97.5 The Fanatic Flyers Roundup: 20 Years Facing Alexander Ovechkin
The worst stretch of the current front office regime is dragging toward the finish line of the 2024-25 season. The Philadelphia Flyers will almost certainly miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fifth consecutive season to tie a franchise record.
Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals handed the Flyers and their struggling offense their eighth loss in nine tries as part of a historic chase that’s dominating the conversation around the NHL.
- Saturday 3/15 (Wells Fargo Center): Carolina Hurricanes 5, Flyers 0
- Monday 3/17 (Amalie Arena): Tampa Bay Lightning 2, Flyers 0
- Thursday 3/20 (Capital One Arena): Washington Capitals 3, Flyers 2
Witnessing Gr8ness
The pursuit of Gr8ness continued in the nation’s capital in the first period of a late-season Metropolitan Division matchup.
Ovechkin scored his poetically pleasing 888th career regular-season goal from just a step below his trademark “office” at the faceoff dot. His looming 895th will surpass the all-time record held by Wayne Gretzky.
The 6-foot-3, 238-pound winger’s physicality has never been the main focus of his game (for obvious reasons). He showed he still has the fire with solid bodychecking in a game that helped Washington inch closer to the Presidents’ Trophy as the NHL’s best regular-season team.
The recent celebration of the greatest pure goal-scorer in the history of the game has made hockey fans recognize the magnitude of breaking Gretzky’s record.
Ovechkin also passed Mario Lemieux for the second all-time spot in goals against the Flyers with 52. He trails Sidney Crosby by four goals with a chance to catch Washington and Philadelphia’s common nemesis before the respective superstars hang up the skates.
Related Content: Have Danny Briere, Flyers Adjusted Rebuilding Timeline?
The 39-year-old showed signs of slowing down early in the 2023-24 season. However, he’s shown a rejuvenated pace with 35 goals in 53 games in 2024-25.
The Flyers won’t face Washington again this season. Ovechkin needs a hot streak to pass Gretzky in the final 13 games for the Cup-contending Caps.
If the chase extends, the door remains open for a historic moment in NHL history in another Metro matchup during the opening weeks of the 2025-26 season.
Flyers, Alexander Ovechkin Through History
Philadelphia fans aren’t usually the type to celebrate an opponent, especially not a superstar who has played most of a Hall of Fame career in the same division.
However, Ovechkin hasn’t (at least not recently) been the primary target of the incredible venom of the Wells Fargo Center crowd.
Ovechkin hit the ground running with four goals and five assists in his first career playoff series in 2008. However, the red hot Flyers took down the Eastern Conference’s top-seeded Capitals in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in a different era of each franchise and of the NHL.
The Great 8 returned the favor in 2016 when the Caps defeated an underwhelming roster led by rookie head coach Dave Hakstol.
Ovechkin’s arguably greater relevance to 4-for-4 Philadelphia sports fans is the path he took to his only championship. The former first-overall pick debuted in 2005 and played his first 13 NHL seasons at an elite level with minimal playoff success.
Was he a choker who compiled stats and couldn’t perform on the biggest stage? The entire perception of his career changed during a memorable Stanley Cup run in 2018. He dismissed the criticism and by earning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
Competitive passion in sports often leads to overreaction, inaccurate scrutiny, and misperceptions. Philadelphia is home to the most passionate and dedicated fans in professional sports.
However, their incredible fire shouldn’t necessarily push them to dismiss star players who haven’t brought a championship parade to Broad Street (yet).
Travis Konecny, Offense Struggling
Ryan Poehling put the Flyers on the board in the third period in Washington to snap a streak of nine consecutive regulation periods without a goal. The Flyers have scored only 13 (actual) goals in nine games dating back three days before the NHL Trade Deadline.
Travis Konecny has no goals and four assists in 13 games since the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off break in mid February. He had racked up some assists to keep his point total steady during a goal drought before his short stint with Team Canada, but he’s now hit a brutal speed bump.
Philadelphia’s best prime-aged player has led the team in points in three consecutive seasons, and he might still hold the claim for a fourth in 2024-25. He drives the transition offense when he’s at his best.
However, Konecny hesitated the take a shot himself on two odd-man rushes in the loss against the Capitals. He narrowly missed a game-tying goal in the final seconds. He remarkably hit both posts and the crossbar last week in an ironic shootout moment against Andrei Vasilevskiy that defines his frustration.
John Tortorella hasn’t set high expectations for a limping group to climb back into the playoff race with no reinforcements. An NHL team that entered the season with offensive deficiencies lost a full forward line of contributors in two major trades, and some struggles were inevitable.
However, the demanding head coach isn’t letting his struggling scorers off the hook either. He mentioned Konecny, Owen Tippett, Tyson Foerster, Matvei Michkov, and Sean Couturier as talented players not reaching their offensive capabilities recently.
“Our roster’s changed, but we have some guys that can score some goals. Those are the ones that are going to have to step up.” -John Tortorella (March 11)
PECO Power Outage
The lack of offensive firepower is never more obvious than with the man advantage. The iconic PECO Power Play has been abysmal the past four seasons.
The home crowd let the Flyers hear it during a brutal 1-6-0 March homestand that included an 0/17 stretch with the man advantage. The Flyers haven’t scored a power-play goal since February 27.
Power-play coach Rocky Thompson has pressed virtually no successful buttons during his three seasons under Tortorella.
| The PECO Power Play | Power Play Percentage | NHL Rank |
| 2021-22 | 12.6% | 32nd |
| 2022-23 | 15.6% | 32nd |
| 2023-24 | 12.2% | 32nd |
| 2024-25 | 14.1% | 30th |
| Total | 13.5% | 33rd (?)* |
He’s shuffled nearly every defenseman on the roster to the quarterback role since arriving in 2022. A group with expected offensive catalysts Jamie Drysdale, Travis Sanheim, and Cam York has never produced a legitimate distributor from the point.
Thompson hasn’t utilized talented shooters Owen Tippett and Tyson Foerster in the flank position after the strategy seemed at one point like a primary focus of the organization’s future on the power play.
He has shuffled Matvei Michkov to unfamiliar positions after the rookie phenom gave the unit a refreshing bump to begin the 2024-25 season.
“You have a perfect right to ask questions about the power play because it stinks, but we continue to try to work at it.” -John Tortorella
Tortorella passed up the opportunity to evaluate Rocky Thompson on the record. His guarded response was predictable. However, the veteran head coach has never missed an opportunity to praise assistant and penalty kill coach Brad Shaw effusively during their three seasons together in Philadelphia.
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