Observations: Flyers Trounced by Penguins; Lose Ninth Straight

The Philadelphia Flyers got dominated Friday by the Pittsburgh Penguins  at the Wells Fargo Center. They dropped their ninth-straight game, 4-1.

And it wasn’t as close as it looks.

“We were flat. We play another game tomorrow,” coach John Tortorella said. “… I think they are trying to be better each and every night.”

Tortorella didn’t take anything special from the third period, one in which the Flyers finally awakened. They outshot (15-5) and outscored (1-0) the Penguins in the final period. Why were they able to control play in that session?

“Garbage time,” he said.

There weren’t too many positives, but here are some observations.

Flyers are falling behind too quickly.

The first goal of the game saw Josh Archibald knock in a rebound that just stood there for a count of two Mississippi. Nothing Carter Hart could do, and the Flyers were down 1-0 at 11:37 of the first period. Justin Braun flubbed a pass to allow the play to occur in the first place. The Flyers did Hart zero favors in this game.

Looked like Varsity vs. JV

— Bud McKibban (@BudMcKibban) November 26, 2022

Dumb penalties kill momentum.

The Flyers got their first power play with 5:48 to go in the first period. That power play created very little, and an Ivan Provorov interference penalty ended that. The Penguins failed to cash in with the remainder of power play time.

Getting outshot and outhustled.

A Sidney Crosby tip-in goal at 19:29 of the first period put the icing on the cake for the Penguins, who outshot the Flyers 15-7 in the period and were up 2-0. It was his 52^nd career goal against the Flyers, the most by any player against the Orange and Black. The Penguins, who won their fifth straight, got to pucks first. The Flyers’ team defense was horrific.

The fight was a highlight for the Flyers.

Nick Deslauriers tuned up Marcus Pettersson early in the second period. At that time, that was the Flyers’ only offense. Deslauriers leads the NHL with six fights.

He later got an assist on the Kevin Hayes goal that broke the shutout with 9:50 to go in the game.

Nick Seeler threw punches at Brock McGinn. Seeler got a double-minor. putting the Penguins back on the power play, but the Flyers’ penalty kill stopped the Penguins. Ryan Poehling’s deflection goal at 2:59 proved they owned the crease. It gave Pittsburgh a 3-0 lead at the time.

“We can’t go down that path saying, injuries, injuries. Yes, we have some good guys out. Those are times to prove to the organization that if you’re a young guy, that you’re an NHLer,” said Deslauriers. “Or a guy like me, if you want to play more, (show it). We have to keep it simple.”

Access denied 🚫 pic.twitter.com/3BKfUKUjTw

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) November 26, 2022

MacEwen created some excitement.

Zack MacEwen got a penalty shot at 12:43, and the wrist shot was saved by Tristian Jarry. The leg save was easy. MacEwen was skating well and had some legit scoring chances, but he had trouble converting. The shot created some momentary excitement.

Hart wasn’t to blame.

Felix Sandstrom replaced Hart after Poehling got his second goal at 13:37 of the second period. A weird one, but again he was in the crease. Hart stopped just 17 of 21 shots. The Flyers drafted Sandstrom in 2015 and he is developing into a solid backup netminder. That’s a big positive for the Philadelphia Flyers.

Sandstrom stopped all eight shots he faced.

Travis Sanheim and Rasmus Ristolainen are back together again.

This could be a positive down the road. So many Flyers were in the minus column that it’s hard to point out a good game by anyone on the blueline. Creating a pairing that could be with the team for years to come should be a goal. Let’s hope that this is the start of something that began to look good last season but wasn’t being utilized this year.

Breakaways

Eric Lindros was in the building to bring out the ceremonial puck for today’s game…..Chants of “Fire Fletcher” started in the second period….The Flyers are traveling to Long Island to play the New York Islanders on Saturday night. … The Flyers outhit the Penguins, 42-28. … Pittsburgh won 63% of the faceoffs. … Kieffer Bellows got the most minutes (19:12) of the Flyers’ forwards,  and the coach has liked his play lately. He had five hits but was minus-2.

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