I know this will get lumped in with the “Michkov lovers versus Michkov haters” commentary.. but . I am going to come back to the 5 on 3. A MUST score moment. Say all that anyone wants about Michkov’s liabilities – does anyone question his ability to see the ice and make plays when he has time and space? And, the one time he – and the team – could have time and space is a 5-3 advantage. There is NO legitimate excuse for this unless one believes powerplay time is a “reward” to be earned. And in some senses I even get that… but…. The Flyers have now played the Canes for 10 periods.. and have not scored in EIGHT of those 10 periods. Our powerplay is what – 10%? And you somehow believe the team – and yes, its fans – are better served with Michkov watching a 5-3 powerplay opportunity? Hell, I completely understand Michkov not getting much 5 on 5 time at this point – but he should be getting power play minutes and as many as he can handle and the team can deal with the rest in the off-season. And Coach’s comments saying basically we have guys out there who, at this stage, shouldn’t be on the powerplay.. while keeping 39’s PP time to a minimum and with the most gifted offensively talented players…. Like most Flyers fans, I did not expect us to win this series. I did expect the Flyers to make the Canes earn it – and, even strength, they are. Most of us have said all year that our special teams would cost us before the season is over and it sure is.. but…. not using Michkov in the moments he could most contribute to the effort – regardless of whether he “earned the time” or not – is close to coaching malpractice. And, if the Flyers powerplay was simply bad, one could actually excuse it as “teaching”. This is not “teaching” – this is something else….

As frustrating as this series has been, I can’t help but be proud as hell of what this team has accomplished (power play aside). There are a ton of bright spots to be excited about for next year. Come on Danny, do some of that GM shit…get us a couple more pieces this offseason!

Going back to Ghost–the way Fletcher burned through draft capital set the organization back a bit. Here, take a second-rounder to make Ghost go away. Here’s a first-rounder for Risto. Moves like those and drafting York over Caufield…it was hard to like the direction the organization was going in.

I am not that bothered by their performance against the Canes. I was expecting a closer fought series, with the Canes prevailing 4-2 or 4-1, but that was based on the expectations that the Flyers would be able to paper up their weaknesses on special teams.

And some of it truly seems to be the pressure telling on the kids – they are trying a little TOO hard.

That said, they do need atleast 1 truly elite offensive player on O and a PP QB – and atleast one of these two has to be someone who can skate the puck up, make the first fore checker miss and also put pressure on the opposing D to back away, as opposed to holding their ground at the blue line. This inability to cause opposing Ds to contract makes it much harder for them to find space and get creative.

Charlie you mention Drysdale on the shorthanded goal but in my opinion Zegras made an egregious error. He went to the puck carrier when there was a Flyer already with him (don’t recall who) instead of staying with the trailing Carolina player. He stays with him there was the chance the play results in no goal.

1) I was kind of hoping BSH_EricT would go easy on us, but I guess that was too much to hope for.
2) I’m sure this is retreading old ground but it is a shame we don’t get to see how this team would hold up with Owen Tippett in the lineup. Carolina is becoming a gold standard organization in this league and it would have been nice to get a measuring stick opportunity with our roster at full strength.

Michkov not on the 5 on 3 may be my breaking point- he is not the only player making mistakes, he is just the only player consistently punished for it. If you want to win the game, he needs to be out there.

Great column, Charlie. They’re all great but this was particularly good with the way you mapped the game onto their season-long issues.

Something tells me that the manner in which the Flyers opted to play their first round series, may have had a hand in determining how their subsequent series was officiated. Which is why I am leery of the team leaning into the ever-charming scumbag personae, that I’m not sure they’re going to be built to facilitate.
But boy was it fun to watch 94 play his arse off last night.
And Jordan Staal is still a bad man. Will be interesting to see if he can keep this up throughout the playoffs.

I don’t get emotional to sports since the 1980 Eagles broke my heart. That said , there are 8 teams still playing hockey and these Flyers are one of them. I’ll take that no matter what happens. They eliminated a team , now they will probably be eliminated soon. A Stanley cup with this team now would set them back years.

Love the Ghost angle to end the article, well done, Charlie! It is still such a bad trade all these years later which especially hurts given the struggles of the power play since he left basically. Your article title summed up the Flyers main pain points and until they are all resolved this season is probably their ceiling.