Red Wings-Flyers wrap-up: heading home with lessons learned after an OT loss to Philly

The Detroit Red Wings head home with 3 out of a possible 8 points on their 4-game road trip after losing 2-1 in overtime to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.

As such, the Red Wings fell 3 points behind the Flyers in the Wild Card race, and they are 5 and 6 points behind the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning–Thursday and Saturday’s opponents–respectively.

FLYERS WIN 🟠⚫️

They collect the extra point on home ice in @Energizer overtime! pic.twitter.com/tGirqMz2Op
— NHL (@NHL) January 22, 2025

The Flyers know where they are in the Eastern Conference’s jumbled playoff race, too, as Flying Fish Hockey’s Wayne Fish suggested…

All [Philadelphia’s 5-0-and-1 streak’s] success and the Flyers still find themselves in sixth place in the Metropolitan and hovering around 10th in the highly competitive conference.

Goaltender Samuel Ersson continued his recent steady play for the victory. Ex-Flyer Alex Lyon took the loss in goal for the Red Wings.

According to [Rasmus] Ristolainen, staying out of the penalty box was a key to this win. The Red Wings are ranked second in the NHL on the power play at 28.6 percent. Philadelphia did not take a penalty for this game.

Plus, two of the Flyers’ top penalty killers – Scott Laughton (personal matter) and Ryan Poehling, were not available for this game, so it was a group effort.

“I believe they have a pretty good power play,” Ristolainen said. “They’re pretty high in the ranks. Obviously the best penalty kill is if you don’t take any penalties.”

The sequence leading up to the winning goal was a product of Ristolainen’s willingness to bring his game closer to the net, which he has this season.

“I just tried to take everyone out of the way,” he said. “Just put it in. Do anything. We take the win.”

Ristolainen continued while speaking with PhillyVoice.com’s Nick Tricome…

Ristolainen was the OT hero after a move and a loose puck just trickled by Red Wings goaltender Alex Lyon on a rush and a deke that got away from Owen Tippett in the blue paint. The defenseman was the one to crash in and clean it all up.

“I just saw the puck on the line and just tried to take everyone out of the way and just put in, take the net, or do anything,” Ristolainen said from the locker room afterward. “I’m actually not sure if I was able to put it in or someone else, but we take the win.”

The official call was the goal was his. The Flyers had their ups, and definitely their downs, but for right now, they’re are hanging in there.

They’re 22-20-6 for 50 points, keeping them within an arm’s reach of the Wild Card picture, and are on a 5-2-1 stretch since coming back home from the holiday break – and if you want to narrow it down further, they’re 5-0-1 since pummeling Cutter Gauthier and the Anaheim Ducks a couple of weeks ago, all with steadily better and better defensive hockey.

Well, that and “Goaltending,” head coach John Tortorella said postgame of the team’s biggest difference of late.

“To me, I think your whole team changes, your attitude of your team changes from where our goaltending was to where it is now,” he continued. “It’s just, that’s the way it works in the National Hockey League.”

Ersson shrugged his shoulders while speaking with Philadelphia Hockey Now’s William James…

When asked what has changed in his mind since [the Flyers’] holiday break, Ersson said he just keeps it within his own game and does not try to change much.

“A lot of the times where, if you’re not feeling like your game is there, and you try to make big changes, it’s not the way,” Ersson said. “I think sometimes it’s you say less is more, so just keep believing in it more, and I think that is what I did.”

The mindset of Ersson has allowed him to get comfortable, but the Flyers goaltender says it is not so much mental as it is reps.

“It’s not as much of a mental, it doesn’t take as much mental energy to kind of get engaged into the games. I think it comes a little bit more natural when you play a lot,” Ersson said.

Ersson is getting that playing time. He has started eight games since the holiday break. Over that period, Ersson has gone 7-1-0 and has a save percentage of .935%. That would put Ersson at 7th in the NHL since December 28th.

