PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Porter Martone heard Flyers fans erupt on his game-winner — the teenager's first NHL goal, in overtime, and with playoff positioning at stake — and he wanted to get another look on the big screen.
Only problem was, teammate Trevor Zegras whirled the rookie around by the neck and the rest of the Flyers mobbed the ice and pinned Martone against the boards in a wild celebration worthy of a playoff victory.
“Zegras got me in a pretty
good headlock there,” Martone said with a laugh.
The 19-year-old Martone capped a fantastic first week in the NHL with a power-play goal to push the Philadelphia Flyers even closer toward ending a miserable playoff drought with a 2-1 overtime victory over the Boston Bruins on Sunday.
“Overtime winner as a first NHL goal, that’s pretty special,” Martone said.
Martone has quickly proved pretty special as well and hasn't just gone along for the ride in the playoff push — he's tried to drive that train straight into the postseason. Through his first three games, Martone took 15 shots on goal over 65 shifts and 50 minutes of ice time, the kind of production that made it clear coach Rick Tocchet has all the faith in the locker room that Martone is capable of handling a playoff-tested veteran's load.
“Even on the bench, you tell him something, he's a very engaged kid,” Tocchet said. “He's not afraid to say something. He was talking about the power play, ‘I'll be here, you be here.' I like that, a young kid like that doing that. You can just tell he's been around. He's just a hockey player. Love the kid.”
Unlike long-suffering Flyers fans, Martone might not have much of a wait to make the playoffs.
Martone was selected by the Flyers in the first round (sixth overall) of the 2025 draft. He just wrapped his season at Michigan State — where he scored 50 points in 35 games — and signed his entry-level contract last Sunday. The 6-foot-3, 208-pound forward was the only freshman selected to the All-Big Ten First Team.
The Flyers have 90 points and are in third place in the Metropolitan Division, enough to get in Eastern Conference playoff position for the first time since Jan. 12.
Tocchet, who played more than a decade with Philadelphia in separate stints at the start and end of his career, said he didn't need to give the Flyers a rah-rah pregame speech about what was at stake.
“They know. They read,” Tocchet said. “They see the standings. They don’t need me to say, 'Hey, there’s a playoff game.'"
For one of the few games over most of the last decade or so, there was indeed a playoff feel in Philly.
The Flyers dusted off their old good-luck anthem “God Bless America” that was a staple for years ahead of their biggest games but had largely been put on the shelf amid allegations of racism against the 1930s singer connected with the franchise for her performance with the song.
Tickets on the secondary market surged well past $100 for one in the lower level at a time of the season they could usually be had for about the price of a cheesesteak.
Martone set the tone for the Flyers only minutes into the game when he hit Christian Dvorak with a perfect touch pass for a goal.
Still buzzing from the patriotic song and early goal, Flyers fans erupted only moments later when Travis Konecny and Boston’s Charlie McAvoy briefly scrapped near the net.
Officials had to separate the teams again and McAvoy was whistled for 2 minutes for roughing as the horn sounded on the end of the first period.
The extra man was of little advantage as the Flyers went 0 for 4 on the power play until OT.
Until Martone became a difference-maker.
He scored on his own rebound on a 5-on-3 power-play goal 2:31 into OT and became the first player in Flyers history to score his first NHL goal in overtime.
“I didn’t really get a training camp to adjust,” Martone said. “I feel like I kind of got thrown into the thick of it. We’re in the playoff picture. But everyone in this locker room has done a tremendous job from the coaching staff and players, just really getting me ready. Just trying and come and give this team any help I can.”
The Flyers, once a model franchise in the league, are playing meaningful hockey in the final week of the season for one of the few times over the past 15 seasons. Chicago beat Philadelphia in 2010 for the Stanley Cup, and the Flyers never recovered, winning only three playoff series since and they haven’t made it at all since 2020 in the bubble format.
The Flyers haven’t played a home postseason game since 2018. Philadelphia hasn’t won the Stanley Cup since its lone championships in 1974 and 1975.
The Flyers play five pivotal games — the next three on the road starting Tuesday in New Jersey, the final two at home — that will decide their postseason fate.
“When you’re chasing somebody, it’s still hard,” Tocchet said. “When you’re getting hunted, it’s harder. We’re going to have to learn that.”
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