Philadelphia Flyers: Corsi Line Report Vs Panthers
By Marc Naples
Game #2 of the season for the Philadelphia Flyers was one they would rather forget. Crashing to a 7-1 loss against the Florida Panthers is very disappointing, as both teams figure to be bubble playoffs this season and should be evenly matched. There is almost nothing to take from it for the Flyers, and truthfully advanced stats won’t really tell you much about what happened either.
More from Editorials
- 5 Philadelphia Flyers training camp battles to watch
- 5 Philadelphia Flyers cheat codes for popular ‘Puckdoku’ game
- Twenty (Not So) Bold Predictions For 2023-2024 Flyers: Part 3
- Twenty (Not so) Bold Predictions for 2023-2024 Flyers: Part Two
- Philadelphia Flyers 2023-24 Player Preview: Nick Seeler
The real story was a disastrous start by Steve Mason. The Flyers were down 4-0 in NHL record time, largely due to bad plays by Steve Mason. After these early bad breaks the Flyers quickly collapsed, and it was not a normal competitive regular season game after that. The way teams play when there is a four goal margin isn’t all that informative. Still, here’s the stats to compare how the Flyers lines performed in this twisted situation.
Forwards
Matchup Notes
- The Giroux line went to head-to-head with Florida’s top line, Huberdeau-Barkov-Jagr, and Mitchell-Gudbranson on defense.
- The Couturier line played against Jokinen-Bolland-Trocheck
- The Laughton line played against the Panthers 2nd line, Pirri-Bjugstand-Smith
- The Bellemare line played against the Panther’s 4th line, MacKenzie-Brickley-Thornton
Takeaways
First, I need to repeat that few conclusions can be drawn from a game where Florida was cruising on a huge lead almost the entire game. That said, it is striking to see the contrast between the Couturier line and Laughton line.
This is the second straight game in which the Couturier line had the worst Corsi rating of the forward lines. Furthermore, their matchup against the Bolland line was far less difficult than versus the Stamkos line in the Tampa Bay game, although the results were the same. With some talk that Sam Gagner will enter the lineup in the Flyers next game, this line is looking like a candidate for a change.
None of the lines mustered a 5-on-5 goal last night.
Defense
2 – FL – D
Matchup Notes
- Streit-Schultz usually saw the top line of Huberdeau-Barkov-Jagr
- Medvedev-Schenn saw a variety of opponents
- Del Zott0-Manning saw a lot of Jokinen-Bolland-Trocheck
Takeaways
Medvedev-Schenn will be an easy target in this ugly loss. Schenn is still scrapping for his roster spot, and with a -3 and 4 PIMs for high-sticking, he didn’t help his case. I would contend, however, that his -3 was a bit harsh. Medvedev-Schenn were on the ice for the Panthers’ first two even strength goals, both of which were directly attributable to misplays by Steven Mason on dump-ins from the neutral zone. Schenn’s 3rd goal-against came right on the heels of a penalty kill, when he was on the ice having been released from the penalty box.
For all the goals the Panthers scored, 3 were on the power play, 2 were Mason misplays, and one was immediately following a Florida power play as mentioned above. There was only one “normal” 5-on-5 goal by Florida, which came against Streit-Schultz early in 2nd period.
After such a bad loss,the Philadelphia Flyers will also consider changes on the back end. Gudas may see his first action of the season, and the easiest place to plug him in would be Schenn’s spot. It may be a bit unfair to Schenn and would break up what has been a pretty effective pair for the Flyers in the first two games, but after losing 7-1 it’s hard for anyone to be proud of their performance.