Flyers Falter On Defense Against Crosby-Less Penguins

The Flyers fell to the Crosby-less Penguins in a tough defensive showing. They would put forth one of their most dominant 5 v. 5 corsi performances of the season, but in combination with the rest of their efforts, it meant little.

First Period

CF:10 CA:14 CF%: 41.67% ZENO:2

The Flyers started with two strong, but fruitless, powerplays. They looked a little of sync after that, though. It could have been the line up changes, which saw Konecny return to the line-up, joining Raffl and Bunnaman. It could have been the ice, which saw puck bouncing and players falling all night. Whatever the reason, the Flyers played well enough to score goals, despite the corsi deficit, but just could not stay in sync long enough to finish.

They only had two controlled entries that went awry in the period. One of them was a flubbed entry by Voracek that led to a four on two for the Penguins. It required heroics by Carter Hart to save them.

Second Period

CF:12 CA:17 CF%: 58.62% ZENO:1

The period started well for the Flyers with a goal from Farabee off a fantastic feed from Couturier. But that would be their only high point of the period. Their only ZENO of the period was an errant Gostisbehere pass that led to a Kapanen breakaway goal. The Penguins would strike twice more in the period, capitalizing on poor net front defense by the Flyers.

They may have had the advantage in shot attempts, but the Penguins led in unchallenged shots from the net front. A good possession period by the Flyers was completely undermined by bad defense.

Third Period

CF:25 CA:8 CF%: 75.76  ZENO:2

In what might have appeared to be a dominant period by the Flyers, it was really little more than the desperate flailing of a team about to lose. The Penguins were able to sit back and absorb all of the pressure and turn it into a deadly counter. The Penguins would create a textbook goal of how to take advantage of pressing teams when they turned an overly aggressive Flyers forecheck into another four on two that ended with a goal by Ceci.

The second Penguins goal was gift, after a ZENO turnover by Travis Konecny, the Penguins were able to catch Carter Hart trying to get to the bench. Matheson would fire the puck from his side of the redline past the exposed Hart into the empty net.

Corsi Winner

PHI LW James van Reimsdyk CF:24 CA:5 CF%: 82.76%

JVR’s excellent play continued with a strong corsi showing and assist. His line accounted for the team’s only two goals.

Corsi Loser

PIT C Sam Lafferty  CF:4 CA:22 CF%: 15.38%

Lafferty, and his line mates, were dominated by the Flyers. The Couturier, Farabee and JVR in particular had their way with him. Even with a bad night, Lafferty did enough to help the Penguins secure the victory.

Conclusion

CF:52 CA:34 CF%: 60.47%

Games like this really expose the inherent weakness in corsi. The Flyers, despite a hefty advantage in shot attempts, played poorly, on defense especially. This is a key piece of context that corsi omits what was the story of the game, and the driver of the third period. The Flyers’ most dominant corsi period was one in which they were outscored by two by a Penguins team that was clearly looking to defend first until the clock ran out.

The great corsi number in the third period was window dressing for what was an underwhelming and disjointed effort.