Let’s be honest, you clicked on this post because you wanted to watch the Owen Tippett goal that everyone is talking about. Or maybe you’ve already watched it 64 times and you just can’t get enough.

Never mind the fact that it was his second goal of the game. Never mind that the Flyers not only beat another top NHL team, but they absolutely buried them, playing a near-perfect game in a 5-1 win over the Dallas Stars. We can talk about that later, right? Up front, you just want the eye candy.

Fine. Here it is:


Really, it’s the prettiest goal in hockey this year. Hell, maybe since the pandemic began. You know what, maybe longer.

So, yeah, it’s worth watching on loop. It was also worth all the postgame comments about it. Here were some of the best:

“He has a chance to be something special. … I haven’t seen a goal like that. … I’ve seen a lot of good goals and I haven’t seen one of those in quite a while. … He’s just playing. He doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing on that goal, he’s just playing. That’s a good state to be in.” – Coach John Tortorella

Tippett has six goals in the last six games. He now has 18 this season. Torts had been on him lately to make sure his shots are on goal. Tippett is among the league leaders in shots that miss the net. Torts believes that if Tippett can find more consistency with his shot that he can be an elite talent in the NHL. In fact, he talked about it at the morning skate, hours before they took the ice against Dallas.

“He has a chance … man, I don’t know where it goes. He has an opportunity to be a really good player in this league. He’s kind of all over the place away from the puck, and I try to balance that in teaching him that part of the game without getting in his way offensively because he’s so dangerous. … I have no idea where it goes. He could be a really good player.” – Torts

What we’re seeing lately from Tippett is what made him such an enticing player when he was a first round draft pick (10th overall) by the Florida Panthers in 2017 NHL Entry Draft. It never materialized for him in Florida, which is why the Panthers were willing to move him in the Claude Giroux trade a couple seasons ago.

Flyers fans caught glimpses of his talent as he scored a career-high 27 goals land 49 points last season, but there was still a lot of inconsistency to his game. Those inconsistencies are still there, but they are not nearly as pronounced, and now Tippett is on pace for his first 30-plus goal season in the NHL.

“I think he’s using T.K.’s stick. He says he’s going to go back to his curve. No one’s going to let him go back to his curve. He’s playing great. He’s getting the opportunities and we know the type of player he is. He’s finishing and some of these goals are pretty special.” – Cam Atkinson

The story here is Tippett decided to change his stick a little bit back in December, but his shipment was back ordered, so he started using Travis Konecny’s stick, since Konecny had some extras. He’s been red-hot using that stick, and his teammates may not want him to ever stop using it.

“He’s got all the skill in the world and it’s nice to see him using it. He’s having a hell of a year. He’s a hell of a player.” – Jaime Drysdale

Drysdale has known Tippett since their junior hockey days and has seen Tippett’s high-end skill for a number of years. Drysdale told me on Snow The Goalie’s Press Row Show after the game that Tippett used to come to his minor hockey games as a “celebrity guest” to put those skills on display.

But maybe the best quote from the postgame was from Tippett himself, when he was asked by Flyers play-by-play man Jim Jackson when he decided to try the spin move that led to the goal:

“I honestly don’t even know.” – Tippett

That’s because it was an unconscious play. And frankly, the whole team is playing unconsciously.

Best win of the season… again

Beating the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday in Winnipeg was a huge win for the Flyers. The Jets had the best record in the game at the time it happened, it was the back end of a back-to-back with overnight travel, and it was completely unexpected.

But in hockey circles, the belief is the actual best team in hockey is the Dallas Stars, and the Flyers not only beat them in the first home game after a road trip – which is always hard to do – but they dominated the Stars.

Dallas got a shot on goal – and Sam Ersson made a nice save – in the first minute of the game, and then didn’t register another one for the next 24-plus minutes of hockey action.

The Flyers were out-shooting the high-powered Dallas offense 15-1 after one period, and 30-9 after two periods.

When you looked at the shot totals you were having flashbacks to Green Bay-Dallas, amirite?

The Flyers forechecked, backchecked, and systematically pounded Dallas into the ice to the point that the Stars could generate nothing. Not even chances.

But then late in the second period, the Stars scored a goal after a 50-50 puck on the wall took a fortunate bounce to Tyler Seguin’s stick and he top-shelfed it past Ersson.

Despite the Flyers dominance, it was still just a one-goal game entering the third period. The Flyers had a power play though, and if there’s a time when special teams can win you a game, this would be it. A goal pretty much locks up the game. If you don’t score, there’s a lot of momentum that can shift the other way.

And the Flyers power play did exactly what it had to do:


Here’s the beauty of this goal – it’s simplicity.

What do I mean by that?

  1. Drysdale moves to a spot on the ice that draws penalty killers towards him and away from a teammate, in this case Travis Sanheim, who is setting up in a shooter’s position.
  2. Sanheim unleashes a howitzer and gets the shot on goal – novel concept. The power of the shot makes it harder for Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger to secure it, and now the puck is loose in front.
  3. Not one, but two Flyers get good position at the net – Morgan Frost and Cam Atkinson – you know, a couple of guys who were scratched at the same time recently.
  4. Frost identifies that the defensemen are going to react towards him since he is closer to the puck and he’s able to make a nice little chip play over to Atkinson, who is able to bang the puck home.

Every player involved did exactly what they are supposed to do. They didn’t try to get cute. They kept it simple and were rewarded for it.

Frost has been really good since his latest benching. He has seven points in his last seven games, and after a stellar road trip he kept it going with a pair of assists on Thursday.

Not only was this power play goal important, but he made one hell of a pass to Sean Walker on this goal:


Frost is suddenly playing with a confidence that he has never displayed before – even when leading the team in scoring in the second half of last season. Those games were low pressure and out of the spotlight.

But now Frost is making things happen for a contending team – and yes, the Flyers are a contender.

In case you want to see the other goals, they were both important as well. Tippett also scored earlier, to make it 2-0:


And Scott Laughton scored on a penalty shot on a goal that was reviewed to see if Laughton had stopped moving forward before shooting, but it was deemed he kept forward momentum.


The Flyers are now 25-14-6. They have 56 points – eighth best in the NHL. Yes, they’ve played more games than most teams, and could slip back a tad in the standings when they are idle and those games in hand are made up – but there’s no doubt that the Flyers made a statement Thursday – they’re in this thing. No one may have believed they could be, but they are. The final 37 games are going to be a hell of a lot more meaningful than anyone ever expected.

And, like Torts said about Tippett’s signature goal, it’s because this team doesn’t know what the hell they are doing here. They’re just playing.

Good on them.