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Philadelphia Flyers Come Back on Canes: Analytics Notebook

ByMarc Naples|
Feb 2, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Flyers right wing Jakub Voracek (93) and goalie Steve Mason (35) celebrate a win against the Montreal Canadiens at Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers defeated the Canadiens, 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 2, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Flyers right wing Jakub Voracek (93) and goalie Steve Mason (35) celebrate a win against the Montreal Canadiens at Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers defeated the Canadiens, 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia Flyers ended their losing streak by capitalizing on their scoring chances to the tune of 6 goals versus the Carolina Hurricanes

The Philadelphia Flyers squandered most of the positivity from the opening weekend of the season with discouraging losses to the Chicago Blackhawks and Anaheim Ducks. Last night the Flyers reclaimed some of those good feelings with a come from behind win over the Carolina Hurricanes.

The first step to the win was that the Flyers had their best opening minutes of any game this season. For once they generated some offensive pressure to open the game. This pressure however, did not lead to a goal, and the momentum faded away in the latter half of the period. Carrying into the second period, the Canes turning the tables to the tune of a 2-0 lead.

It was at that point when a renewed press by the Flyers led to a burst of goals by the Flyers, albeit on a limited number of chances. The Flyers ultimately bagged 4 goals in the second period, leading the way to win number 2 on the season.

Forwards

  • Making the Most of Chances: One glance at the table above shows that the Flyers didn’t do it last night with volume of shots and pressure. Fortunately, they capitalized on their opportunities and snuck a few deflections past Eddie Lack.
  • Voracek and Konecny Driving the Offense: The 2nd line continues to lead the way for the Flyers, and most of that is due to the work on the wings by Travis Konecny and Jakub Voracek. Most of the good things happening on offense is because of their skating and puck-carrying. Both players were +2 yesterday, with Voracek firing 6 shots on net for 2 goals (1, 2).

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  • Keep Reading: Matt Read continued his hot streak, scoring again on a deflection. That’s 5 goals in 5 games, tied for second in the league. That would be Read’s only shot on goal of the game, but he did lead the team with 4 hits and saw increased minutes in the 3rd period when protecting the lead.
  • The Quiet Roman: While the NHL Department of Player Safety is sparing the Flyers from making hard lineup decisions by dishing out so many suspensions to Flyers, Roman Lyubimov is not making much of a claim on a roster spot. The 4th line was very quiet, but linemates Boyd Gordon and Chris VandeVelde do a lot of penalty killing. Lyubimov only had 8 shifts and played less than 5 minutes total.

Defense

  • New Pair:. Ivan Provorov and Nick Schultz switched places, putting Mark Streit and Nick Schultz together. This makes them the Flyers’ least exciting pair, but they carried a lot of water last night. Streit played over 22 minutes, while they shouldered probably the toughest matchup against the Staal line.
  • Who is that Mann? Brandon Manning continues to turn heads. Is he serious with this goal? It was also a crucial goal, changing the momentum when the Flyers fell behind 2-0.
  • Happier times for Ivan: The new pair was also fruitful for Provorov, as he finished +2 with 2 assists when his shots were deflected in by Voracek and Read (clips above). Provorov also led the team with 30 shifts, although he probably benefitted from getting some easier matchups  against the Canes’ 3rd line. Provorov is still visibly adjusting to the speed and size of NHL players, so that might be a good plan to stick with.
  • Ghost on the Board. After piling up the shots, Ghost finally put one in the net last night. Ghost was very effective creating offense, but may be struggling a little away from the puck.

Special Teams and Goaltending

  • Eddie Lack failed to come up with any big saves for the Canes, which went along way to the Flyers scoring 6 goals on 30 shots. Mason, on the other hand, was pretty strong with his workload ramping up.
  • The Flyers finished 1-4 on the power play, although Read’s goal was basically another power play goal coming just as one power play officially ended.

Next: Sean Couturier Reaching the Next Level

Up Next

The Philadelphia Flyers are now entering an incredibly busy stretch of games. The Flyers have 5 games this week, starting tomorrow against the Canadiens.

The Flyers will get Radko Gudas back from suspension on Tuesday against the Sabres, and Dale Weise back against the Coyotes on Thursday.

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