18 incredible hulks…and Oettinger
Maybe it was the jerseys or just the sheer size the Stars have on the ice most of the time. But often it looked like the Flyers were giving up a few inches and quite a few pounds to Dallas. That’s not to say the effort wasn’t there for Philadelphia. It was. It just seems like Dallas should be a favorite to make a deep run in the playoffs. But considering they could be facing Colorado and then Winnipeg in the opening two rounds, it will be a hellish road to glory.
Riding the momentum until….
As they did most tof the third period against Washington, the Flyers took the same mindset into Dallas to start. Philadelphia had the first five shots, including a close-in chance by Tyson Foerster that Stars goalie Jake Oettinger stopped. When they weren’t working well on the forecheck, the blueline would keep the play going.
Of course, the good start was for not as Dallas’ fourth line outworked the Flyers’ fourth line, with Ivan Fedotov not seeing the Thomas Harley shot until it hit the twine behind him.
Minutes later Fedotov had nobody in front of him and simply blew the shot as Esa Lindell put Dallas up 2-0 with a clear wrister. Two goals on two shots. Par for the course most of the season with this goaltending lot.
Even more damning was how after one period, 11 of the 18 skaters were over 60 per cent in the five-on-five chances for category. Jakob Pelletier was leading the way with a 6-1 advantage in chances (85.71 per cent). Coach John Tortorella decided he saw enough of Fedotov after 20 minutes, replacing him with Sam Ersson (who was probably slated for the Sunday game in Chicago) to hopefully get some stops.
Complete blackout on power play
The Flyers first unit featured Jamie Drysdale, Noah Cates, Owen Tippett, Bobby Brink and Michkov. After a little bit of initial pressure, the Stars had a few chances themselves. The second unit included Olle Lycksell and Foerster but, as has been the case for March, no goal. Another chance near the end of the first — this one from a high stick which was actually Flyers friendly fire — had Konecny as the quarterback. Again the execution was non-existent. Or to those with gallows humor, they would be in favor of the Flyers’ execution on the power play.
Meanwhile penalty kills aplenty
Philadelphia battled back to tie things up 2-2, despite taking three consecutive penalties in the later minutes of period two. The Flyers narrowly avoided giving up a third goal which was fractions of an inch from fully crossing the goal line before it was batted away by Emil Andrae. Officials looked at it and determined it wasn’t a goal. Tippett took a rather foolish penalty in the offensive zone, something which didn’t rub Tortorella the right way. Fortunately a Dallas minor with 32 seconds left in the Flyers’ penalty gave the Flyers a shorter-than-usual power play.
Overtime brain cramp
To battle as well as they did and to lose in such a comical way was indicative of the Flyers season. Nine seconds in, Ersson played the puck badly. Jason Robertson got the puck and got it to Harley who put the puck between Ersson a ridiculous nine seconds in. Bad way to end it. But end it it did.
Horrible goaltending and bad decisions from goaltenders bookended the game, but the Flyers came back from a 2-0 deficit to squeeze a point in a 3-2 overtime loss.
The basics
First period: 6:27- Thomas Harley (Colinn Blackwell, Sam Steel), 8:59- Esa Lindell (Mikael Granlund, Matt Duchene)
Second period: 13:03- Travis Konecny (Sean Couturier, Cam York), 18:48- Ryan Poehling (Matvei Michkov, Tyson Foerster)
Third period: No scoring
Overtime: 0:09- Thomas Harley (Jason Robertson)
SOG: 24 (PHI) – 19 (DAL)
Some takeaways
Konecny keeps the faith…and is rewarded
Travis Konecny was with Matvei Michkov again this game. He looked to be skating and moving better lately than in recent weeks. Just not getting much if any puck luck. A bobbling puck near Dallas netminder Jake Oettinger halfway through the first was missed by Konecny as he looked to the heavens, hoping for something to go his way. Konecny got into a slashing spat with a Stars player after the whistle late in the first. What initially looked like coincidental minors ended up giving the Flyers a power play as Ilya Lyubushkin got a double-minor.
In the second period, after a great rush that Michkov couldn’t finish, the same line of Couturier, Michkov and Konecny struck gold. A cross ice pass from Couturier, which Michkov was initially thought to have touched, went to Konecny who finally broke the shutout, And took a huge monkey off his back.
It clearly won’t be a turning point in the season, but you have to feel happy for the forward who hopefully has a good run to end the year. Konecny could’ve got a game-winning goal late in the third when his wrister found the iron after beating Oettinger clean.
Speaking of Michkov
Matvei Michkov is probably going to need a tremendous stretch to put him as the front runner for the Calder Trophy for the league’s top rookie. It’s not that he’s a liability on the ice. Far from it. But the passes being made aren’t completed in goals. Perhaps the prettiest play of the afternoon prior to Konecny’s goal started when Couturier took the puck from his own end, giving the puck to Konecny who found Michkov bearing down. Oettinger make a great stop.
However, maybe he was reading this recap. Michkov took a crushing hit by Lyubushkin to make the pass to Ryan Poehling. Poehling came in and beat Oettinger to tie the game up 2-2.
The hit Michkov took sent him to the ice, but probably caused coach John Tortorella to give him some love when he returned to the bench. Michkov later had Foerster set up on the doorstep in the third but they couldn’t finish.
Mar 22, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Philadelphia Flyers right wing Matvei Michkov (39) and right wing Travis Konecny (11) and defenseman Travis Sanheim (6) celebrates a goal scored by Konecny against the Dallas Stars during the second period at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
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