It would be easy for the Flyers to look at their 3-13-3 mark on the tail end of back-to-back games since the start of last season and blame it on fatigue.
But on Wednesday night, after a short flight from Vancouver, what was their excuse for a sleepy 5-1 loss to the Calgary Flames?
True, they did play on Tuesday night against the Canucks (a 6-3 win). But it’s not as if a short flight to Calgary was like trudging on a plane in Miami and flying to Denver or something.
No, the Flyers were coming off a four-day Christmas break from game action and laid an egg in Seattle on Sunday. Still, that was better than the dreary effort put forth against the Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
First, goaltender Samuel Ersson was not at his best. Second, the Flyers took too many penalties at inopportune times with the Flames scoring twice on the power play. Finally, the Flames are almost unbeatable at home these days, having gone 10-1-1 in their last 12 at the Saddledome.
The Flyers did hit several goalposts and had one goal called back.
“Sometimes it doesn’t go your way,” coach Rick Tocchet said after the game. “I will give Calgary credit. They owned the front of the net. We didn’t box out that well tonight. They got a couple goals in front of the net.”
One thing Tocchet will never do is use the back-to-back card after a tough loss.
“It was actually good for us,” Tocchet said. “We’re trying to get our legs. So it wasn’t too bad. It was just some unfortunate things happened.”
Taking a 1-0 lead into the second period, Calgary boosted its lead to 2-0, then got some help from the officials to keep that edge.
First, Jonathan Huberdeau sent a long shot toward the net which deflected off Jamie Drysdale and past Ersson at 3:08.
Then the Flyers thought they had a goal from Nick Seeler. But officials ruled goaltender interference by the Flyers’ Carl Grundstrom, so that goal went by the boards.
Following that confusion, the Flyers scored a goal that counted. From a scramble in front, Travis Konecny poked in a short entry which found its way past goalie Dustin Wolf at 8:49.
Calgary restored its two-goal edge with a five-on-three power-play goal. Rasmus Andersson did the honors at 12:03. Cam York and Christian Dvorak were in the penalty box at the time.
Later, Yegor Sharangovich scored at 17:52, again on a power play, to make it 4-1.
The Flames had the only goal of the first period.
Calgary put together a three-on-two rush and Mikael Backlund found open ice near the top of the left circle. Taking a pass from Matt Coronato, Backlund sent a shot inside the far post at 13:30.
It’s the 27th time the Flyers have fallen behind this season.
The Flyers did have their share of decent scoring chances. Rasmus Ristolainen rattled a pair of shots off goal posts.
In the third, Calgary made it 5-1 at 9:37. A Seeler turnover led to a Connor Zary unassisted goal.
>Defense shakeup
Emil Andrae was a healthy scratch, a move which resulted in a completely redesigned look on defense. Noah Juulsen returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch the last seven games.
In the new alignment, Travis Sanheim was paired with Drysdale and Cam York hooked up with Rasmus Ristolainen. The final pairing had Juulsen with Seeler.
Tocchet was blunt in his assessment of Andrae’s recent play.
“I just think he needs a reset,” Tocchet said. “I think his game has been slipping a bit and we’re trying to get some new people in there.:
>Welcome home
Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar received a nice ovation in his first visit back to his former team. Vladar played with the Flames from 2021-25. He was 47-32-15 with a 2.98 goals-against average during that span.
>Big celebration in a small town
There was plenty of cheering in the small town of Elkhorn, Manitoba on Wednesday when it was announced native son Travis Sanheim, the top defenseman on the Flyers, had been named to Canada’s Olympic team.
“I know they’re super proud,” Sanheim said in a mid-afternoon Zoom media call. “I’ve already received over a hundred text messages. It’s the support they’ve shown me, it means so much.
“I never thought as a kid coming from the small town I was in I would even make the NHL, let alone the Olympics. Just a crazy experience and very proud to come from a community like that. To have the support to go back. . .I’m sure they will be watching every second. The town will be in red and white. It’s so special to come from a community like that.”
>A big hit by Tippett
Owen Tippett dropped a big hit on Calgary’s Yan Kuznetsov in the first period, perhaps with the motive of getting his team going.
“Any time you get a hit like that, it gets you in the game early,” Tippett said in a first intermission interview. “We just need to stick to our game and we’ll be all right.”
The Flyers only had three shots in the first period.
“We just need to get bodies to the front,” was Tippett’s response to that number. “Hopefully we just put the puck there.”
>Short shots
The Flyers complete their four-game road trip on Saturday night at Edmonton. Flyers entered the game leading the NHL in comeback win with 14. No else had more than 11. . .Since 2000, the Flames have a league-leading New Year’s Eve games mark of 14-4-2.
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