Flyers, battling ‘distractions,’ head into trade deadline with another lopsided loss
The Flyers fell, 4-1, to the Jets on Thursday at the Wells Fargo Center.
After the Flyers surrendered their fourth goal not even halfway through Thursday night’s game, Travis Konecny snapped his stick in frustration.
He skated to the bench and tossed the two pieces aside. The scene summed up the night for the Flyers.
In their final game before Friday’s 3 p.m. ET trade deadline, the Flyers were dismantled by the Jets, 4-1, at the Wells Fargo Center. The NHL’s top team absolutely took it to John Tortorella’s club.
“Obviously I think there are maybe a lot of distractions off the ice,” Sean Couturier said, referring to the deadline. “But it’s on us to do a better job coming to the rink and being focused, showing up.”
The Flyers (27-28-8) have lost three of their last four games (1-2-1) and are off to an 0-2-0 start to their season-long seven-game homestand. They failed to rebound from a flat and uninspiring 6-3 loss Tuesday night to the Flames. Tortorella wanted to flush that one down the toilet. He stuck to his word; there was no film study for the head coach.
“I didn’t watch one second of that game,” Tortorella said Thursday at morning skate. “It’s the first time this year that I did not watch a game and that was it. … I just want a fresh look.”
The Flyers didn’t give him a new look.
Find the latest Philadelphia Flyers news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Philadelphia.
“My thoughts about the game tonight are going to stay in the locker room,” Tortorella said. “What I say up here with you guys will do the team no good. We didn’t play well.”
Matvei Michkov and Tyson Foerster committed first-period penalties that led to goals. In the second period, Winnipeg added two more by beating the Flyers up ice and scoring in transition.
“It wasn’t good enough, especially for this time of year,” Couturier said. “I thought we were flat for most of the game, they seemed to want it more. They’re a good team, they made us pay.”
With 2:42 minutes left in the game, Michkov scored his 20th goal of the season.
The Flyers ended up splitting their two-game regular-season series with the Jets (43-16-4). They edged Winnipeg, 2-1, in a shootout five days ago at Canada Life Centre. Prior to this loss, they had won the previous four meetings with the Jets by a combined score of 11-2.
• Samuel Ersson made 23 saves on 27 shots.
The Flyers didn’t play well in front of him. Winnipeg took advantage of the Flyers’ penalties and poor backtracking.
“That’s what happens when you take penalties against good power plays,” Travis Sanheim said. “It puts us on our heels and we couldn’t recover and turn the tide.”
At morning skate, Tortorella called this a “pretty important game” for Ersson. The 25-year-old was coming off a pair of subpar starts, including a short one two days ago when he was pulled after giving up three goals on five shots. With a quarter left in the season, the Flyers want to see how Ersson handles the load.
“It’s a huge 20 games for that position because we’re still evaluating Sam,” Tortorella said. “So for him, it’s a huge 20 games.”
Ersson wasn’t his best Thursday night, but he was far from the primary issue.
“It’s frustrating, I know I have to be a lot better, especially this time of year,” Ersson said. “But at the same time, I know I can be a lot better, too. For me, I know I’ll turn it around here. I just have to focus on the right things.”
Jets backup Eric Comrie stopped 21 of the Flyers’ 22 shots.
• Scott Laughton and Rasmus Ristolainen, two of the Flyers’ most notable trade chips, each played and were a minus-1.
“I’m not trying to get rid of a Risto or a Scott Laughton,” general manager Danny Briere said in January, “but it’s our duty to listen and do the right thing for the organization.”
Can the deadline weigh on guys?
“I think it can, yeah, definitely,” Couturier said. “Especially in the situation we’re in. It is what it is, it’s the business side of things. It’s on us to be ready and control what we can control.”
• Tortorella mentioned how he needed Konecny to essentially spark himself. With how well the Noah Cates and Couturier lines had been playing, the head coach didn’t want to change things up to just benefit Konecny.
The Flyers’ leading scorer entered with no goals and two assists in five games since the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Konecny agreed that the onus was on him. He referenced Claude Giroux as a guy who would spark himself.
“It didn’t matter if he was going or not, he found a way to be effective,” Konecny said Thursday after morning skate. “That’s what I’m trying to do right now, just finding a way to be effective during the game and I think everything else will kind of take care of itself.”
The line of Konecny, Laughton and Andrei Kuzmenko had an active first period but couldn’t push one across. Tortorella then switched up some lines over the second and third periods, searching for a possible jolt. Nothing seemed to work.
Konecny has one goal and eight assists in the last 16 games.
• Garnet Hathaway missed a third straight game after taking a blindsided hit a week ago in Pittsburgh.
• After Friday’s trade deadline, the Flyers are back in action Saturday when they host the Kraken (12:30 p.m. ET/ABC).
