3rd-period comeback attempt falls short as Flyers open long homestand with loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Flyers opened a season-long seven-game homestand with a 5-3 loss Tuesday night to the Golden Knights.
Trailing 4-1 in the third period, the Flyers made things interesting with goals from Nick Seeler and Morgan Frost.
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But John Tortorella's club couldn't find an equalizer over the final 9:45 minutes of the action.
Vegas put the game away with an empty-net goal.
The Flyers (24-32-11) have spiraled in their last 20 games, losing 16 of them (4-12-4) and scoring just 2.05 goals per game over that span.
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The offense started to come Tuesday night but it came too late.
"Obviously we haven't been scoring as much as we need to," Seeler said, "but this is definitely a positive in terms of getting scoring chances and holding onto the puck more."
Travis Sanheim scored the club's first goal when the Flyers were down 2-0 in the middle stanza.
The Flyers, completely focused on the future the rest of the way, went 0-1-1 against the Golden Knights (42-20-6) this season.
"We're done. We're not making the playoffs. But our guys continue to play hard," Tortorella said. "If they continue to do that, and I don't doubt [they will] — there haven't been many nights in this season, in this godforsaken season, that I've had to worry about effort. I don't think I will for the remainder, so I need to show them the respect and try to be with them, try to push them along, continue to teach, but in the proper way in what we're going through right now."
• Felix Sandstrom started in place of Carter Hart, who was unavailable because of a bout with the flu.
Sandstrom did not play poorly at all. He made some high-quality stops to keep the Flyers in it.
Two of the Golden Knights' goals were on the power play. The 26-year-old finished with 28 saves on 32 shots.
"All of us have belief in Sandy," Frost said. "He has maybe been put in some tough spots and we haven't played that great in front of him. We're trying our hardest and we want to play good for him. He did a great job keeping us in the game tonight."
Vegas trade deadline acquisition Jonathan Quick stopped 27 of the Flyers' 30 shots.
Seeler beat Quick after the Flyers' defenseman made some highlight-reel dekes to set up his own chance.
"That's a hell of a goal," Tortorella said. "Couldn't have happened to a better guy as far as what he's done for this team this year. Gives us some juice and gets us at least competing until the end."
Brendan Lemieux found Frost a little under two and a half minutes later as the Flyers crept to within one.
• With no Travis Konecny (upper body), Cam Atkinson (neck) or Sean Couturier (back), the Flyers have had a nightmarish time trying to score.
Atkinson has missed the whole season. Couturier hasn't played since December 2021.
"I was kind of playing around with a roster, with what I think as far as being on the bus after this year, guys that I don't think are, Coots in, maybe both of them healthy," Tortorella said Tuesday morning. "I kind of played around with it. You're kind of forecasting. We'll see. You don't want to get too far ahead because you just never know with these type of injuries. ... Hopefully in camp, it'll be good, they'll all be healthy."
• Wade Allison missed a third straight game because of an undisclosed injury.
As a result, Tyson Foerster was back with the big club and played his first regular-season game at the Wells Fargo Center.
The 2020 first-round draft pick nearly scored his first NHL goal but he rung the post on a second-period power play.
Foerster is a 21-year-old winger and has one of the best shots in the organization.
"I've heard a lot about it," Tortorella said Tuesday morning. "When I first came here, they were talking about his shot. He ripped one the other night. But more importantly, I like just the way he protects the puck. He doesn't throw the puck away, he stalled some plays so another play opens up for him. So you can see that he sees the ice offensively. The one shot that I've seen him really take, he ripped it."
• The Flyers were happy to have Couturier among the group at morning skate Tuesday. He participated in non-contact fashion.
The 30-year-old center had to undergo a second back surgery in late October and hasn't played in over a year.
He's hoping to change that at some point over the club's final 15 games. The Flyers, now rebuilding, have missed his presence dearly over the last 14 months.
"That's the business of the NHL, things can go one way or the other pretty quick in this league," Couturier, in Year 1 of an eight-year, $62 million deal, said Tuesday. "Being part of a rebuild is not what you want, but I think it's the right thing to do in the situation we're at and the time that we're at, with all the injuries that we've had and everything — it's kind of something that we have to do. I'll do my best to be around and lead the right way and get this team back on track as quick as possible."
Following the team's skate, Couturier continued his rehab work with Konecny. The Flyers' leading goal scorer and point man has missed the last nine games.
• After a day off Wednesday, the Flyers are scheduled to practice Thursday before hosting the Sabres on Friday (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
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