Flyers fans’ anti-Gauthier furor helps team end winless streak

Travis Konecny

PHILADELPHIA – Too bad the Flyers can’t have a hated villain play for an opponent in all their home games.
Well, for now they’re going to have to settle for Saturday night’s designated bad boy, namely ex-Flyer first-round draft pick Cutter Gauthier.
In late 2022, the future Anaheim wing basically told the Flyers he would never play with them for whatever reason. So the Flyers shipped him off to Anaheim last season in exchange for defenseman Jamie Drysdale (and a second-round pick in the 2025 draft).
As soon as Gauthier hit the ice at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday night just after 7 p.m., the Wells Fargo Crowd crowd went predictably nuts, chanting everything from “We want Cutter!” to “Jamie’s better!” to other cries which can’t be printed in a family newspaper.
The Flyers seemed to feed off the crowd’s energy and dominated this match pretty much from start to finish. They wouldn’t let the Ducks put any sustained pressure on goaltender Samuel Ersson.
When it was over, the Flyers had a 6-0 victory to end their four-game (0-3-1) winless streak and improve their record to 1-2 in this four-game homestand.
Travis Konecny assisted on the first three goals.
“It helped that the crowd was really into it tonight,” Konecny said. “A good atmosphere. We’ve been playing hard and not getting results.”
It was only fitting Drysdale score the Flyers’ second goal late in the first period.
Drysdale’s goal, which came on the power play at 18:11, was significant because the Flyers had entered the game having scored just two goals with the man advantage in the past 13 games.
The defenseman skated down low and converted a pass from Konecny past goaltender John Gibson.
How special was this night?
“It was pretty special,” he said. “You hear the crowd going like that. It brings so much energy (for) myself and the whole team. Unbelievable fans. They were rockin’ tonight.
“It’s fun playing them (the Ducks). I think everyone puts anticipation on those games. But I’m glad we were able to win this one, get back into the win column. We feel good, so good to get that one.”
Morgan Frost also scored in the first period. He connected at 6:48, re-directing a Konecny feed.
Frost was grinning after the game as the media questions about the game and Gauthier poured in.
Loudest crowd he’s ever heard at the WFC?
“Got to be top three for sure,” he said. “It was fun. You could feel the difference. The crowd gave us a huge boost. We wanted to bounce back (from Thursday’s 4-1 loss to Dallas). It was fun out there.”
In the second period, Konecny’s handiwork was at it again. He set up Owen Tippett for a point-blank shot at 16:12 for a 3-0 lead.
Just 24 seconds into the third period, Ryan Poehling used a Garnet Hathaway feed for a break-in and a shot past Gibson to make it 4-0.
Then the Flyers scored a second power-play goal, this by Matvei Michkov at 7:36, to up the score to 5-0. It was the Flyers’ first two power-play goal game since Oct. 23 vs. Washington. Hathaway wrapped it up at 8:55 for the six-goal margin, the Flyers’ largest of the season.
Michkov gave one of his best pump-and-glide celebration moves after his goal. He’s been in a pretty long scoring slump.
“The atmosphere was awesome,” he said. “I think it was the best crowd so far. Thank you very much to the fans.”
Coach John Tortorella said he doesn’t get too caught up in all the outside stuff. He concentrates on what has to be done on the ice.
“I just thought we played a hard game,” he said. “I talked about checking better. All I said to the team was let’s worry about ourselves and play a hockey game. The other stuff is for you guys (the media). I expressed to the guys, let’s play the game the proper way, especially the way we played the prior game.”

>Short shots

The Flyers complete their homestand on Monday night when they play host to the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. . .With Joel Farabee scratched for the first time this season, Olle Lycksell took his spot in the lineup and started the game on a line with Sean Couturier and Michkov. The Flyers juggled their lines. Frost moved up to the first unit to center Konecny and Tippett. Couturier moved to the fourth line and played the pivot for Scott Laughton and Hathaway. . .Several scrums broke out along the boards during the game with Gauthier involved in a couple but no real punches were thrown. Rasmus Ristolainen delivered a pretty hard check on Gauthier in the second period which drew a favorable response from the crowd. . .It was the Flyers’ third shutout win of the season and first on home ice.

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About Wayne Fish 2701 Articles
Wayne Fish has been covering the Flyers since 1976, a stint which includes 18 Stanley Cup Finals, four Winter Olympics and numerous other international events.