PITTSBURGH — Stuart Skinner was as frozen as the statue of Mario Lemieux simply exterior Highmark Gate at PPG Paints Arena.
Did Porter Martone critically simply do this? Did a 19-year-old child who was taking part in faculty hockey three weeks earlier to the day, actually simply drive the puck deep, slam on the brakes creating speedy separation from a defending Noel Acciari, and fireplace an against-the-grain missile on his again foot, brief facet, bar down, previous the 6-foot-4 goaltender?
Skinner’s masks hid no matter look of shock should have been painted on his face. His physique language stated all of it, although. After remaining locked in place with a frozen glove hand at the ready for a second or two after the puck had already bounced out and in, Skinner then slowly, confusingly rotated to look at the web behind him.
What simply occurred?
“First, kind of when I stopped up there, I scanned the ice to look for someone open,” Martone defined of the purpose. “They had pretty good coverage, so I tried to use (Acciari) as a screen. Tried to shoot there, and luckily it went in. It was a big goal.”
While Travis Sanheim’s tiebreaker halfway by means of the third interval was the most necessary play — and was additionally remarkably skillful — in the Philadelphia Flyers’ 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday of their first playoff recreation in six years, it was the rookie’s astonishing rating that despatched Flyers followers on-line into a tizzy.
Martone acknowledged that “as a teenager” he can’t utterly disassociate from social media. “But for me, I just try to not get caught up in it,” he continued.
Good luck with that when you preserve making these kinds of performs, Porter.
The circumstances beneath which Martone arrived in Philadelphia, becoming a member of the Flyers late in the season and making some key performs to help them clinch an unlikely playoff berth, coupled with a dazzling highlight-reel purpose in his playoff debut towards a hated rival, counsel it’s not too early to imagine Martone might be on a brief path to changing into the face of the franchise. If the Flyers make any kind of spring playoff run, or even when Martone simply retains contributing towards the Penguins on a Flyers crew that’s now broadly considered as on the rise, it’s going to be troublesome for Martone to to not get a fuller sense of simply what’s happening right here — whether or not he’s scrolling on his cellphone or not.
Fortunately for him, he has somebody he can lean on.
Matthew Schaefer is Martone’s good friend, taking part in with him on Team Canada in each the Under-18s in 2024 and the World Junior Championships in 2025. The first general decide in the 2025 draft — 5 spots forward of the place the Flyers took Martone — Schaefer seemingly resurrected a franchise all by himself, serving to what an getting old New York Islanders crew caught in the mushy center change into related and enjoyable once more.
Considering what’s occurred in such a brief time period, Martone might conceivably do the similar in Philadelphia. He could also be ready for it, too. Martone and Schaefer stored in contact throughout Schaefer’s massively profitable rookie season whereas Martone was marinating at Michigan State.
“I’d call him a lot of times throughout the year, ask him how things were going,” Martone advised The Athletic after a Flyers crew observe on Sunday. “You obviously see him, he’s a special talent, what he did this year. Not many people can do that. I stayed in touch with him throughout the year. He gave me tips for when it was my time to make the jump.”
Was there any particular piece of recommendation from Schaefer that was significantly precious?
“I think the big thing that made him successful was, he was himself,” Martone stated. “You see how much of an impact he made on that organization, how much he contributed to that team. For me, that’s what I try to do coming here. Just be who I am, as a player and as a person.”
What was additionally notable about Martone’s Game 1 purpose is that he was principally quiet in the recreation to that time. A high-volume shooter when he’s at his greatest, together with 32 photographs in his first 9 regular-season video games, that third-period purpose was his solely try on web in practically 16 minutes of ice time. That’s regardless of Martone taking part in on the prime power-play unit, too, as the Flyers went a discouraging 0-for-3.
Coach Rick Tocchet recommended Martone might have been a little overwhelmed at the begin of Game 1. Not that anybody would blame him, after all, as the Penguins’ house enviornment was simply the loudest environment the younger Flyers have been in all season. There have been certainly some nerves at play for Martone and plenty of others.
Still, that Martone — or Marty McFlyer, as he’s been dubbed by the crew’s social media crew — was in a position to make that form of an affect on the recreation regardless of not being all that efficient earlier speaks to what sort of participant he’s, and, maybe, what sort of participant he can change into.
“That’s maturity,” Tocchet stated after the recreation. “There’s going to be some games you don’t have it for 30, 40 minutes. He’s trying to figure (out) the pace. He had a couple of turnovers. He knew it — and then he gets a goal like that. It’s hard to find guys like that.”
Flyers followers know that every one too effectively, significantly after watching Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin for the higher a part of the final 20 years. Schaefer’s fast emergence after the Islanders received fortunate in the draft lottery final yr certainly had some Flyers followers questioning why they couldn’t ever get pleasure from that form of good fortune.
Martone’s arrival and speedy success provide some hope that possibly they lastly did.
“He seems to be a quick learner out there,” stated Christian Dvorak, who has been Martone’s linemate since his arrival. “I think to fit in right away, just (his) hockey IQ, the way he sees the ice, and how smart he is — that’s not easy to do right out of college.”
While Martone might need been making an attempt to keep away from social media on Saturday night time and into Sunday, he nonetheless received a honest quantity of messages from family and friends. Martone grew to become the youngest Flyers participant to ever rating in his playoff debut, and simply the fifth teenager to attain a game-winning purpose in his first Stanley Cup playoff recreation.
“They’re just really happy we got the win,” Martone stated of these texting and calling him. “They want to continue to see the Flyers play hockey.”
They’re not the solely ones now, as the Flyers get set to host their first house playoff recreation in eight years, in entrance of what’s prone to be the most boisterous crowd in a very very long time. They shall be there to observe the crew, however there shall be loads of eyes skilled on No. 94 now, too.
Martone is embracing the second as greatest he can.
“The Stanley Cup playoffs, it’s a dream come true,” Martone stated. “It’s really exciting.”
