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Philadelphia Flyers: Team defense and goaltending again an issue

By Benjamin Gabrych

COLUMBUS, OH - OCTOBER 18: Josh Anderson #77 of the Columbus Blue Jackets beats Calvin Pickard #33 of the Philadelphia Flyers for a goal as Robert Hagg #8 skates back on defense during the third period on October 18, 2018 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/NHLI via Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - OCTOBER 18: Josh Anderson #77 of the Columbus Blue Jackets beats Calvin Pickard #33 of the Philadelphia Flyers for a goal as Robert Hagg #8 skates back on defense during the third period on October 18, 2018 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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The Philadelphia Flyers find themselves struggling with defense and goaltending yet again.

Old problems are arising again as the Philadelphia Flyers surrendered six goals in Thursday night’s loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, dropping to 3-4-0 on the season. They’ve given up at least four Goals Against in five of their seven games.

It’s not that they’re just bad or below average in their own zone this time around either, they’re one of the worst in the league. The Flyers have the NHL’s lowest team save percentage with .858%. The fact that they have three wins on the year posting a save percentage that low is a miracle. All of the blame can’t be put on just the goaltending, though.

The Flyers defense has allowed the second most High Danger Scoring Chances and eighth most Scoring Chances Against among NHL teams, according to NaturalStatTrick.com. They also commit a lot of penalties, averaging 11.4 Penalties in Minutes per game. That’s sixth worst in the NHL. The Flyers are basically begging opposing teams to score on them. You can’t expect to be successful giving up chance after chance, especially when you don’t have the goaltending to get bailed out.

Philadelphia net-minders, more specifically Brian Elliott and Calvin Pickard, have allowed the most High Danger Goals Against and Scoring Chance Goals Against in the league, per NaturalStatTrick.com. Fans should be obviously upset, but there’s not much the team can do as far as replacing the in-net talent. Michal Neuvirth, while the most talented goaltender currently on the roster, won’t make much of a difference when he returns from injury with all of the chances the Flyers surrender. Top goaltending prospect Carter Hart has played in just two AHL games so far with Lehigh Valley. It wouldn’t be fair to throw him behind the mess that is the Flyers defense, and could actually hurt his development.

Next. Playoff berth can't be enough for 2018-19 Flyers. dark

The Flyers have done nearly all they can offensively to try and keep themselves in games, tying fourth in the NHL with 25 Goals-For. That effort just isn’t translating to the defensive side. It could be because of coaching, player effort, or a mix of both. What ever the case may be, the Flyers must address it fast because games are only going to get tougher as the season goes on.

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