Photo Credits: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
The Flyers destroyed the Jets in Winnipeg Saturday night. It’s not being overly dramatic to say they slowly crushed their spirit as the game wore on. The Jets path to the final wild card spot in the West had already narrowed earlier in the day when the when the Kings shutout the Oilers.
Dan Vladar and the Flyers have been a solid bounce-back team down the stretch. The difference between the decisive win against the Jets on Saturday compared to the embarrassing loss Thursday in Detroit was night and day.
As you may have heard, “the Flyers are in control of their own destiny”. If they win their remaining games no one is in a position to overtake them for a playoff qualifying position in the Metropolitan Division. The Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Montreal Canadians Saturday night and are just two points behind the Flyers in the battle for 3rd place in the division. The coveted playoff berth is still up for grabs.
Philly vs Winnipeg
Dan Vladar started the game between the pipes for the Flyers after allowing 4 goals on 8 shots before being pulled in Detroit. At the other end of the ice was Olympic gold medal champion Connor Hellebuyck.
Goaltending was a key factor in the outcome of this very important hockey game. The 7-1 final score may lead you to believe that the ice was tilted towards the Winnipeg net all night long. Actually the Jets outshot the Flyers 28-23.
The new kid
Porter Martone continues to impress scoring the Flyers 1st goal of the game just 1:17 into the 1st period. Martone made the steal in the Flyers zone and sent the puck to Travis Konecny who skated into the Winnipeg zone. Konecny was dodging Jets biding time until Martone was in position at the side of the net. TK slung the pass and Martone snapped it home. 1-0 Flyers.
Haydn Fleury put a rebound behind Dan Vladar 6:57 into the period and it looked as if the Jets were going to put up a good fight. In fact Winnipeg appeared to be the more dangerous team throughout the opening period. The biggest difference was Hellebuyck was having an off night, and Dan Vladar was spectacular.
GWG
Denver Barkey broke the puck out to Noah Cates. Cates passed to Matvei Michkov who was patient with the puck as he lined up his wrist shot from the top of the circle. He held on until a lane opened up and fired with accuracy beating the Jets netminder far glove-side. This proved to be the game winning goal 8:24 into the 1st period. 2-1 Flyers.
Twenty-five seconds later Flyers captain Sean Couturier scored an unassisted goal from the dot. 3-1 Flyers.
The 2nd period led to even more frustration for the Jets. Winnipeg came out on a mission in the middle period. They were controlling the play and enjoying prolonged possessions in the offensive zone. Towards the middle of the period the Flyers could not get a turn with the puck.
Finally 11:41 into fending off the Jets the Flyers got a chance to set up in the Winnipeg zone. Rasmus Ristonlainen had the puck at the right point. He faked the shot then passed along the blue line to Travis Sanheim. Sanheim unleashed a rocket from the point that ripped through Hellebuyck. 4-1 Flyers.
The Flyers became more aggressive at their own blue line but still needed Vladar to make some challenging saves. He was his old reliable self in the net. Great positioning and rebound control. Fantastic side to side movement and tracking.
Washout in Winnipeg
Winnipeg went on a power-play with less than two minutes left in the 2nd period. This was a great opportunity to get back in this game. Instead a broken stick led to a Flyers short-handed break out. It was Christian Dvorak to Noah Cates who dinged a shortie in off the post. That was the last we saw of Connor Hellebuyck for the night. 5-1 Flyers.
The Flyers played the final period exactly as they should have. Get pucks deep into the Winnipeg zone. Nothing fancy, dump it, slow things down. If an opportunity arises take it.
Garnett Hathaway and Luke Glendening gave chase to a puck in the the corner. The puck just squirted out to Couturier who was all along in front of the net. He swept the puck across the crease and lifted a backhander for his second unassisted goal of the night. 6-1 Flyers.
Life was draining out of the Jets. They were cooked and they knew it. The rest of this game was an obligation.
With 6:28 remaining in regulation Nick Seeler popped a wrister short-side. Michkov was the threat at the far side of the net that caused Eric Comrie to pull off the short side post just enough for Seeler to find daylight. 7-1 Flyers.
Focus
This game was exactly what the Flyers needed and more. The ghosts from the horror show in Detroit were exorcised by a commanding victory in Winnipeg. The Flyers have two games remaining on the 2025-26 regular season schedule.
As Flyers captain Sean Couturier said in his post game interview, “the job is not done”.
Next Up: The Flyers are back to Philly to faceoff against the 1st place Carolina Hurricanes Monday night at 7:00 PM.
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