Flyers takeaways: Owen Tippett and Matvei Michkov get going but turnovers prove fatal vs. the Jets

The Flyers are now four games into the season and the tenure of Rick Tocchet. There have been good moments and not-so-good moments.

Here’s the good, bad, and ugly from Thursday’s 5-2 loss.

Owen Tippett: Rick Tocchet said that Tippett was “probably our only guy that played well tonight.” The speedy winger was flying Thursday and used his top attribute to break the Flyers’ goose egg in the second period. Tippett got the puck early in the neutral zone and carried it all the way to the right faceoff circle before ripping it home.

Three seasons ago, the Canadian popped 27 goals and then added another 28 the following year; however, last year, he dipped to 20. Four games into this season, he has a pair, including the Flyers’ lone power-play goal. If they can get him going, it’ll be a huge development.

Fewer penalties: Consigned to the penalty kill 14 times across the first three games — which attributed to limited ice time for the forwards who do not kill penalties like Matvei Michkov — the Flyers only took one penalty against the Jets.

“It makes it easier on a lot of guys when we stay out of the box, including the goalie, I think too,” said defenseman Cam York, who made his season debut after dealing with a lower-body injury.

The only issue while shorthanded? Mark Scheifele scored his second of the game on the man advantage. The penalty kill sits at 80% effectiveness to start the season.

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Matvei Michkov: Speaking of Michkov, he said Wednesday through a Flyers translator that, of course, he wanted to score, but that if he continued working, it would come. On Thursday, it arrived. The Russian, who led the Flyers and all NHL rookies in goals last season with 26, fired off a quick shot after a pass from Noah Juulsen late in the third period for his first of the year.

While it was good to get off the schneid, Michkov also took a step forward by playing a more disciplined defensive game — he wasn’t leaving the zone early and was involved in breakouts. Tocchet noted on Wednesday that the 20-year-old thought his legs felt better over the last couple of days, and it showed Thursday.

Flyers’ power play can’t score: The good news is the Flyers don’t have the worst power play in the NHL. The bad news is they have the second-worst, with Utah at the bottom at 6.3%. Philly now sits at 7.7% after going 0-for-3 on Thursday.

One of five teams with one power-play goal — scored by Tippett after a shot by Travis Konecny went off the glass in Carolina — the reason this isn’t in the ugly category is that the Flyers are actually moving the puck well and, for the most part, getting good chances. Across the first two-man advantages, the Flyers had eight shot attempts, with four stopped by Connor Hellebuyck.

Tyson Foerster also nailed the crossbar while Konecny was robbed near the left post (right where that big circle is on the picture below) after a nice passing play that started with Michkov before Tippett set up the alternate captain. It’s early in the season, and while the power play looks much better, especially earlier in games, it needs to start producing.

Luchanko’s line: Tocchet wants to be able to roll lines, but when the fourth line of Luchanko, Nikita Grebenkin, and Garnet Hathaway gets outchanced 8 to 1, according to Natural Stat Trick, it can tie the coaches’ hands. They were also culpable in the first two goals by Winnipeg. But the best moment for the line, outside of Hathaway’s big hits, was Luchanko turning on his jets and getting back to help break up a two-on-one.

Having to face Hellebuyck: No fault of the Flyers here, but facing the reigning two-time defending Vezina Trophy winner and last year’s MVP is no easy task. There were several shot attempts by the Flyers that, had it not been Hellebuyck in net, would have been sure goals.

Aside from robbing Konecny twice, including on a three-on-two in the second period, the Jets netminder stopped Foerster in the first period after he drove around perennial Norris Trophy candidate Josh Morrissey, before Noah Cates crashed the net. In the second, he was stoned on the doorstep after Cates dumped and chased, and Bobby Brink set him up. And, as if it was an indication of how the night would go, Christian Dvorak was denied not once but twice right atop the crease in the first two minutes of the game.

Having said all that, the Flyers need to get more than 17 shots on goal.

“Yeah, I think it just comes down to execution. And they buried on their chances, and we didn’t,” said Tippett.

» READ MORE: The Flyers are in Rick Tocchet’s ‘blood.’ Now he’s tasked with returning the once-proud organization to prominence.

Turnovers: The good news for the Flyers was there weren’t as many odd-man rushes as in the previous games. The bad news? The turnovers persisted, twice costing the Flyers. On the first Jets goal, Luchanko couldn’t control the puck at the Flyers’ blue line, allowing Winnipeg to keep the puck in the zone. Nino Niederreiter made a spin move in front, with Ersson making a big-time toe save, but Vladislav Namestnikov snuck in behind Jamie Drysdale, who had his back turned, and buried the rebound.

On the second goal, Grebenkin — who was also part of the Luchanko miscue — could not corral a breakout pass by Travis Sanheim along the wall. Winnipeg’s Gabriel Vilardi got the puck and sent it cross-ice to Scheifele, who skated to the top of the right faceoff circle and fired the puck past Ersson’s glove.

“They’re learnable mistakes, especially young guys, they have to be aware, before the puck gets to them, where everybody is, body position,” Tocchet said. “Even Grebenkin, like he’s taking the puck back instead of going north. If he chips it out, we get it out. … You just got to stick with the program. That’s all. Not the young guys, even, it’s everybody.”

The turnover didn’t help, but Scheifele’s first goal was one Ersson should have stopped. And while it wasn’t a turnover, the hockey gods were not on the Flyers’ side in this one, as Morgan Barron’s goal went off Adam Ginning’s skate and then the body of Cates in front. Can’t really blame Ersson on that one, which Tocchet called “wacky” while adding he thought his goalie “was fine.”