Flyers Offense Fails To Get Going In Shutout Loss To Lightning

The Philadelphia Flyers offense couldn’t get the job done against the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Wells Fargo Center.

Aiming to ignite a two-game winning streak following a 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday, the Philadelphia Flyers faced off with the Tampa Bay Lightning for the first time of 2019-20. On the other end of things, Tampa was hoping to continue to be the NHL’s hottest team and earn their tenth-consecutive win with a victory over the Flyers. Carter Hart got the nod from Alain Vigneault between the pipes and opposed Andrei Vasilevskiy on the opposite side of the ice.

Overall, I thought the Flyers had one of their best periods of hockey this season in the first. Philadelphia killed off six minutes of Tampa power-play time, holding the dangerous unit to just two shots-on-goal during the second, four-minute opportunity. Nearly every player wearing an Orange and Black uniform were active in both zones, showcasing a high amount of effort in blocking shots and fore-and-backchecking the opposition throughout the frame. My only complaint from a Flyers standpoint was that they failed to capitalize on a man advantage chance themselves, which helped keep the game tied at zero after 20 minutes of play.

The Flyers were presented with another power-play in the early-goings of the second thanks to a slashing penalty from Pat Maroon but once again couldn’t take advantage of the extra man, leading to their tenth-straight goalless PP opportunity. This would come back to bite the Fly Guys in a reasonably quick fashion as Maroon scored his sixth goal of the year to put Tampa Bay up one. Matt Niskanen tried to play the biscuit by batting it out of the air, but it ended up landing near the front of Hart’s crease, allowing Maroon to put a shot right under Hart’s glove for the game’s first tally. Philadelphia didn’t generate a whole lot of offense from that point on and trailed 1-0 heading into the third.

Philly undoubtedly played a better period of hockey in the third than they did in the second but couldn’t find a way to beat Vasilevskiy as they fell to the Lightning 1-0. What this game ultimately came down to was who possessed the puck more, and tonight, it was Tampa Bay by a wide margin. I also have to tip my hat to their defensive system, as they suffocated the Flyers in both zones throughout the 60-minute contest.

The Flyers are now 23-16-5 on the year. Next game is Monday against the Boston Bruins.