Flyers can’t overcome mental mistakes, fall to Kings

The Flyers and Kings set off tonight to begin the new year for each club as is the usual tradition. The West Coast trip has always been a big problem for the Flyers and it continues to prove as such.

They never held the lead in this game and never were close to that again after they went down 2-1. While they did lose this game, the fight and urgency they played with did show and overall had a much better performance then both the Seattle and San Jose game.

Period 1

The Flyers and Kings faced off and it was not long until the Kings scored. 12 seconds into the game, the Kings got the puck into the zone, got down deep to Viktor Arvidsson who beat his man and got the wrap around goal on Jones. This was a bad play by everyone on the ice. Going back and rewatching the goal, Provorov was just standing in front of the net instead of covering Justin Braun’s side of the net when he went back behind the net to get the puck. He reacted late and so did Jones and the Kings scored one of the easiest goals of the season.

The Flyers began to battle back. They got on the power play and began to go to work. They looked good and look poised to score. They killed off what was a really good power play by the Kings on a weak Morgan Frost hooking call. Cam Atkinson also got a penalty shot and made a decent move on Quick but wasn’t able to elevate the puck

They finally got one to go at the seven minute mark thanks to Joel Farabee’s 10th of the year. Quick was giving up rebounds here and there through out the period and the Flyers finally were able to slam one home.

The Kings answered back two and half minutes later with a similar goal by Trevor Moore. The puck was once again sent in deep and Philip Danault gained body position on Provorov and got the puck around on a wrap attempt. Jones made the initial save but the puck was left right in front. No Flyers were able to get to the puck and Moore was able to get the slam dunk. Jones just pulled off the post and left a big enough hole for an easy goal.

The Flyers ended the period on a 5-on-3 PK after Konecny took a cross check penalty, which wasn’t needed, and Ristolainen took one as well while short handed. The Flyers were outshot 17-12. They had 11 hits, 6 blocked shots and 0 giveaways. They played with urgency and the little mistakes in their defensive zone cost them.

Period 2

Welp, so much for a better period by the Flyers. 0:47 seconds into this period, the Kings scored a goal just as Travis Konecny stepped out of the box so Ristolainen was able to leave the box as well. Kempe got the goal from the point as the Flyers still had three men only with Brown being stickless.

The game went on and the Kings seemed to have control for a while. Eventually some sloppy play came into the mix and both teams were going up and down the ice with some turnovers. The Flyers began to take control and a ton of pressure to the Kings.

The Kings were able to break Brendan Lemieux out and he was able to get position on Connauton. While Connauton still made a good play, puck luck played a big part in this goal as Jones committed to staying with Lemieux and as he did, he lost the puck and it slowly rolled, hit the post and trickled in.

The Flyers were overall playing very frustrated as Quick was just standing on his head and stopping everything they were throwing at him. The Flyers outshot the Kings 12-8 in the period. They only added two hits, six more blocks and still had zero giveaways.

Period 3

The Kings seemed to really pick up the physical play in this period. It led to the Flyers getting a power play with a hook on Lindblom. During the power play, two things happened. Travis Konecny got a 10 minute misconduct penalty for saying something to the ref and the Kings got another hooking penalty which was suspect at that.

On the 5-on-3 penalty, Coach Yeo took his timeout and they came to the conclusion to pull the goalie for the extra man. This aggressive strategy worked as Kevin Hayes joined the play and scored a one timer from the right faceoff circle with a great pass by Claude Giroux. They didn’t capitalize on the rest of the power play, but it seemed to be clicking better than it used to be.

Just like last period, the Flyers had the ice tilted in their favor. With 8:44 left, the Kings scored off a 2-on-1 rush. The puck was sent off the boards from a missed shot by Connauton and Keith Yandle pointlessly pinched. This allowed the break and an easy cross crease one time goal for Philip Danualt who had his hands on the scoring in most of this game.

With 3:59 left, the Flyers got on a break and were able to send the puck back to the point to Ivan Provorov who blasted it past Quick. It brought the Flyers back to just down two goals at this point. This then gave Yeo the confidence to pull the goalie with 3:30 left in the third.

The Flyers were unable to capitalize on all the pressure and zone time with the empty net. Provorov threw a shot into traffic which allowed Arvidsson to go get an empty netter to ice the game.

Conclusion

The Flyers had fight and continued to fight all night but bad mental mistakes and Quick standing on his head were the big factors in the Kings walking away with the win tonight. The Flyers point streak does end at seven games. Prior to this game, they earned 12 out of a possible 14 points, big points at that.

They will pick back up on Tuesday against the Ducks to finish their West Coast trip. They will have help with starting goalie Carter Hart returning and Scott Laughton as well. Derick Brassard will still be a question mark but getting Laughton and Hart will be a big boost.

Jones has gone 1-1 on this road trip but ultimately has not been great. Giving up that first goal in 12 seconds was just another bad one in a line of bad goals in all of his starts this season. If he continues to play the way he has, I would not be surprised if the Flyers look for another backup to Hart or give Sandstrom a look.

Keith Yandle again was out there when a big goal was scored that were back breakers for the Flyers. Last game was the shortie. This game was the bad pinch goal. The Flyers need to replace him once he achieves the record and Ryan Ellis is reactivated.

The fourth line was again your best line all night. Creating chances, forechecking effectively and really out working the Kings in general. Cates has become the perfect center between Brown and MacEwen and needs to continue to get looks from this coaching staff and Chuck Fletcher. Cates had multiple chances again tonight and looks to be developing rather quickly playing alongside his linemates.