The Philadelphia Flyers hosted the New York Rangers in their second matchup against each other in just under two weeks. After a shootout win for the Flyers in their first matchup, Philadelphia had hoped to make it two-straight wins against the division rivals, which would have ended what is now a three-game losing streak.
With six injured Flyers out of the lineup, Philadelphia had their hands full as “the future” of Flyers hockey entered today’s game hungry, but completely unprepared by Mike Yeo and the rest of the coaching staff. Poor positioning from the defense and a serious lack of consistent offensive pressure is mostly responsible for Wednesday’s 4-0 loss to the Rangers, but it all stems from consistently below-average coaching.
Scoring Summary
First Period
- NYR 1-0: Goal scored by Kaapo Kakko, assisted by K’Andre Miller and Barclay Goodrow
Second Period
- NYR 2-0: Goal scored by Kaapo Kakko, assisted by Filip Chytil
- NYR 3-0: Goal scored by Artemi Panarin, assisted by Jacob Trouba
Third Period
- NYR 4-0: ENG goal scored by Andrew Copp
Takeaways
Philadelphia’s failure to hold back the Rangers’ offense during 5v5 play, as well as their own inability to get any sustained pressure in the attacking zone for more than a couple of seconds at a time, are major causes of Wednesday’s loss. This should speak volumes to the issues with coaching.
Visible frustration came from veteran players, but it certainly seemed to set the Flyers back even more rather than allowing their anger to motivate them into getting back in this game. Philadelphia needs to get better at remaining poised and disciplined throughout a game. They can’t continue kicking themselves while they are down like they have been and expect the result to be any better.
Some of the Flyers’ best plays–offensively and defensively–against the Rangers consistently came from young players like Noah Cates, Bobby Brink, Owen Tippett, Morgan Frost, and even Ronnie Attard. But is this a good thing for the Flyers? Or a major sign that the current system isn’t working and it is being exposed by incredibly young talent that has barely even played in the NHL? Only time will tell if these young prospects will benefit the franchise, or be broken down by it like the many who came before them.