The Flyers may be stuck in the middle of the East along with the Red Wings and everybody else, but NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jordan Hall notes that they have some stats that the Red Wings should be jealous of:

John Tortorella’s club improved to 11-4-6 in games decided by one goal and 9-6 after regulation.

“I think as a young team, we’re learning to play those tight games, be patient, not open up and give in,” Sean Couturier said. “These are good learning experiences. We’re finding ways to get results, so it’s always rewarding. It’s nice for the confidence; we’ve just got to build on that.”

The Flyers went 2-1-0 against the Red Wings (21-21-5) in their regular-season series.

As Ristolainen told NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman, the Flyers are rolling right now…

“Right now we’re feeling pretty good about our game so we just try to stay in there and keep working,” Ristolainen said.

And the Red Wings, well…

Ben Chiarot scored for Detroit (21-21-5), which has lost four of its past five (1-3-1). Alex Lyon made 24 saves.

Ristolainen’s goal came after Patrick Kane had a chance at the front of the net with 38 seconds left.

“We had our 2-on-1 with 40 seconds left, they had their 2-on-1 with 20 seconds left. Unfortunately, they scored,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said.

Dylan Larkin pointed out that Ben Chiarot’s early-3rd-period-goal gave the Wings some life and some structure…

Chiarot scored 30 seconds into the third period to tie the game, beating Ersson from the left side after a backhand pass through the slot by Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond.

“It was huge,” Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin said. “Especially my line [with Raymond and Marco Kasper], we didn’t have the best second period, but we got out there and got on the forecheck and that was an emphasis coming in after the second. Get on the forecheck, make their [defensemen] turn and that’s exactly what we did, and we got rewarded for it.”

But the Wings haven’t gotten rewarded a whole lot of late, as MLive’s Ansar Khan noted:

The Red Wings (21-21-5) are winless in three (0-2-1), scoring only one goal in each of the games, after starting the trip with a victory in Florida.

What are they going to do about it? Larkin and McLellan did their best to explain why the team was unable to close the deal and earn two points at Wells Fargo Arena:

“It was a sloppy game for the most part,” captain Dylan Larkin said. “Not a lot of energy and then both teams got some turnovers and gave them a little bit of life. Both teams forechecked well. It was a sloppy game, a fast game and there weren’t a lot of whistles. We get our looks (in overtime) and a lot of times we’ve been good at burying those.”

Philadelphia continues to be a place the Wings simply can’t win. The Wings have only two in the last 23 games in Philadelphia (2-18-3), although coach Todd McLellan felt the Wings did enough good things to earn the second point.

“This isn’t a great place for this team to play (but) I don’t think that affected our group one bit,” McLellan said. “From minute one, we were aggressive, played hard and checked. We checked real well and didn’t give up many shots (26). There were scrambly moments and panic moments that we still have to clean up, but both teams had them. We had a two-on-one (rush) with 40 seconds (left) and they scored on theirs. That’s basically what the game came down to.”

Lucas Raymond pointed out that the game was an improvement at one end of the ice…

“We had some good looks there at the end,” Raymond said. “But we had a couple of looks we could have scored on earlier in the game as well. We limited them to two goals, one of them in overtime. The defensive structure was real good most of the game. If we get a couple of goals, it’s a completely different game.”

And neither Larkin nor Raymond are giving up just yet…But they know where they are right now at 0-2-and-1 in their last 3 games:

“We’ve been in this position (before), we were here last year,” Larkin said. “You have to capitalize on your opportunities. A night like tonight, we didn’t have our legs and it was a sloppy game but we found a way to get a point. It would have been nice to get two and especially with the way things have been going.”

…

The rule of thumb in the NHL is a team likes to earn as many points as there are games on a road trip, at the minimum. So getting three points on a four-game trip comes up just short for the Wings – and they know they can’t afford those that type of segments if they want to move upward in the standings.

“For sure not a successful trip in our point of view,” Raymond said. “We know the way we’re supposed to play and we have to get back to that.”

