Philadelphia Flyers’ Furious Effort Not Quite Enough

The Philadelphia Flyers battled their intra-state rival very hard, but 1 minute of horror plus a few bad bounces made the effort for naught

The Philadelphia Flyers have been foundering this week, so a matchup against the rival (and first place) Pittsburgh Penguins loomed large. In this key game, the first order of Flyers business was to correct all those terrible starts. The good news is that the Flyers did build some pressure as they settled into the first period, and were rewarded (or gifted) a 2-goal lead.

That work and good fortune was un-done in 55 seconds. The Penguins quickly put 3 in the net, seizing the lead and shocking the crowd. The game seemed to settle down at that point, until the Penguins made it 4-2 when Malkin tapped one in after a Sean Couturier turn-over at the blue line.

At this point, the Flyers turned it up again. Goals by Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek tied the game up at 4, and the Flyers kept pressing. Unfortunately for the Flyers, a well-deserved go-ahead goal did not come, and Malkin had another tap-in goal after a harmless shot deflected straight to him. It would be a 5-4 final, despite the Flyers outshooting the Penguins 42-27, and 30-14 over the final 2 periods.

Forwards

New Lines, Again. Dave Hakstol made-over the Flyers lines again, going the ‘safe’ route for the top-6. The highly effective Couturier line was reunited, and Claude Giroux was flanked by Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn. This gave the Flyers what were essentially lines 1a and 1b.
Voracek a Man Possessed. Voracek’s spectacular season continued, scoring 2 more goals today. His first goal was basically a gift by Fluery, but there was no doubt about the quality of his second on a penalty shot. Voracek would finish with 9 shots on goal, and was the only Flyers player to finish on the positive side at +1.

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Giroux Scores One. Claude Giroux finally got his first goal of the season, blasting one in after a tremendous effort by Radko Gudas to keep the puck in at the blue line. Overall, both lines 1a and 1b had pretty good games, with similar numbers.
Lines 4a and 4b. While the top of the lineup had lines 1a and 1b, it felt as if the bottom of the lineup was lines 4a and 4b. Nick Cousins was pulled from the lineup despite scoring his first goal of the season, with Bellemare getting more opportunities. This 4a line of Bellemare, Read, and Lyubimov ultimately did okay. They had decent possession, but Bellemare continues to have absolutely no success in producing points.
Let’s Not Talk About Line 4b. There’s really not much positive to say about line 4b. It’s no longer a surprise when Chris VandeVelde and Boyd Gordon add nothing on the ice at 5v5, and Boyd Gordon’s offensive influence was particularly abysmal this game.

Defense

Balance. The chart above shows a good all around effort from the Flyers defensive group. With the pairs shuffled and MacDonald out, it was a pretty even performance from everyone.
Gudas Rises Above. Beyond that balance, Gudas did rise above. He played what may have been his best game as a Flyers, notching 2 assists and looking better moving the puck than I can ever recall. Gudas has gone from suspended goat to standout.
Provorov Knocking on Door for First. Ivan Provorov has yet to score an NHL goal, but he’s getting closer. He had 9 shot attempts in this game, one of which thumped the post.

Goaltending and Special Teams

This is a game where it’s hard to know what to say regarding goaltending. First, Steve Mason didn’t look great. He was caught by surprise on two goals, and was pulled after one period. That’s the 3rd time a goalie has been pulled in 9 games for the Flyers this season.

On the other hand, it’s not like Fluery played a huge game. As mentioned above, the first goal was a pure gift, and I don’t think he won the game for the Pens by any means.

Regarding special teams, it was a so-so day. The Flyers were 1-3 on the power play, with Giroux’s goal coming on the power play. As for penalty killing, the Penguins scored only seconds into their first power play, but the Flyers mostly controlled them on their only other power play. This was probably not a game decided by special teams.

Next: Flyers Struggles Continue in Strange Loss to 'Yotes

Up Next

The Philadelphia Flyers grueling, 5-game week wraps up this afternoon. They will play the Carolina Hurricans at 5pm. The Hurricanes remain near the bottom of the division, although this is right alongside the Flyers’ current position.