{"id":317780,"date":"2025-11-28T02:00:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T02:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/317780\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T02:00:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T02:00:08","slug":"flyers-just-had-the-worst-breakaway-attempt-ever-in-nhl-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/317780\/","title":{"rendered":"Flyers just had the worst breakaway attempt ever in NHL history"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Philadelphia Flyers have made history. On Wednesday night, Sean Couturier and Nikita Grebenkin combined to <\/p>\n

There have been a handful of shootout and breakaway attempts that have been quite memorable for the fact they were so awful. On April 11, 2010, New York Rangers forward Olli Jokinen needed to score against Brian Boucher for the Rangers to stay alive, keep the shootout going, and avoid elimination in the final game of the year. Boucher needed to stop the puck for the Flyers to win and get into the playoffs. Jokinen\u2019s three or four loops around the faceoff circle to Henrik Lundqvist\u2019s left heighten the drama of the moment. But his simple, geriatric-ish, and feeble attempt through the five hole was stopped by Boucher. A horrible try Jokinen remains known for, at least in Flyers circles.<\/p>\n

On Jan. 14, 2020, Boston\u2019s Brad Marchand was the fifth shooter for the Bruins in a shootout, needing to score to avoid defeat. Marchand\u2019s sprint up the ice was great except for one problem: the puck didn\u2019t follow. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The puck didn\u2019t move the length of itself, but did go forward. Marchand realized the screwup and, after officials determined the puck moved forward, it was over. And Marchand\u2019s gaffe was another memorable one for all the right reasons. The Flyers won.<\/p>\n

Flyers\u2019 Sean Couturier and Christian Dvorak combine for worst breakaway attempt we\u2019ve ever seen<\/p>\n

Last night in Florida, Marchand might have been having flashbacks about that blooper five years ago during the game. There was no shootout needed. The Flyers stormed back to defeat the Stanley Cup champions 4-2 in Florida. But one play in the second period might have changed the momentum completely. With the Flyers down a goal and killing a penalty roughly midway through the frame, Travis Sanheim managed to clear the puck out of harm\u2019s way. The puck bounced high off the glass and out to center ice, where Flyers forward and penalty killer Christian Dvorak outraced Florida\u2019s Seth Jones for the puck. Dvorak didn\u2019t have to dig for the puck as the bounce put the rubber in the middle of the ice, quite deep inside the Panther\u2019s blueline between the faceoff circles. You couldn\u2019t ask for better puck positioning.<\/p>\n

What not to do on a breakaway by the Philadelphia Flyers\ud83e\udd23\ud83e\udd23 pic.twitter.com\/mcSdt8SVGc<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Everything Hockey (@EHClothing) November 27, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Dvorak, who had Jones by a step, could\u2019ve deked Florida\u2019s Sergei Bobrovsky, or tried the five-hole shot, or roofed something over the keeper\u2019s shoulder and under the crossbar. Any semblance of a shot was possible. There was also little to no chance of Jones taking the puck away given Dvorak\u2019s body positioning, shielding the puck from the opponent. Sadly, Dvorak took anything to mean inexplicably delivering a backhand pass to an oncoming Sean Couturier.<\/p>\n

Couturier, possibly surprised at the pass, had time to get off a quality shot as three Panther skaters and Bobrovsky looked on. But he essentially said to his teammate, \u201cHold my beer.\u201d Rather than shooting, the Flyers captain attempted a cross-ice pass back to Dvorak. If you pause the clip below you\u2019ll note that Dvorak is about a foot behind the goal line and nearly in the corner to Bobrovsky\u2019s right when the pass is made. So Dvorak is basically in a far better position to get a shot at Dan Vladar than he is the Panthers\u2019 netminder. Granted Dvorak has a decent shot, but he\u2019s not hockey\u2019s equivalent of Lionel Messi or David Beckham who can curl or bend their shots around a goalkeeper into the net.<\/p>\n

Couturier realized his mistake as soon as the puck left his stick, looking up and probably muttering \u201cWTF!?!\u201d to himself. The pass went into the corner where Dvorak got it. But it simply killed more time off the Philadelphia penalty. Bobrovsky was that shocked at the pass he even lost his goalie stick, looking temporarily paralyzed and in shock from the stupidity of the play he had just witnessed. He held onto his post for dear life with his blocker, possibly to avoid falling over backwards and laughing like a lunatic at what happened. Seconds later, Bobrovsky\u2019s stick \u2014 laying prone on the ice behind the goal line \u2014 was able to take the puck away from Dvorak trying to stickhandle behind the net. Even Flyers\u2019 television play-by-play announcer Jim Jackson was almost at a loss for words at what transpired.<\/p>\n

The eight to nine seconds of play might have changed the game. The Flyers might have been so embarrassed by such a paltry short-handed attempt that they found another gear and looked far better the last 30 minutes than they did the first 30. And the Panthers might have still been shaking their heads at just how asinine the breakaway chance turned out, losing their focus and thus losing the game in the dying seconds. Thankfully, Couturier put the nail in Florida\u2019s coffin with a nice deflection from Dvorak as Philadelphia put their foot on Florida\u2019s neck, not allowing them any chance to pull Bobrovsky for the extra attacker. Both atoned for the miscue with far better execution on this effort than the previous one.<\/p>\n

In the end the Flyers won 4-2 and head coach Rick Tocchet told the team afterwards that they \u201cf\u2013king earned\u201d the two points, they didn\u2019t steal them. Although they\u2019re traveling to New York on this Thanksgiving day, it wouldn\u2019t be surprising for both Dvorak and Couturier to be getting a little bit of good-natured ribbing from the likes of Trevor Zegras or Matvei Michkov on the flight. And deservedly so. Meanwhile, should the Panthers not win their third consecutive Stanley Cup, this play will be the turning point, losing to a team who somehow screwed up a perfect breakaway attempt. <\/p>\n

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