The Philadelphia Flyers squandered a two-goal lead and lost to the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday night. The game turned on a costly mistake by Flyers forward Garnet Hathaway, who missed a prime opportunity to seal the win with an empty-net goal. Instead, he lost the puck in what fans are calling the “worst blunder you’ll ever see,” and he is now facing heavy criticism online.
The Flyers appeared poised to earn their second win in eight games, leading 4–2 late in the third period. However, they fell apart down the stretch and eventually lost in overtime. The Mammoth, meanwhile, extended their winning streak to four games and now have just one loss in their last eight outings.
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Garnet Hathaway missed open net
Much of the postgame discussion centered on Hathaway’s mistake. With just under seven minutes remaining, Barrett Hayton cut the Flyers’ lead to 4–3. After Utah pulled its goalie, the Mammoth pushed hard for the equalizer. Hathaway then broke free on a clear breakaway toward the empty net, but before he could get a shot off, Nick Schmaltz caught up to him and stripped him of the puck.
”Unacceptable”
Just one minute later, Clayton Keller tied the game at 4–4. Keller then struck again, scoring the game-winning goal two minutes into overtime.
“That’s unacceptable what happened tonight,” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet told NHL.com. “We sank in pressure situations, and that’s something we’ve got to get out of this team. You’ve got to rise to the occasion. You’ve got to want to be out there in those moments. A couple of guys sank in certain situations. That’s the bottom line. We’ve got to recover from it.”
Hathaway roasted online
Fans were quick to place the blame on Hathaway, whose empty-net miss likely would have sealed the win.
”Garnet Hathaway with one of the worst empty-net blunders you’ll ever see,” one fan wrote on X.
“One of the most egregious brain farts ever from Garnet Hathaway,” another added.
“Garnet Hathaway now has his moment that the world will remember him for the rest of his life,” a third chimed in.
You can watch the blunder below.
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