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. 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.