learned how to fall in love with the game, and that’s where I kind of learned all the skills and kind of all the little things.”

While there was a lot of blue and white, there was also Michigan State green. Jayson Lottes and Michael Regan came with five layers to insulate them from the cold. They drove from Bethesda, Md., and Wilkes-Barre, respectively, to cheer on their alma mater. “It’s exciting for the sport. Having so many people here is a great thing,” said Regan.

But the Penn Staters were the loudest and proudest since they had, literally, home-field advantage. With each goal by their team, a roar echoed around the stadium, and white pom-poms pumped to the music.

No reaction was bigger than when Gavin McKenna, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2026 NHL draft, showed off his high-end talent and tied the game 2-2 in the second period.

“I kind of blacked out on that one,” said McKenna, who grew up skating outside in Whitehorse, Yukon, of his animated reaction. “I think just the emotions in that game, obviously, with the crowd, the atmosphere, how tight of a game it was, it’s pretty easy to get excited like that.”

The game was another major milestone for a school that is becoming a hockey valley. Fourteen years ago, Penn State became a Division I program. Last season, they reached a Frozen Four normally dominated by blue-blood teams from established hockey states like Massachusetts, Minnesota, Michigan, and Colorado.

On Saturday, the University filled a football stadium with not just hockey fans but with Penn State hockey fans.

“I went to every coach on our staff and said, ‘Look behind you,’ because when you looked behind you, it was just absolutely jammed,” Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky said. “And people were into it. I couldn’t believe it was a hockey game; I really couldn’t. It just blew me away. Constantly, numerous times, every period, I would just look around at the atmosphere and just take it in. I don’t know how to explain it.

“It’s very, very humbling that I get to be a part of something like this.”

COLUMBUS, Ohio — For most of the night, it seemed as if the Flyers were still on a road outside Columbus. Despite facing a Metropolitan Division foe in the Blue Jackets, and with their playoff dreams fading away, it was too much of that Midwest way of ease.

They finally turned it up for the third period and were knocking on the door of a comeback, thanks to Travis Konecny and Dan Vladař, but then fell back into the habits that sank them earlier in the game. Within five minutes it went from a tie game to a 5-3 loss.

Just a few weeks ago, the Flyers were sitting inside the playoff picture. Now they’ve lost nine of 11.

“We just shot ourselves in the foot a few times, and they capitalized on them,” defenseman Travis Sanheim said. “And just weren’t executing the way that we need to at this level. And it cost us.”

The gas tank seemed to be low for much of the team for much of the time — except for Konecny and Vladař.

“We all know he’s our big dog, as everybody says,” Vladař said about Konecny. “We were happy that he’s going, but at the same time, it’s a team game. We just can’t rely on only two players. We cannot expect from him scoring [a] hat trick every single game.”

A painful hat trick

Konecny notched his third career hat trick as he gutted and grimaced out a performance that could have and should have gone down in Flyers lore.

His first goal tied the score at 1, settling things down momentarily after his line was on the ice for the first Columbus goal 38 seconds into the game — thanks to a turnover by Trevor Zegras. But then, at the end of the second, Konecny blocked a Damon Severson slap shot off his ankle or foot and appeared to be in so much pain that the guy who normally sticks around after the buzzer was already deep down the tunnel when it sounded.

He wasn’t out there for the start of the third — missing the opening shift with his linemates, Zegras and Christian Dvorak — but he was on the bench just as the puck dropped and was back on the ice for their next rotation. The next shift after, Konecny made it 3-2, and with 4 minutes, 46 seconds remaining, he received a nifty pass from his buddy Travis Sanheim to tie it at 3.

But in the process, the Flyers may have lost Konecny for some time.

“He’s hitting the holes, and … he races inside on them and beats people, and then obviously he’s got a good shot,” coach Rick Tocchet said.

“And he took one off the foot. He’s limping around. He might not play [Thursday against the Boston Bruins]. We don’t know. He [had] a lot of guts tonight.”

Konecny is the Flyers’ leader in goals (20) and points (48), and losing him would be a big hole to fill as they try to climb back in the race. They are six points out of third place in the Metro and eight points back of a wild-card slot.

Vladař’s strong return

Although Sam Ersson battled and performed up to the task across the gauntlet through Las Vegas, Utah, and Colorado, the return of Vladař after a six-game absence was expected to be a durable shovel added to the dig-out.

Although he missed two weeks and said he didn’t “think my legs and my reads were there at the beginning,” the No. 1 goalie was up to the task. But the defense faltered in front of him again, committing turnovers and leaving Blue Jackets wide-open on the weak side.

“We’ve talked from training camp [about] the weakside goals, and lately, since Tampa, we’re just giving up too many weakside goals,” Tocchet said, referencing two straight losses to the Lightning in mid-January.

“You cannot let that weakside goal go in. Obviously, there’s a couple of guys [who] made mistakes on it. Let Vladdy have the strong side shot; he stops that all day long. But that one’s impossible for him to stop.

“I shouldn’t say impossible, because he made some great saves.”

Indeed, he did.

There’s always talk about goalies needing to make one more save in a game. Vladař did that and more. He saw the puck well, especially through traffic, and made 26 saves on 30 shots, stopping three out of five high-danger shots.