Subscribe anywhere you get your podcasts:
Apple Podcasts | Youtube Music | Spotify | Stitcher | Simplecast | RSS | Watch on YouTube
Never miss a moment. Sign up to get the latest news, stats & giveaways from NBC Sports Philadelphia
Sign up to get the latest news, stats & giveaways from NBC Sports Philadelphia
MAR 7
MAR 8
MAR 9
Tortorella’s club dropped to 27-28-8
Follow Us
FAQs
Regions
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS
Flyers trade Kuzmenko to Kings after winger’s 7-game audition
Will Laughton, Ristolainen get traded? Dissecting Flyers’ outlook at deadline
MOST POPULAR
Philly Sports, Right to Your Inbox
LATEST PODCASTS
Never Miss a Moment
TikTok
By Jordan Hall • Published March 6, 2025 • Updated on March 6, 2025 at 11:12 pm
This article tagged under:
SIXERS ANALYSIS
EAGLES ANALYSIS
PHILLIES SPRING TRAINING
EAGLES ANALYSIS
FLYERS NEWS
NBCSPhilly
@NBCSPhilly
nbcsphilly
Postgame 5: Flyers Grounded by Jets, 4-1
One night before the 2025 NHL trade deadline, the Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Winnipeg Jets, 4-1, at Wells Fargo Center on Thursday evening.
One night before the 2025 NHL trade deadline, the Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Winnipeg Jets, 4-1, at Wells Fargo Center on Thursday evening. The teams split their two-game season series.
The Jets took a 2-0 lead to the first intermission, forcing the Flyers to chase the game against the NHL’s stingiest team. A pair of bad penalties proved costly.
Matvei Michkov took the game’s first penalty at 7:47 of the first period. Moving across the net front area, the rookie winger collided with netminder Eric Comrie and received a goaltender interference penalty. At 8:32, Mark Scheifele (PPG, 35th goal of the season) backhanded a Gabriel Vilardi rebound past Samuel Ersson. The assists went to Vilardi and Kyle Connor.
Tyson Foerster took an offensive zone tripping penalty on Neal Pionk at 14:30. The Jets cashed in again at 15:13 as Nikolaj Ehlers (PPG, 20th) scored from near the right post on a cross-seam pass. The assists were credited to Scheifele and Vilardi.
First period shots on goal were 10-8 in Winnipeg’s favor. The Flyers had sporadic pressure on Comrie but little sustained attack beyond period shifts. The Noah Cates had a pair of strong shifts along the way.
The Jets made it 3-0 at 5:28 of the second period. Kyle Connor (32nd) sped down the right wing. From the right dot, he beat Ersson with a wrist shot. With assists on the play, Scheifele and Vilardi earned their respective third points of the game.
The Flyers yielded a goal off the rush as Winnipeg’s lead grew to 4-0 at 9:03. Adam Lowry (12th) skated untouched through the middle and had plenty of room to direct the puck into the net off a pass from Mason Appleton. The secondary helper was provided by Nino Niederreiter.
Philly went to the power play for the first time at 18:11. Battling Rasmus Ristolainen along the side boards, Niederreiter’s elbow came up and caught the Flyers’ defenseman. The Flyers took the remaining carryover time into the third period.
Second period shots favored Winnipeg, 9-6. The Jets held a 19-14 shot edge through two periods.
The Flyers attempted to mount a push in the third period. It was too little and too late. Midway through the period, the Cates line generated a flurry of chances.
Finally, at 17:18, the Flyers broke up the shutout bid. Michkov (20th goal) pounced on the puck and took off in transition. From the left circle near the dot, the Russian rookie sniped an unassisted goal high to the long side.
Third period shots on goal were tied at 8-8 (27-22 Jets overall). Ersson finished with 19 saves on 23 shots. Comrie earned the win with 21 saves on 22 shots.
FLYERS STARTING LINEUP
74 Owen Tippett – 14 Sean Couturier – 39 Matvei Michkov
71 Tyson Foerster – 27 Noah Cates – 10 Bobby Brink
96 Andrei Kuzmenko – 21 Scott Laughton – 11 Travis Konecny
44 Nicolas Deslauriers – 25 Ryan Poehling – 22 Jakob Pelletier
8 Cam York – 6 Travis Sanheim
24 Nick Seeler – 9 Jamie Drysdale
5 Egor Zamula – 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
32 Samuel Ersson
[82 Ivan Fedotov]
Scratches: 19 Garnet Hathaway (upper body), 77 Erik Johnson (healthy), 35 Aleksei Kolosov (healthy).
PP1: Ristolainen, Konecny, Laughton, Kuzmenko, Michkov
PP2: Drysdale, Foerster, Cates, Brink, Sanheim
TURNING POINT
The Scheifele line was largely shut down by the Flyers in Winnipeg this past Saturday. In the rematch, Connor, Scheifele and Vilardi inflicted a lot of damage and put the Jets in firm control of the game.
POSTGAME 5 (“RAV4 THINGS” REVISITED)
1. Stability and momentum: The Flyers played the type of game they could least afford to have against the club with the best record in the NHL this season. Philly took undisciplined penalties, got caught puck watching or chasing at times. They also were unable to string together consecutive shifts with extensive puck possession for most of the night. Overall, the underlying process was not good enough.
