3 Takeaways From Flyers’ 4-3 Loss to Flames

The Philadelphia Flyers exited 2023 on a low note, falling 4-3 to the Calgary Flames, ending a nine-game point streak. The Flyers are still holding on to a playoff spot and are sitting in third place in the Metropolitan Division, but have just a 1-2-2 record in their last five games. What can they learn from this loss?

The Flyers’ first line of Travis Konecny, Sean Couturier, and Owen Tippett looks (on paper) like it should be generating offense like there’s no tomorrow. That hasn’t been the case lately. Tippett feels out of place on this line, struggling with consistency and having a playing style better suited for spontaneous rush chances rather than a more calculated, prolonged period of offensive pressure.

The solution to this issue could be sitting in the Flyers’ third-line unit. Joel Farabee and Bobby Brink both nabbed points against the Flames and have been building up great chemistry together all season. Neither player has seen nearly enough ice time to reflect their recent positive performances, but it could be worth a shot to give them more of a look to return that spark to the offense.

To their credit, so far this season, the Flyers have not hung their heads and accepted defeat before a game is officially over. Even when they go down, and the odds are against them, they hunt for chances and will scrap, claw, and bite back until the very end. This game was no different. Rasmus Ristolainen scored in the first period, then the Flames went up 3-1 over the next two periods, and the Flyers didn’t start pulling back until the last gasps of the third period.

Sean Couturier summed it up best: “No quitting at the end. Too bad we didn’t show up the first two periods.”

Of course, a loss is not at all an ideal way for the Flyers to end 2023, but there are still plenty of positives to build on as they enter 2024. For a team that was advised by the general public to throw the season away before it even began, gut the team from the inside out, and start completely anew, this Flyers team has pleasantly surprised everyone, to say the least.

For example, both Ersson and Carter Hart have put on outstanding performances in net as of late, a far cry from when the most reliable goaltending options for the Flyers were Hart and lots of prayers when he wasn’t available for selection.

Also, the young players have been living up to expectations, proving that this team has more than enough talent, style, and personal identity to work in the coming years. Farabee and Brink, two names that Flyers fans have been familiar with for some time now, are forging a solid partnership on offense. Cam York has been steadily finding his footing and improving with every game on defense. Fans are finally seeing Morgan Frost sustain good form after years of streakiness. To put it simply, the kids are more than alright.

Most importantly, the desire to win is evident, even when the orange and black don’t come out on top. They don’t stop looking for those two points until the final whistle blows, and they do so with chemistry and cohesion that shows that the Flyers are truly a team instead of a handful of reliable stars and their background dancers.

“Every now and again, we’re going to have games like this,” goaltender Samuel Ersson said. “It’s about finding ways to win games, and today we came up short, but I think, as we showed at the end, that we push and we have that mentality that we don’t give in and we don’t give up. Obviously, a tough loss, but some good things to take with us.”

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