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Flyers Grades: Sloppiness Leads to Frustration After Fourth Loss in a Row
After an absolutely dismal 3-0 shutout loss to the Vancouver Canucks in their home opener, the Philadelphia Flyers have fallen to 1-3-1 on the season.
Things already looked and felt off prior to the game, as Flyers captain Sean Couturier started the game on the fourth-line left wing in his 800th NHL game.
Yes, you read that correctly. The captain was playing left wing on the fourth line.
As the score tells us, the Flyers scored zero goals on Saturday night, so the few positives from this game have nothing to do with creating offense.
Sam Ersson: A
Sam Ersson, the Flyers’ starting goalie, pitched a gem against the Canucks on Saturday.
Unfortunately for him, Canucks goalie Kevin Lankinen was just as good, and his Flyers teammates could not hit the broad side of a barn with their scoring chances.
Ersson never really made any spectacular saves, but that might just be because he was always solidly in position and anticipating plays ahead of time, something his counterpart, Ivan Fedotov, has struggled with early in his NHL career.
Overall, Ersson finished with 29 saves on 32 shots for the Flyers, good for a .906 save percentage. The goals from Nils Hoglander and Brock Boeser can be chalked up to broken defensive coverage, and Kiefer Sherwood’s goal off the faceoff should never happen.
That’s on Scott Laughton for losing the faceoff and Joel Farabee for not playing tight to his man.
Jamie Drysdale: B
Jamie Drysdale continues to be a mixed bag in terms of his performance through a full 60 minutes, but the positives are there.
The 22-year-old is starting to kill plays as a defender faster and more efficiently than he ever has, but his lacking of a steady defense partner contributes to his inconsistencies across the board.
For example, Erik Johnson collapsed to the same side as Drysdale on Hoglander’s goal, which left a royal road for Elias Pettersson to set the goal up with.
Later in the game, Drysdale was paired up with Egor Zamula, though it mattered little with the Flyers dominating the puck and pushing for offense, regardless of who was on or off the ice.
The former Anaheim Ducks defenseman has not fully realized how much of a weapon his skating is, especially on the power play, but that may come with time.
Drysdale’s speed and puck-moving ability are welcomed talents on a Flyers team that lacks them on the defensive side of things.