Flyers’ OT win in finale gives way to offseason full of unknowns, inevitable change originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
A major transitional season came to a close Thursday night for the Flyers.
The club ended the 2022-23 campaign with a 5-4 OT victory over the Blackhawks at United Center in Chicago.
Ivan Provorov scored the game-winner. The Flyers went 3-12 in overtime this season. Two of those three victories came in Games 81 and 82.
Travis Konecny (two), Owen Tippett and Noah Cates also scored goals for the Flyers, who won on the road for the first time since Feb. 20. The team finished 13-20-8 away from home.
The Flyers, now very much rebuilding, have missed the playoffs in three consecutive years for the first time since 1989-90 to 1993-94, when they went five straight seasons without a postseason berth.
The club went 31-38-13 in Year 1 of the John Tortorella era. General manager Chuck Fletcher was fired in March a week after the trade deadline and Dave Scott, the head of ownership, announced his retirement later that month.
For the fifth time over the final nine games, Tortorella did not coach and instead watched Thursday night’s finale from another vantage point. Assistant coach Darryl Williams got his shot to run the bench.
With the overtime victory Tuesday night, the Flyers had already cemented their spot in the 2023 NHL draft lottery odds at No. 7. They’ll have a 6.5 percent chance at the top overall pick.
The Flyers went 1-1-0 against the Blackhawks (26-49-7) in their two-game regular-season series.
Jonathan Toews, a three-time Stanley Cup champion with Chicago, played his final game as a Blackhawk and scored a goal.
The captain nearly made it a storybook ending but his breakaway attempt in overtime was denied by Felix Sandstrom.
• There was incremental improvement from the Flyers’ disastrous 57-loss 2021-22 season. They won six more games and finished with 14 more points. They did so without Sean Couturier (back), Cam Atkinson (neck) and Ryan Ellis (pelvic area). And they saw some positive developments from younger players.
But, obviously, that is nothing to write home about for an organization with a significantly higher standard and a fan base that has been awfully patient.
The Flyers wanted to stabilize this season. How much more stable are they heading into the offseason?
The roster will certainly see more of a Tortorella imprint this summer.
“I’m looking at some of the encouraging things and that comes to our young players…