The Flyers went against the Islanders in Belmont this Tuesday night looking to avoid breaking the franchise record winless streak of 13 games. They then broke said record.
THE GOOD
KEITH “THE IRONMAN” YANDLE: Everyone knew it had to be mentioned. Keith Yandle has officially broken the NHL All-Time record for consecutive games played with 965. The streak stretches all the way back to 2009 when Yandle returned to the Phoenix Coyotes lineup after being benched by then head coach Wayne Gretzky. Yandle’s play has been downright horrendous so far this season, so maybe his breaking of the record may spell a short benching that would be more than deserved.
THE FILL-INS ARE FILLING IN: Gerry Mayhew has scored another goal, this one coming early in the third frame, taking advantage of some 4-on-4 open ice. Mayhew’s goal has encapsulated a trend over these past few games of the AHL “fill-in” players seemingly playing better than members of the main cast. Mayhew, York, Willman, and even Frost for stretches have looked like some of the best non-Giroux players on the ice for the Flyers, be that for better or worse.
THE BAD:
SHELL THE GOALIE: Martin Jones was far from flawless this evening, but looking at it from raw shooting numbers, Jones never had a chance. The Isles would exert their will on the Flyers for massive stretches of time, dominating them in the defensive zone. Jones made some impressive saves, but when your team goes ten minutes of play between shots, and you’re facing them by the bucket full, it’s going to be hard to post a good statline.
GIFT HORSE IN THE MOUTH: The game opened well for the Flyers this evening believe it or not. Jumping out to a quick two goal lead off some very flukey goals, it seemed like the team was well on its way to breaking its now record breaking skid. But naturally, as things have gone this season, they collapsed almost immediately, not even being able to keep the lead heading into the second period. And again later, when they managed to tie the game at three, a boneheaded delay of game penalty saw the Isles immediately hop back into the driver’s seat as the Flyers stopped any attempt at offensive pressure until the final minutes.
THE UGLY:
ANOTHER ONE: There are a million different ways that I could break this game down. I can pull positives from this player or that player, but frankly I’m not going to. Nor would anyone really want me to. When a team has broken the franchise record winless streak, there’s only so much analysis to be done, and the Flyers have officially done that tonight. The team is lost, and there’s not much more left to say.