The Flyers dropped a critical game last night when the Florida Panthers took them down 4-1. With the team locked into a tight playoff race, every game from here to the end of the season is effectively a must-win for the team. This is likely why head coach John Tortorella was so upset when his team lost despite dominating the play against the Panthers. After the game, he was asked about the performance of Flyers goalie Felix Sandstrom. His response said everything you need to know.
The coach shrugged his shoulders a couple of times, tapped the podium, and proceeded to exit stage right.
While Tortorella might be a bit over-the-top at times, he has a good reason to be mad about this one. The Panthers mustered just 14 shots on goal in the entire game and yet Sandstrom let three of them get by him. The Flyers on the other hand, put 33 pucks on net but Anthony Stolarz stood tall, stopping 32 of them in the 4-1 victory.
Coming into last night's game, Sandstrom had just a .829 save percentage. Yes, with an eight at the beginning, not a nine. That number somehow dropped as he gave up three goals on 14 shots for a brutal .789 save percentage. It is pretty clear that he is not an NHL level goaltender at this point.
Hopefully The Flyers won't have to go back to Sandstrom for the rest of the season. Otherwise, Tortorella might get so angry that he gets another suspension from the NHL. The Flyers have ten games remaining with 81 points in the standings. The Capitals are just two points behind them in the Metro and they have two games in hand. Should they catch them, the Flyers would immediately drop to the second wild card spot as the Tampa Bay Lightning currently hold the 1st spot with 85 points. At that point, the Flyers would be in danger of falling out of the playoffs altogether.
POLL | ||
MARS 25 | 137 ANSWERS John Tortorella Walks Out of Press Conference After 39 Seconds Do you think that John Tortorella is a good coach for the Philadelphia Flyers? | ||
Yes | 86 | 62.8 % |
No | 51 | 37.2 % |
LIST OF POLLS |
G | A | PTS | ||
Brandon Hagel | - | 5 | 5 | |
Sebastian Aho | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
Nico Hischier | 3 | - | 3 | |
Macklin Celebrini | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
Jakob Chychrun | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
Seth Jarvis | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
Nikita Kucherov | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
Zachary Bolduc | 2 | - | 2 | |
Will Cuylle | 2 | - | 2 | |
Lars Eller | 2 | - | 2 | |
Jake Guentzel | 2 | - | 2 | |
Alex Iafallo | 2 | - | 2 | |
Ivan Ivan | 2 | - | 2 | |
Ivan Barbashev | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Drake Batherson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Simon Edvinsson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Jack Eichel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Morgan Frost | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Shayne Gostisbehere | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Miro Heiskanen | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Complete stats |
STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 22 | 18 | 4 | - | 36 | |
Devils | 24 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 32 | |
Hurricanes | 21 | 15 | 5 | 1 | 31 | |
Wild | 21 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 30 | |
Golden Knights | 22 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 30 | |
Capitals | 21 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 29 | |
Maple Leafs | 21 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 28 | |
Flames | 22 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 27 | |
Stars | 20 | 13 | 7 | - | 26 | |
Rangers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Conference | Cumulative |