Another Flyers Collapse as Late Breakdown Wastes Strong Night in Utah
Jan 21, 2026; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Mammoth right wing Clayton Keller (9) scores a goal against Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson (33) to win the game in overtime at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images
The Flyers had this game in their hands, and somehow still found a way to drop it. A late collapse, missed empty nets, and another unraveling finish turned a needed road win into a brutal 5-4 overtime loss in Utah.
After the worst losing streak of the season for the Flyers this season was snapped in Las Vegas earlier in the week, the question was which Flyers team would we see in Salt Lake City to take on the Utah Mammoth?
Well, that question was answered pretty quickly in the first. The first minute of the game hadn’t even elapsed yet when Christian Dvorak and Travis Sanheim set up Cam York, who wristed a shot past Utah goalie Karel Vejmelka for his 4th goal of the season, which got the scoring started fast, showing that they are taking the improved forecheck and passing seriously that seems to have installed after this horrible weekend. The scoring was just getting started as Dvorak got a goal, which was set up by Travis Konecny and Noah Juulsen. Then what seems like a miraculous event happened in the second period: Bobby Brink got a power play goal on a dime of a pass from Trevor Zegras.
Utah took control of the momentum as they scored two goals within the span of 40 seconds off of a breakaway by JJ Peterka, and then Lawson Crouse snuck one by Samuel Ersson. With the fact that they were so close together, the gut reaction was that we were watching Ersson start to unravel. To his credit, he did tighten up and finished the rest of the period with some incredible saves. Dvorak wasn’t done with scoring for the night because he flipped another shot by Vejmelka on the power play, for his second goal of the night.
Utah made it interesting in the third when Barrett Hayton took a power play opportunity and shot around a heavily screened Ersson to bring the game to within one. With under 30 seconds to play, Clayton Keller, with the extra attacker, puts a shot past Ersson to tie the game, giving up a chance to take home a guaranteed 2 points.
In overtime, the Flyers had 2 chances, but the Utah back check freed up one of the best OT duos in the league this season in Dylan Guenther and Keller into a 2-on-1, leaving Ersson exposed to end the game 5-4.
Flyers Power Play Has Something to Build On
In the second period, the Flyers’ beleaguered power play unit came alive, scoring two goals in the second. Utah had given the Flyers ample opportunities, because they were playing very undisciplined in the second, in particular. The Flyers took a penalty at the end of the first when Nick Schmaltz picked up a high-sticking penalty on Owen Tippett. The Flyers came out swinging from the first intermission, with Brink taking full advantage. The turning point for the unit was a penalty for too many men on the ice, and this gave Dvorak a chance to take a shot, take a rebound, and put it in the net. which ended up being the most important goal of the night at that point.
What made the power play so much different from what it has been all season was how crisp the passes were and the aggressiveness of the attack, which was a stark change from what we’ve seen all season. What was very comforting to see was how well Zegras played on those two power play attempts that resulted in Flyers goals in the second period. His passes were perfect on both, and outside of his game against his former team, this was his best overall performance of the year. It wasn’t just the two assists, but his play on both ends of the ice on special teams.
Ersson Started Strong But Still Fell Apart Late
Samuel Ersson played well for most of the game, making the saves that had eluded him in the games where he unraveled, but tonight, this game was all about runs of momentum, and in the second period, when the Mammoth scored two goals quickly, he didn’t panic as he had appeared to in other starts. He instead turned his play to another level, and that gave the Flyers a chance to reestablish the momentum, which led to Dvorak putting an important goal on the board at that moment.
There was a turning point in terms of momentum when Noah Juulsen and Jack McBain got into a fight over a hit McBain put on Jamie Drysdale, where McBain took a few liberties with hitting Drysdale on the boards. After the fight, Juulsen was assessed a roughing penalty in addition, which set up the power play goal by Hayton to bring Utah to within one. It can’t be put on Ersson; that has to go to the Flyers defenders for not clearing out the screen, which lingered in that power play shift.
The thing is, that flipped the momentum, and Ersson never truly recovered. After that, all of the Utah breaks seemed to have more heat on them because the Mammoth players had belief, and by the time they brought out the extra attacker with under a minute remaining, the ice seemed to be tilted in their favor, and it almost felt like it was a forgone conclusion that they would score. This is something we haven’t felt with Daniel Vladar all season. Ersson started strong, played well to recover, and unraveled late. The problem is that it doesn’t matter when the unraveling happens; it still costs the Flyers a point, and what the team needs right now is consistency in goal while Vladar recovers. We haven’t seen that yet from Ersson.
Flyers Execution Falls Apart Late to Cost Them a Point Tonight
As the third was winding down, the fight between Juulsen and McBain was a turning point, not just in terms of momentum, but also in the way that the Flyers executed down the stretch. While I’ll never say anything negative about one player sticking up for a teammate, Juulsen dropping the gloves against McBain wasn’t a great decision at that point in the game. It seemed to end the Flyers’ crisp execution for the night. That lapse in execution made one of the best penalty kill units in the NHL season look disjointed and out of sorts almost immediately.
This carried into the last minute of the game, and when Utah brought out the extra attacker, the Flyers had the puck in their offensive zone, but they allowed the forecheck of Utah to pull them out of rhythm and missed 3 chances at an empty net. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Utah stormed back the other way and slipped one past Ersson to tie the game. In the matter of 16 seconds, the Flyers went from 2 shots at an empty net to allowing Keller a breakaway, which ultimately cost the Flyers the game. While there are positives to take from tonight’s game, the slipping of execution late is rather concerning.
Tonight’s overtime loss was a bold reminder that the Flyers still need to clean up execution late in games and remember that hockey is 60 minutes of regulation, and not 58. Losses like this are not excusable, especially as the season progresses. The room for error is shrinking faster than the number of remaining games for the Flyers, and nights like tonight can’t keep happening, or they’ll find themselves on the outside looking in for the playoffs in the stacked East this season.
Steve Hamilton
Steve may have been born in California, but don’t let that fool you. After dating a local woman and clashing with her and her family over sports for decades, he has an affinity for Philly sports. Balancing love for Philly and Bay Area sports teams may seem impossible, we can all agree that the Cowboys are the true evil.
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