2. Key game for Konecny: The Flyers’ leading scorer has been going through a frustrating spell for a few weeks. On Thursday, he attempted two shots but both were blocked. Konecny tried to do a little too much with the puck at times and was charged with five giveaways. He skated 18:43 across 22 shifts.
3. Bounceback game for Ersson? The Jets generated four of the game’s first five shots on goal, two of which were tougher than average saves for Ersson. Subsequently, the Jets’ top line took control of the game and rattled off three goals by 5:28 of the second period. Connor’s goal was a makeable save opportunity in a spot where the Flyers could not afford to fall any further behind in the game.
4. Special teams: The Flyers went 0-for-2 on the penalty kill against the NHL’s top-ranked power play. They were unable to convert their lone power play of the game.
5. Unity and focus before the trade deadline. Every team deals with potential distractions before the deadline. It cannot be used as an excuse for a subpar performance. But, for whatever reason, the Flyers never got untracked in this game until it was far too late to materially improve their outcome.
News Feed
Flyers Acquire Nikita Grebenkin and 2027 First Round Pick from Toronto for Scott Laughton, 2025 Fourth Round Pick, and 2027 Sixth Round Pick
Flyers Acquire 2027 Third Round Pick for Andrei Kuzmenko and 2025 Seventh Round Pick
RAV4 Things: Flyers vs. Jets
Highlights Beyond Highlights- March 4 vs. Flames
Postgame 5: Flyers Burned by Flames. 6-3
RAV4 Things: Flyers vs. Flames
Highlights Beyond Highlights- March 1 vs. Jets
Matvei Michkov Named NHL Rookie of the Month for February
RAV4 Things: Flyers @ Jets
Postgame 5: Flyers Fall to Pens in OT, 5-4
RAV4 Things: Flyers @ Penguins
Postgame 5: Flyers Flay Penguins, 6-1
5 Things: Flyers vs. Penguins
Highlights Beyond Highlights- Feb. 22 vs. Oilers
Postgame 5: Flyers Drill Oilers, 6-3
5 Things: Flyers vs. Oilers
Friday Forecheck: Toil Before the Oil
4 Nations Face-Off blog: Travis Sanheim
Scheifele and Connor help Jets snap their 3-game skid with a 4-1 win over Flyers
PHILADELPHIA — — Mark Scheifele had a goal and two assists, Kyle Connor added a goal and an assist and the Winnipeg Jets snapped a three-game skid by defeating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 on Thursday night.
Nikolaj Ehlers and Adam Lowry also scored for the Jets, who became the first NHL team to reach 90 points this season. Eric Comrie made 21 saves.
Matvei Michkov scored the lone goal for Philadelphia, which lost for the third time in four games.
Scheifele opened the scoring with a power-play goal on a backhander at 8:32 of the first period. He then assisted on the Jets’ next two goals.
Connor had two points to move into a tie for third in the NHL in scoring. Gabriel Vilardi had three assists.
Takeaways
Jets: The top-ranked power play in the NHL continued to produce as Winnipeg scored on both of its opportunities. The Jets have scored 55 goals while having a man advantage this season and are clicking on the power play at 32%.
Flyers: Travis Konecny, the team’s leading scorer, has gone six games without a goal and has just two in the last 22 games.
Key moment
Connor’s goal came 5:28 into the second period and expanded Winnipeg’s lead to 3-0. His shot came from the right boards and beat Sam Ersson between the blocker and his right pad.
Key stat
Michkov became the first rookie in the NHL this season to reach 20 goals when he scored with 2:42 to play in the game.
Up next
Jets: Visit New Jersey on Friday.
Flyers: Continue their seven-game homestand against Seattle on Saturday.
—
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Winnipeg Jets
Philadelphia Flyers
NHL trade deadline: Fantasy hockey impact, reaction and analysis
Stars give Wyatt Johnston 5-year extension
Sources: Champion Panthers land Brad Marchand from Bruins
Regular Season Series
Game Information
2024-25 Central Division Standings
2024-25 Metropolitan Division Standings
NHL News
Series tied 1-1
| 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WPG | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| PHI | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Team | W | L | OTL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winnipeg | 43 | 16 | 4 | 90 |
| Dallas | 41 | 19 | 2 | 84 |
| Minnesota | 36 | 22 | 4 | 76 |
| Colorado | 37 | 24 | 2 | 76 |
| St. Louis | 30 | 27 | 6 | 66 |
| Utah | 28 | 25 | 9 | 65 |
| Nashville | 23 | 32 | 7 | 53 |
| Chicago | 19 | 35 | 8 | 46 |
| Team | W | L | OTL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | 40 | 14 | 8 | 88 |
| Carolina | 37 | 22 | 4 | 78 |
| New Jersey | 33 | 24 | 6 | 72 |
| Columbus | 30 | 24 | 8 | 68 |
| NY Rangers | 31 | 26 | 5 | 67 |
| NY Islanders | 28 | 26 | 7 | 63 |
| Philadelphia | 27 | 28 | 8 | 62 |
| Pittsburgh | 24 | 30 | 10 | 58 |
