Photo Credit: The Flyers saluting their loyal fans after the season finale by Abiageal Filon
Fans, players, and staff of the Philadelphia Flyers alike all have come to agree on one thing over the past few months: this season of hockey is cursed. There is nothing that we’ve all been craving more than the sweet release of the final game of the season. On Friday night, the Flyers finally put us out of our misery.
An expected, yet unexpected loss
The Ottawa Senators stand at second-to-last in their Atlantic Division, and the Philadelphia Flyers sit in the last spot in the Metro.
To begin the matchup, the Flyers came out firing with a few early shots. Ronnie Attard specifically had a quality chance and rang it off the crossbar. Having met him a few weeks after he was drafted back in 2019, it’s really awesome to see him playing in the National Hockey League now. Attard, along with his draft classmates like Cam York and Bobby Brink, are the future of this organization and it’s important for them to see professional ice time and gain experience in the big leagues while they’re still so young. Though enduring some injuries and mistakes, these young prospects are still finding ways to impress us.
One lone goal was netted in the first period courtesy of none other than James van Riemsdyk. It came on the Flyers’ first power play of the game and was a pretty between-the-legs shot off of a smart pass from Owen Tippett, who has shown some pretty great skill since being acquired from the Florida Panthers in March. This goal put JvR in the first place spot regarding goals scored this season, sending him ahead of Cam Atkinson.
The second period did not see too much action regarding the Flyers, with a couple of penalties that they ended up killing off pretty well. A few run-ins with Ottawa’s goalie, Anton Forsberg, cost the home team penalty minutes and a goal review, which ended up being unsuccessful. The period ended in a tie of one goal apiece thanks to a behind-the-net turnover by Ivan Provorov. To everyone’s dismay, Provorov passed the puck to Brady Tkachuk, whose assist ended up on the stick of Josh Norris.
The third period was much more eventful, but for all the wrong reasons. It started with a scary spill taken by Owen Tippett. He collided with the goalpost and continued to slide on his back into the boards. Tippett was down for a good minute in some pain, but thankfully he was able to get up and return to the bench. He even netted a power play goal about 5 minutes later. For the first time all season, the Flyers scored on a 5-on-3 advantage. It was so nice of them to wait until the final game of a lost season to accomplish this. Either way, it’s wonderful to see that this team is capable of scoring some good, absolutely necessary goals.
Throughout the rest of the period, things just started to go downhill. Late in the third, the Senators took a one-goal lead, then soon extended it to two when the Flyers pulled Martin Jones for the extra attacker. We all hoped that somehow they’d pull it together to make their season finale a memorable one, and they did some pretty fun stuff like score on two power plays, but they still ended up losing 4-2. Now, this season did not go the way that anybody involved with the Flyers wanted it to go. The players and staff know this, and they are fully on board with making sure that this doesn’t happen again next season.
Post-game thoughts
In the post-game media conference, interim head coach Mike Yeo stated his disappointment with letting the game “slip away.” When asked why the team could never really “figure it out,” Yeo stated that learning and recognizing situations and correcting their play to ensure good quality hockey are absolutely necessary. “A sense of awareness, game management, clock management… the idea that you have to really have the urgency in those situations to not lose the puck” are just some of the things that Yeo described as what the team needs to focus on to succeed in the future. He was appointed head coach after Alain Vigneault’s firing in early December 2021.
When asked if he would be considering returning to the Flyers, goaltender Martin Jones stated that he’ll “have to see over the summer” and that he “really has no idea.” He proved himself to be a solid backup goalie, with his record only slightly askew at 12-18-3 for this season. Personally, I like the way Jones plays, so hopefully, he decides to stay.
Photo Credit: Abiageal Filon
Owen Tippett also spoke to the media after the game, expressing his happiness with scoring and his disappointment in losing. He also said he thinks he’s “starting to find his game” and playing with more confidence, and is very proud of his Friday night breakthrough goal. Tippett stated that while there is work to do over the summer, he is content with where his progress is headed. After being acquired from the Florida Panthers for long-tenured Flyers captain Claude Giroux, Tippett quickly won the hearts of fans through his confident skating and intense determination to do good by his team.
Finally, forward James van Riemsdyk met with the press and expressed his disappointment as well in the team’s performance throughout the season. He said, “it felt like especially down this stretch, like a lot of times we were right there and taking games into the third period in a decent spot and then it kind of got away from us.” JvR finished the season with 24 goals, 9 of them being on the power play. As a long time member of the team, I would like to see him continue to succeed and lead the younger players.
Keith Yandle’s retirement
Friday night’s game was most likely the last for defenseman Keith Yandle. He recently reached 989 consecutive games played, dating back to March 2009. Though his time in Philadelphia was short and is where his streak ended, Yandle still put up a fight every game and was very loved by his teammates. Everyone showed their support and appreciation for the veteran as he left the ice after the game last night.
“He’s an unbelievable teammate, if you ask anyone he’s played with I’m sure they’ll tell you the same thing. He’s had an incredible career, it’s been really fun getting to know him and play with him this year. Hopefully I’ll cross paths with him again.” – Martin Jones
There’s always next season…
Though this is only the second game I have attended as part of the media this season, I am forever grateful to be able to watch my favorite hockey team from the press box and to have the privilege of having a platform to write about them on. I’d like to give a very big thank you to Jamey Baskow for trusting me and giving me these opportunities, along with every friend I’ve met in the industry so far.
As my parents have said every year since 1975, “there’s always next season.” This year could have gone so much differently, but you can’t change the past. You just have to remain hopeful for the future. Hang in there fans, and let’s go Flyers!
YANDLE WAS THE WORST PLAYER IN THE LEAGUE! MINUS 47! WITH THIRD PAIRING MINUTES. A TOTAL CHARITY CHASE. FLETCHER SHOULD BE FIRED JUST FOR SIGNING HIM.
Our you kidding, bring back Martin Jones!! They need a goalie who can challenge Carter hart for the starting job. Since becoming the #1goalie the backups have been horrible or mediocre at best,I am still waiting for the announcement that Mike yeo has been relieved from his head coaching duties bringing him back would show they are not serious about turning around this franchise and establishing a winning tradition again.