Friday Forecheck: Finding Motivation

Player evaluations before the offseason are the main focus for the Philadelphia Flyers over the rest of the 2022-23 season. There are 15 games remaining on the schedule.

The club hopes Sean Couturier is able to get into a couple games for the season finale in Chicago. Ditto Travis Konecny. However, the players' long-term health is the bigger priority. If the players run out of time to obtain medical clearance and put in sufficient practice time to be game-ready, so be it.
Finding motivation can be tough this team of year for a team in the Flyers' position. From a coaching perspective, now is not the time to crack the whip.
"I think you've got to be really careful with the approach. My approach right now is a little bit different than early in the year when we're teaching. I think it's more being with them. I think we need to be with them. We're done, we're not making the playoffs, but our guys continue to play hard. If they continue to do that, and I don't doubt they're not - 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 and try to push them along. Continue to teach, but in the proper way is what we're going through right now," head coach John Tortorella said on Tuesday.
The team has lost each of its last four games in regulation and is 2-9-1 over the last 12 games. The recent games have been more competitive after a horrid month in February. March has been somewhat improved but the team's ongoing goal-scoring woes, sharp post-All Star break penalty killing downturn and season-long power play struggles have given them very little margin for error on a nearly game-by-game basis.
Below are some trends and notes from around the team....
Goals from Unexpected Sources
Some of the most memorable plays of any given hockey season are ones where players who are not noted for their offensive prowess pull off a high-skill move and finish off the play for a goal. It's a reminder of just how skilled professional hockey players truly are, including ones who rarely get their names on the scoresheet. It's also fun to see the reactions of the goal-scorer himself and his teammates.
On Tuesday night, Flyers defenseman Nick Seeler made a dazzling east-west-east move to step around Vegas Golden Knights' defenseman Shea Theodore and then elevated as shot over goalie Jonathan Quick. Normally a no-frills defensive defenseman known for his physicality, Seeler has also periodically made skilled plays this season. This one, though, was a jaw-dropper. Although play was at 5-on-5 manpower, it was more reminiscent of the types of goals that are sometimes scored when there's a lot of open ice and more isolated man-on-man situations.
"That's a hell of a goal. That's a 3-on-3 goal. We have a game 3-on-3 and Seels owned it the other day. I heard a couple of the players talk about it on the bench, is the 3-on-3. Couldn't happen to a better guy as far as what he's done for the team this year. Gives us some juice and gets us at least competing to the end," Flyers head coach John Tortorella said.
The Seeler tally cut a three-goal deficit to two. Not long thereafter, the Flyers reduced the gap to 4-3. They were ultimately unable to find an equalizer, and Vegas tacked on an empty net goal (the 17th yielded by the Flyers this season) for a 5-3 final. For that reason, Seeler could only get so much enjoyment from his fourth goal of the 2022-23 season. He was asked if it was the most artistic goal he's scored as a pro but if the fact that it came in a losing cause put a bit of a damper on the excitement after the fact.
"Oh yeah. Without a doubt, yeah. That was definitely a nice one, but like you said, not the result that we wanted," Seeler said.
Seeler's tally against Vegas, however, will linger as one of the highlight moments of what has otherwise been a tough season in which goals have often been hard to come by teamwide for Philadelphia. As far as other standout goals this season from unexpected sources, here are three that were also among the prettiest goals scored by Flyers players this season.
1. MacEwen scores a sniper's goal: Now with the LA Kings, Zack MacEwen was a popular player among teammates and a large segment of the fan base during his one-and-three-quarters season with the Flyers. On Nov. 5 of this season, MacEwen scored what proved to be the game-winning goal against the Ottawa Senators. It was a grind-it-out shift for the most part but had an artistic finish to it as MacEwen wired an unstoppable shot from the deep slot into the top corner of the net. As with many NHL role players whose niche at the top level is not carved by regular offensive contributions, MacEwen was a scorer at the game's lower levels including 31 goals and 74 points in 66 games in his final junior hockey season and a 22-goal, 52-point campaign in 69 games for the AHL's Utica Comets in his second pro year. However, the player's goal-scoring was never going to be prolific enough to get MacEwen to the NHL on an extended basis. Muscle, energy and toughness were his ticket to an NHL career. Periodically, however, he can do things such as tallying a sniper's goal like this one.
2. Ristolainen goes upstairs against Anaheim. Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen was originally a first-round Draft pick and had four straight seasons with 40-plus points. Periodically, including with the Flyers, he's deployed as a netfront forward on the power play. Mostly, however, he plays less in offensive situations than he did earlier in his career. One of the nicest of his 50 career goalies came this season with Philadelphia: a shorthanded goal against the Anaheim Ducks in a 5-2 win on January 17. The defenseman joined puck-carrier Scott Laughton on a 2-on-1 shorthanded counterattack. Receiving a pass from Laughton, Ristolainen shifted to his backhand and top-shelved a shot past former Flyers/Phantoms goalie Anthony Stolarz.
3. Deslauriers solos for a shorthanded goal: In the Flyers' 3-1 home win over Detroit on March 5, rugged fourth-line winger Nicolas Deslauriers stole a cross-ice pass attempt near the defensive blue line during a Flyers' penalty kill. Seeing nothing but open ice ahead, Deslauriers went off on a breakaway. From the slot, he beat Red Wings' goalie Ville Husso to tie the game at 1-1 in the second period.
Different Samplings: 41-game and post All-Star break stats
It has been 41 games -- the statistical equivalent of one-half of an NHL regular season -- since the final game of a horrid stretch that saw the Flyers go winless over 10 straight games in November. The team collected just two wins during a 15-game span that lasted through Dec. 7.
After than point, the Flyers began an uptick, both offensively and in terms of their record, which lasted until the NHL All-Star break. After a 4-1 home loss to Washington on Dec. 7, the Flyers stood at 9-13-5 for the season. By the NHL All-Star break, the team had pulled itself up to "hockey .500" at 21-21-9 overall.
Unfortunately for the Flyers, the bottom has dropped out again since the break. The team has gone 3-11-2 in 16 games during February and in March to date.
In terms of individual stats, here's the Flyers' leaderboard over the past 41 games and within the 16 games since the All-Star break. The number one thing that jumps out is how steeply individual production drops off beyond Travis Konecny, particularly since the All-Star break.

