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Flyers Make Changes, Not Enough in 4-1 Loss to Rangers

By Collin Coyne

Dec 1, 2021; New York, New York, USA; Philadelphia Flyers center Claude Giroux (28) skates with the puck past New York Rangers center Kevin Rooney (17) during the third period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 1, 2021; New York, New York, USA; Philadelphia Flyers center Claude Giroux (28) skates with the puck past New York Rangers center Kevin Rooney (17) during the third period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /
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The slumping Philadelphia Flyers rolled into Madison Square Garden to face off against the hot New York Rangers in Madison Square Garden this Wednesday. It was a game that proved the Flyers roster is totally outmatched in the Metropolitan division so far, if not entirely.

THE BAD:

FROST WARNINGS: Morgan Frost, a young player for the Flyers, saw more time against the Rangers tonight. Despite his penalty killing being something praised by the coaching staff since his call-up, Frost took multiple high-sticking penalties against the Rangers, resulting in at least one goal, and an immeasurable amount of shifts in momentum.

The Nth Line: While injuries have no doubt affected the Flyers depth at forward, the fourth line as it currently stands is completely outmatched by NHL competition. New Flyers favorite Zach MacEwan has been a small positive, but the line as a whole, constituting of the now injured Thompson, or the current usual suspects Bunnaman, Willman, and the snake bitten Oskar Lindblom, the fourth line is being victimized in the defensive zone, and useless on the other side of the ice.

THE WORST:

NOT SO SPECIAL TEAMS: The Flyers special teams have been awful. While the terrible powerplay is well known to Flyers faithful thus far, the penalty kill giving up an easy goal early in this game tonight put them on the backfoot right away, putting them in a hole they’d never recover from.

FLYERS WITH A BROKEN WING: The Orange and Black lost a massive piece early in the game when Joel Farabee lost an edge and went awkwardly into the boards shoulder first. While Farabee would initially return to the game, an awful initial post-injury shift would have him shut down for the remainder of the night. Surprise defensive stalwart Justin Braun would also miss some time with an injury, though he would return later in the night, only to be physically bullied by the Rangers bottom line.

THE UNFORGIVEABLE:

The “John Gibsoning” of Carter Hart:

People who are familiar with me will know that I am a massive nerd when it comes to goaltending, and an incredible shill when it comes to Anaheim Ducks goaltender John Gibson. I did and still believe that Gibson has been the most talented goaltender in the league for the past several years. However, the Anaheim Ducks have been horrendous for some time, and between a lack of offensive support, and a crew of plugs defensively, Gibson has been victimized by his awful supporting cast. Thus far this season, Carter Hart (and even Martin Jones to a lesser extent) has been top five goaltender in the league, but the total lack of support has sewered him.

FIVE MINUTES IN HECK

There isn’t much analysis to be done here. The Flyers powerplay has been abysmal all season, and when gifted a five minute powerplay, they did literally nothing. Of course they scored shortly after, which people may say “shifted the momentum” but they never scored again. As it stands right now, the Flyers can’t help their goaltender, and they can’t put it past the opponent. If GM Chuck Fletcher thinks his house will get in order this week, he needs to make some changes.

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