With Jonathan Marchessault down with a lower-body injury and Tomas Nosek attending the birth of his child, the Vegas Golden Knights were left shorthanded in the forward department.
They could have called a forward up from the AHL, of course, but Head Coach Gerard Gallant had already cooked up a hell of a surprise in his head.
As the rest of the team left the ice following morning skate, Jon Merrill stayed on the ice with backup goaltender Malcolm Subban.
Merrill was due to be a healthy scratch against the Flyers but Gallant had other ideas, proving that old dogs can come up with new tricks.