The Philadelphia Flyers, with a majority of the Phantoms roster, were embarrassed by the Pittsburgh Penguins in a game that most likely should not have been played but was played anyway. It also came on a night that the Red Wings-Ducks game was cancelled due to the Ducks have five players in COVID protocols.
This game pretty much went the way that anyone would have expected the game to go. Having no Couturier, Giroux, Konecny, Provorov and Sanheim really showed. When you have to ice the roster that the Flyers did tonight, there is no chance for a competitive play. Last year, teams couldn’t change their rules for COVID due to competitive edge on other teams, but teams like us and the Islanders can play games while missing a majority of our teams.
The Flyers put up a decent fight but this was meant to be a Penguins win and a blowout at that. Even the best guys were having issues and it shows. Mike Yeo did the best that he could tonight, but losing Hayes in the third period as well did not help.
1st Period
Things started out fine. The Flyers and Penguins went back and forth for a bit and were unable to get anything past Hart or Jarry. As the period went on both teams got powerplays.
The Flyers first power play had some good chances but were unable to score. This is what happens when you have 6 players on Covid protocols. You end up having MacEwen and other players who have no reason to be on the powerplay.
They gained a bit of momentum but ended up giving the Penguins a powerplay and Frost headed to the box for holding of the stick. This ended up leading to a great pass down to the red line by Letang on the powerplay to find a wide open Rust.
As time went, the Flyers began to buzz and started to really push the tempo. The top line began working and Atkinson shot the puck, which went went under Jarry. Laughton knocked it loose and Farabee tapped it in. The only problem is the ref blew the whistle as Farabee started to tap the puck home and Jarry and Laughton both got penalties.
The four on four did not help as the ice completely tilted. Egor Zamula went to block a shot by Rodrigues and got tied up with him. York ended up falling asleep looking into the crowd, which allowed Rust to walk in, take the loose puck and score on Hart.
Two minutes later, the Penguins took control of the puck at the end of the 4-on-4 and the puck was sent across by Letang as Connauton went to cover the right side to try to block the pass. This left Guentzel wide open in front because Yandle was doing who knows what with Crosby. Guenztel hit the post, got his own rebound and put it in. Hart attempted to make a great glove save but to no avail, the puck crossed the line.
The Flyers were outshot 15 to 9. They out hit the Penguins 12 to 6. The teams were equal on blocks at 4. The Penguins also had 3 giveaways and 2 takeaways while the Flyers had 0 for both.
2nd Period
The Flyers came out with a lot of fire and hustle. They were buzzing very early on and really began to bring it to the Penguins. Thet eventually got a powerplay which they held a ton of pressure. Farabee had one of the worst shifts of his entire career. After he went off the ice, he went to the tunnel and took his frustration out on his stick.
At 11:46, two minutes after the powerplay ended, Cam Atkinson and Joel Farabee got off on a 2-on-1. Farabee gave Atkinson the puck and made himself available, which allowed Atkinson to stay open and get a good wind up for a slap shot right at the edge of the right faceoff circle and it was an absolute laser for his 14th of the year.
The Flyers continued to bring it to the Penguins and kept the play mainly in their zone. They had three or four high danger chances in front of the net, but were just unable to get a stick on the puck in front.
They outshot the Penguins 9 to 8 in the period. The Flyers continued to out hit the Penguins 11 to 4 in the period. The Penguins blocked 7 shots and the Flyers blocked 5. The Penguins had 1 giveaway and 5 takeaways while the Flyers had 2 in both categories.
3rd Period
The Flyers were unable to sustain the play they had in that second period. You could tell this team was missing their best players tonight for sure.
Kapanen got the puck off a turnover at 11:10. Yandle slid up to pinch and Kapanen made a smooth pass to Rodrigues who was all alone as Connauton was caught high as well. But again Yandle should not have been that high on a turnover. Rodrigues was able to walk in and make a nice move on Hart.
A few minutes later at 9:40, Jake Guenztel again was able to exploit the defense, got a good pass by Crosby and walked right in. The defense was absolutely atrocious and the Penguins took advantage.
The Flyers got on the power play but were not the ones to put the puck in the net. As Hayes was making a move toward the boards, he was cross check and lost the puck, which also caused him to go to the locker room. John Marino took the puck up and gave over to Boyle. He walked into the zone ahead of Yandle and put the puck over the right shoulder of Hart.
The Flyers finally get on the board again, thanks to a great move off a rebound by Oskar Lindblom. He made a toe drag and puts it top shelf over Jarry. A little too late, but at least good to see Lindblom get on the board.
Conclusion
While the Flyers showed fight, this team clearly needs Giroux, Couturier and Provorov to be any kind of competitive. In a Lake Tahoe deja vu game, they did dominate the second period. They were unable to finish some really good chances, but this team can’t rely on Atkinson to score all the goals.
Cam York is clearly not ready to be a number one pairing defenseman. He was exposed multiple times by the Pens and none worse then the second Rust goal where he got caught looking in the stands. Zamula played a good defensive game and him and Risto had some growing pains, but I think moving York down and Zamula up to each others pairings until Sanheim and Provorov come back will help both players and their partners have success.
Hart was still a little rusty but a lot of those goals were not on him tonight. Leaving players alone to easily score goals is all you need to know. This is not a good time to go streaking the wrong way but with all the players they are missing, it is clearly bound to happen.
The Flyers will be back in action against the Sharks on Saturday and hope to have some sort of reinforcements but that will be unlikely. Hayes also went off the ice in the third period so we will have to wait and see what the Flyers say about him.