As this season is progressing and the losses are mounting for the team, one thing is abundantly clear: the Flyers can’t score goals. They can’t do it. They are competitive enough. They are not getting blown out 7-1 in games. So, even when the head coach says that the team sucks, it is only a partial truth. Defensively, the team is playing rather well. Offensively…Coach Tortorella has hit it right on the nose.
So why is this team struggling to put up any points right now? There are three keys reasons for this.
Injuries
No surprise here that this is a major factor. If you take just James van Riemsedyk, Sean Couturier, and Cam Atkinson, that could be this team’s first or second line. You are also talking about two of the top scoring players from last year (especially those not named Konency or Giroux). That’s a lot of veteran talent that is out of the lineup.
In place of that are a lot of guys who would normally play third or fourth lines who are now playing on the second lines. That’s not where they belong. Because of that, opposing teams are throwing their best defensive talents at Travis Konency, Kevin Hayes, and Joel Farabee. Even then, those guys are able to sneak one or maybe two goals a game into the net. But it isn’t enough.
What’s left are people who aren’t ready to carry a team on their own. It’s not that they aren’t good. It’s that they simply are not good enough to do battle with top defenders on other teams.
They Aren’t Built For This
When Chuck Fletcher and John Tortorella assembled this team this offseason, a big priority was placed on defensive hockey. They brought in physical guys, like Nic Deslauriers to beat up and punish opposing players. The signings and training camp call ups were players the Flyers were hoping could create havoc and turnovers and transition over into scoring goals. And it worked…
…Until everyone got hurt. So, the team is hoping to rely on scoring from players like Deslauriers, Nick Seeler, Lukas Sedlak, Zack MacEwen, and Noah Cates. It’s not that these guys are bad. They are actually really good depth pieces and are probably among the best third and fourth liners around. But they aren’t going to be the offensive giants you need to carry this team. Sure, a goal every now and then you can expect, but if your team is stuck relying on these guys to win, it’s not going to happen.
Pure Bad Luck
They’ve run into some really good goaltending lately, such as Linus Ullmark, who is playing like he wants to win the Vezina Trophy right now! Hot goalies can stop good teams, let alone teams that aren’t playing well.
So, here’s what tends to happen. A team is down some players due to injury and other players try to make up for it. Maybe they make bad passes that get turned over and become goals (like against Columbus). Or they try and try and try, but nothing seems to get past the goalie, like against Boston. Frustrations mount, plays are forced, bad shots taken or no shots are taken at all. And the longer the scoring droughts continue, the more players will try to rush things. It’s an endless cycle.
In many of these games, they are playing from behind after spotting the other team a 1-0 or 2-0 lead. When that happens, the team also starts to rush their plays. And while it doesn’t make it any better, the team is trying everything they can do to score a goal.
Conclusion
There is no simple answer for what the Flyers are facing right now. They could make a trade, but for who/for what? There isn’t a scoring savior prospect that they can call up from Lehigh Valley. If there were, he’d surely be up here right now.
This is going to be a long process. At least they are playing well defensively and have had some great goaltending in front of them. But that’s not going to show up in the standings unless they can put together some wins. While it may feel better to lose a game 2-1, or 3-1 with an empty netter to close it out, a loss is a loss and is just the same as a 9-1 blowout.
Hopefully injured players can get healthy soon. Hopefully some of the young guys can find the back of the net soon. If not, the losses will continue to come for the Flyers.