Phantom Files (March 16 edition)
The Lehigh Valley Phantom saw their five-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday evening in a nationally televised (NHL Network) 6-3 home loss to the arch-rival Hershey Bears.
The Phantoms played well for the first 30 minutes or so of the game but the wheels fell off over the latter half of the game. Two closely spaced defensive breakdowns by the Phantoms turned a 2-1 lead into a 3-2 deficit and Hershey pulled away in the third period. On the bright side, veteran power forward Garrett Wilson notched his second hat trick of the season and scorching hot Cooper Marody (the reigning AHL Player of the Week) collected three assists.
Lehigh Valley really could have used at least one of their two leading scorers, Elliot Desnoyers and/or Tyson Foerster, in the lineup against Hershey. Desnoyers missed Wednesday's game due to a non-COVID illness while Foerster is with the Flyers on emergency recall. Marody's line picked up the slack on Wednesday, but they were the only line that produced.
This weekend, the Flyers will pay Hershey a visit on Friday evening (7:05 p.m. EDT) and then host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Sunday afternoon (4:05 p.m. EDT).
Howe Foundation Donates $50K to Snider Hockey
Earlier this week, Flyers Hall of Fame member Mark Howe and his brother, Marty, present $50,000 worth of donations to Ed Snider Youth Hockey & Education on behalf of the Howe Foundation.
The donation was made in loving memory and in honor of the respective legacies of their Mark and Marty's parents, Gordie and Colleen Howe. Half of the donation is purposed for the Mr. Hockey Scholarship fund, named for Gordie, and will be earmarked for the Snider Hockey boys' program. The other $25,000 is for the Mrs. Hockey Scholarship, named in Colleen's honor, and earmarked for the Snider Hockey girls' program.
"We felt this was a fitting way to honor our mom and dad. Our mom was a trailblazer for women in the business side of hockey and helping women rise through the ranks of the sports business, through education, hands-on experience and networking opportunities. Our dad believed deeply in getting kids get involved in sports; not just hockey, but in whatever sport is of interest to young people. He felt that sports builds character, builds confidence and opens doors in life, whether in terms of education. It doesn't matter if the person goes on the play professionally or not. Sports can be an important part of someone's formative years," Mark Howe said.
"When you look at the purpose and impact of Snider Hockey and the mission statement of the Howe Foundation, our goals are pretty closely aligned. It was actually my son, Nolan, who originally suggested that we work with Snider Hockey. It also made sense because everyone who worked with or for Mr. Snider, including myself, had a lot of respect and admiration for him. Snider Hockey is his legacy project that meant the most to him. Last but not least, Snider Hockey matches all donations to a two-dollars-to-one basis, and this is a great way to get the most possible mileage out of our donation,"
With Snider Hockey's matching contribution, the Howe Foundation's Mr. Hockey and Mrs. Hockey scholarship donations balloon from $50,000 to $150,000 ($75,000 apiece for the Mr. Hockey and Mrs. Hockey Scholarship donations to Snider Hockey).
Via the Howe Foundation, the Howe family has been donating to Snider Hockey since 2019. This year's donation, however, is the largest one yet.
"We hope to keep this as an annual tradition of sorts," Mark Howe said.
Note: As with donations from other individual Flyers Alumni or third-party donations in which Flyers Alumni participate, the Howe Foundation donations to Snider Hockey are separate from the direct fundraising the Flyers Alumni Association does. Within the past year, the Flyers Alumni reached $1 million in direct donations to Snider Hockey toward making good on the $2 million pledge to Snider Hockey that we first made in February 2016.