The Philadelphia Flyers have made history. On Wednesday night, Sean Couturier and Nikita Grebenkin combined to
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’s three or four loops around the faceoff circle to Henrik Lundqvist’s 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.
On Jan. 14, 2020, Boston’s Brad Marchand was the fifth shooter for the Bruins in a shootout, needing to score to avoid defeat. Marchand’s sprint up the ice was great except for one problem: the puck didn’t follow.
The puck didn’t 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’s gaffe was another memorable one for all the right reasons. The Flyers won.
Flyers’ Sean Couturier and Christian Dvorak combine for worst breakaway attempt we’ve ever seen
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’s way. The puck bounced high off the glass and out to center ice, where Flyers forward and penalty killer Christian Dvorak outraced Florida’s Seth Jones for the puck. Dvorak didn’t have to dig for the puck as the bounce put the rubber in the middle of the ice, quite deep inside the Panther’s blueline between the faceoff circles. You couldn’t ask for better puck positioning.
What not to do on a breakaway by the Philadelphia Flyers🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/mcSdt8SVGc
— Everything Hockey (@EHClothing) November 27, 2025
Dvorak, who had Jones by a step, could’ve deked Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky, or tried the five-hole shot, or roofed something over the keeper’s 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’s body positioning, shielding the puck from the opponent. Sadly, Dvorak took anything to mean inexplicably delivering a backhand pass to an oncoming Sean Couturier.
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, “Hold my beer.” Rather than shooting, the Flyers captain attempted a cross-ice pass back to Dvorak. If you pause the clip below you’ll note that Dvorak is about a foot behind the goal line and nearly in the corner to Bobrovsky’s 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’ netminder. Granted Dvorak has a decent shot, but he’s not hockey’s equivalent of Lionel Messi or David Beckham who can curl or bend their shots around a goalkeeper into the net.
Couturier realized his mistake as soon as the puck left his stick, looking up and probably muttering “WTF!?!” 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’s stick — laying prone on the ice behind the goal line — was able to take the puck away from Dvorak trying to stickhandle behind the net. Even Flyers’ television play-by-play announcer Jim Jackson was almost at a loss for words at what transpired.
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’s coffin with a nice deflection from Dvorak as Philadelphia put their foot on Florida’s 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.
In the end the Flyers won 4-2 and head coach Rick Tocchet told the team afterwards that they “f–king earned” the two points, they didn’t steal them. Although they’re traveling to New York on this Thanksgiving day, it wouldn’t 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.