Monday’s loss to the Penguins was a huge opportunity missed by the Flyers. They now sit six points out of a playoff spot and their chances of making the postseason decreased heavily.
After a ten-game point streak — nine of which were wins — you would think the Philadelphia Flyers could afford a single loss.
In most scenarios, that would have been the case. But not when that game comes across the archrival, Pittsburgh Penguins. Sure, any loss against the hated Pens would have been demoralizing but last night’s 4-1 defeat hurt even worse when Pittsburgh entered the game in the last playoff spot and just six points ahead of the Flyers.
Instead of cutting the deficit to just four points — or two wins — and with two more games coming against the Penguins, the Flyers watched the standings gap grow to six points as Pens goalie Matt Murray batted away 50 Philadelphia shots.
According to Sports Club Stats, the Flyers had a chance to increase their playoff odds by 1.4 percent with a regulation win. In the middle of February, that’s a sizeable jump. But the loss sets them back 1.5 percent and puts their overall chances at just 1.4 percent.
It’s easy to blame referee Kyle Rehman, who whistled a play dead right when the puck entered Murray’s glove on a second-period shot. As it turned out, Murray couldn’t keep it in his trapper and the puck rebounded to Nolan Patrick who should have had a slam-dunk goal. The play was so egregious even the NHL released an explanation on it:
NHL’s explanation of Patrick’s disallowed goal: The referee blew his whistle because he lost sight of the puck. It is part of the human factor of the game & from referee’s position it appeared the puck was covered. The call was in accordance with Rule 31.2 and isn’t reviewable.
— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) February 12, 2019
Of course, that statement glosses over the fact that Rehman didn’t even take half-a-second to make sure Murray had the puck and blew the whistle right away. However, the reffing in the game was never that great.
The Flyers got away with some tripping penalties and even an icing that was called in their favor in the first period before Shayne Gostisbehere even reached the hashmarks. A Penguin was easily within distance to wash out the icing on that call. Even so, none of the calls had as big of an effect as the quick whistle that would have made the game 2-1 in the second period.
But the biggest sting for the Flyers has to be that they probably deserved to win the game. They peppered Murray with 51 shots, including 28 in the second stanza, yet only beat him once. Philly also controlled most of the play in the second and third periods, but just a few breaks cost them the game.
As Flyers fans have learned over the years, the hockey gods usually don’t care about being fair. Sidney Crosby was gifted a goal after Murray held off the Flyers’ early storm and Philly watched their playoff chances shrink noticeably for the first time in a couple weeks.
The good news is that the Flyers can forget about the Penguins and get back in the winning column as early as tonight, but the missed opportunity may haunt them into early April and beyond.