Two of those saves were highlight-reel, saves-of-the-year stops on Adam Fantilli when it was 3-1 and Boone Jenner when it was 3-2, with his glove as they waited on the weak side all alone at the right post. Sean Monahan, who scored the game-winner two shifts after Konecny notched his third goal, mentioned postgame he was happy his shot was on the stick side.

“[Sanheim] can’t be tied up with his guy, he’s got to stay loose. He’s got to stay loose because there’s a breakdown,” Tocchet said about the game-winner. “Noah [Cates] should have took back ice, but Sanny just was, he stood with his guy. He should just leave him loose, and then he takes the weak side. So, it’s a couple of things, multiple things. You want to give your goalie a chance to make the save when there’s a breakdown.”

It did seem as if the Blue Jackets were crashing the net and making a goalie returning from injury move side-to-side a lot.

“I don’t think it was intentional because of Vlad,” Sanheim said.

“I think it was some of the mistakes that we were making and coverages and allowing them to make those plays. It puts a lot of stress on your goaltender and can’t blame him, he made a heck of a save on a couple of occasions and really kept us in that game.”

There were turnovers galore, missed assignments, missed reads, and the official stat says nine giveaways. It’s been the norm lately for the Flyers as their once-promising season is charging downhill.

The question is, how many times can the Flyers break till they shatter?

COLUMBUS, Ohio ― The Flyers traveled more than four hundred miles from where they’re known. Although they had a change in scenery, they carried many of their issues over from Monday.

Despite Dan Vladař’s spectacular saves in net, in his first game since getting injured against the Buffalo Sabres on Jan. 14, and the third career hat trick by Travis Konecny, the Flyers were handed a 5-3 loss by the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Flyers have now lost nine of their last 11 games, including two straight in which they have been outscored a combined 9-3.

Sean Monahan scored with 3 minutes, 28 seconds left in regulation as he stood alone at the left post. The Flyers struggled to get the puck out, and Damon Severson sent the puck across from the right boards to the open winger. Mathieu Olivier scored an empty-netter to seal it for Columbus.

It was a delicate few opening seconds for the Flyers when, on the first shift, Charlie Coyle gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead 38 seconds into the game. Trevor Zegras was on the boards and tried to pass to his centerman, Christian Dvorak, to start a breakout, but it went through, and Zach Werenski kept the puck in to Olivier.

The rugged forward then fed Coyle, who was honored before the game for reaching 1,000 games on Jan. 22, as he got behind the defense. Coyle scored over the glove of Vladař.

Later in the period, Konecny evened the game with his 18th goal of the season. It also tied him with Zegras for the points lead (46).

Zegras had the puck deep and tried to chip it to Konecny, but it popped all the way out to Noah Juulsen at the left point. The defenseman fed it across to Cam York, and he hit Konecny in the middle. He had room and skated down and snapped the puck past goalie Elvis Merzļikins.

The Flyers had a great chance to take a 2-1 lead with under 2 minutes left in the opening frame when, on a power play, Zegras skated through the Blue Jackets defense. He hit the puck off the heel of his blade, but the Flyers kept going, ultimately with Zegras getting another look at a wide-open net. His shot ended up hitting either the right post or the stick of Bobby Brink that was lying in the crease after he lost it during a commotion.

Columbus took the lead with 20 seconds to go in the period on a goal by Kirill Marchenko. Skating four-on-four, after the Flyers were called for too many men during the man advantage, the Blue Jackets skated down with Werenski and Owen Tippett chasing after the puck.

From one angle, it looked like Werenski interfered with Tippett. From another, it looked clean. Regardless, there was no call, and Werenski, who will represent the United States at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics, fed the puck from the right circle to Marchenko in the left for the one-timer.

Erik Gudbranson made it 3-1 less than two minutes into the second period when his point shot off a faceoff beat Vladař. It may have nicked Dvorak on the way in.

Despite allowing four goals, Vladař did not look rusty as he kept the Flyers in the game. He made a phenomenal standing pad save on Werenski as it looked like he batted the puck out of the air with 3:05 to go in the second.

And then in the third period, in between Konecny scoring again from the middle of the ice to make it 3-2, Vladař robbed Adam Fantilli sitting at the right post with his glove, and then did it again to Boone Jenner from the same spot. The first save on Fantilli was reviewed, but it confirmed Vladař’s magnificent save.

Konecny finished off the hat trick to tie the game at 3-3. He received a pass from Travis Sanheim from the left board as Konecny crashed down the right side.

This goal and his other in the final period came off a gutsy performance by the forward, who blocked a shot late in the second period and hobbled to the bench. He went down the tunnel right at the buzzer of the middle frame and didn’t get back to the bench until after the puck dropped for the third period.

Konecny now leads the Flyers in goals (20) and points (48).

“He’s hitting the holes, and he’s, we call it, race inside, and he races inside on them and beats people, and then obviously he’s got a good shot,” said Rick Tocchet.

“And he took one off the foot. He’s limping around. He might not play tomorrow. We don’t know. He [had] a lot of guts tonight.”

Breakaways

Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen did not return following his second shift of the game, leaving with a lower-body injury. The Finn returned on Monday after missing six games. Tocchet did not have an update on him after the game. … Defenseman Emil Andrae was a healthy scratch, along with forwards Nic Deslauriers and Garnet Hathaway.

Up next

The Flyers will get right back to it in Boston on Thursday against the Bruins (7 p.m., NBCSP+).