Coach McLellan took what he could from the “slop,” as Detroit Hockey Now’s Tim Robinson noted…

“It was sloppy because both teams checked real hard,” he said, “and I was happy that our group could do that.”

The point gained didn’t improve the Red Wings’ position in the Eastern Conference. They’re still five points out of eighth place, which is currently held by Montreal. The Wings take on the Canadiens Thursday night at home.

“Leaving a point behind is never a good thing,” McLellan said. “But I don’t think we took steps back tonight. We probably took a step or two forward.”

And Big Elmer looked good…

Elmer Soderholm, who was called up from Grand Rapids on Tuesday, made his season debut for the Red Wings Tuesday. It was his first NHL game in more then two years.

“I really liked his game,” McLellan said. “I thought he was assertive (and) I thought he jumped right into the lineup and was a factor. but there was an identity on that, that fourth line.”

Soderblom, a 6-8 forward, had one shot and two hits in the game.

“He was engaged,” Larkin said. “I think he made a lot of really good plays and it would have been nice to see him get one. I was really impressed with this attitude, and how he handled himself.”

So the Wings will go home and take what they can take positively from this road trip, as they told DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills:

“You got to capitalize on opportunities and when you’re feeling good, you got to accumulate points,” Larkin said. “When it’s not going well, you got to have a night like tonight where we didn’t have our legs. It was a sloppy game, but we found a way to get a point. It would have been nice to get two, especially the way things have been going, but it was a much better effort.”

Goalie Alex Lyon made 24 saves for the Red Wings (21-21-5; 47 points), while netminder Samuel Ersson denied 27 shots for the Flyers (22-20-6; 50 points).

“When we get on the plane tonight, I think we’re making strides in certain areas,” Detroit head coach Todd McLellan said. “We’re a little better in our zone. We’re breaking the puck out a little bit better than we have in the past. We checked through the neutral zone better tonight, and those are all real good things. We didn’t rely on our power play, obviously no chances, but we got to find a way to probably score more than one a night 5-on-5 if we’re going to have success.”

Among Mills’ post-game bank of quotes are the following:

McLellan on getting a point in Philadelphia

“I’m finding out a little bit about the history and this isn’t a great place for this team to play. I don’t think that affected our group one bit today. Right from minute one on, we were aggressive, played hard, checked really well and didn’t give up many shots. There were scrambly moments, panic moments that we still have to clean up on, but both teams had them.”

Larkin on the low-scoring night both clubs

“It was kind of a sloppy game for the most part, not a lot of energy. Both teams got some turnovers and that gave them a little bit of life. Both teams forechecked well, but I thought it was a sloppy game. A fast game that didn’t have many rushes in the first period…I think we get our looks and a lot of times we’ve been good at burying those.”

Larkin on Tuesday’s game

“It goes into overtime, and [Lyon] stood on his head all night and got us there. Game is on our stick, they score, and we don’t. We get our chance and they go down and get theirs. Would have nice to get two [points], especially with this road trip to get to .500, but I thought we battled. I thought the things we talked about yesterday and this morning we implemented. That was breaking the puck out, and we did that pretty well.”

Larkin on what he’s seeing from Detroit’s 5-on-5 offense

“It’s been better, to be honest with you. We’ve had way more of a shot focus…Especially when things aren’t going our way, Todd is very vocal about being direct. He says it all the time, so I think it’s been better that way. We haven’t been as much on the outside. Tonight, we had some outnumbered rushes and we just didn’t capitalize.”

Raymond on how overtime played out

“We got some good looks at the end there. We had a couple looks that we could have converted earlier in the game as well, and it is what it is.”

I don’t know whether the Red Wings are going to make the playoffs. Maybe they will, maybe they won’t. But I do believe that their season is salvageable, and that they can be playoff-relevant down the stretch.

How they do that is up to them, but I still believe in this team. Even on a night like this one.

Multimedia:

Highlights: Sportsnet posted a 10:05 highlight clip: