Flyers Game
Three Flyers Thoughts: The Tank is On
The Philadelphia Flyers lost a game that, quite frankly, they should have won. I mean, you tell me. Is scoring four goals enough to beat a team like the Blackhawks? I surely thought so, but I was so very wrong.
The Chicago Blackhawks had an offensive outburst, scoring seven goals against a Flyers team that had been playing fairly sound defensively in their previous games.
Offensively, the Flyers did not look so bad. However, everything I saw from Sunday’s game tells me one thing: the tank is ON.
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Flyers Post-Game Thoughts: The Tank is ON
Why Did Fedotov Come Back in After the First?
In Saturday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Dallas Stars, John Tortorella pulled Ivan Fedotov after the first period. Fedotov allowed two goals on three shots against him in the period. The leash was clearly short.
That leads to my biggest question from this game: Why did Fedotov stay in the game after allowing three goals in the first period? For a team that claims it is still playoff hunting, that is not something you do. The Blackhawks kept Spencer Knight in the game because they did not really have another choice. The Flyers did.
Fedotov has played his second straight awful game. I understand the decision to go back to him for the start on Sunday, but if the leash was that tight on Saturday, it should have been the same on Sunday.
Reason number one to believe the tank is on.
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Where Did the Defense Go?
The Philadelphia Flyers suffocated two of the best NHL offenses in two straight games. Defensively, the Flyers had looked like a completely different team than they had been. It was their offense and goaltending that was losing them games.
Heading into a matchup against one of the worst teams in the league, you’d think the Flyers would hold them to a low number of scores.
Well, think again.
Chicago is averaging 2.70 goals per game this season. They went off for seven on Sunday without an empty net score. The Flyers defense absolutely vanished. They looked like a completely different team.
Even weirder, only one Flyers defensive pair had a positive rating. Jamie Drysdale was +1, while Nick Seeler was +2. That is typically a pair that allows a fair share of goals, but it was seemingly the Flyers’ best on Sunday–at least on paper.
The Flyers certainly put forth a good offensive effort, but they will never win games if they allow seven goals.
Offense is Seemingly Coming Together
After a stretch of significant struggles for the Flyers offensively, they finally seem to be trending in the right direction.
Drysdale, in particular, is continuing to look like the offensive threat he was once poised to be. On Sunday, he had two shots redirected for goals–one off a Blackhawk defender and the other off the stick of Travis Konecny. It is a positive sign to see Drysdale coming into his own.
Speaking of Travis Konecny, after a 13-game goalless streak, he now has goals in back-to-back games. Konecny is looking like himself again. With his $8.75 Mil AAV kicking in next year, you want to see him get back to the player he was earlier in the season.
One common denominator in Konecny’s recent success is his new linemate, Matvei Michkov.
It felt like we would never see Michkov tried out on the left wing, but he has now played two games at the position and has three assists in those two games. He looks comfortable and is now able to play with his best teammate. The Flyers needed to find ways to get Michkov and Konecny on the same line, and it looks like they may have finally found it.
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The combination of TK and Matvei coming together on the same line with Matvei playing his off wing could not come at a worse time.
We will see if the tank is truly on by how many games each goalie gets down the stretch. Unfortunately they only have a single B2B left, so Ersson will probably get 7 or 8 of the starts.
The only way the tank is truly on is if they gain zero points in the 3 games versus Nashville and Buffalo. The best thing they could do is lose as often as possible. The second best thing is to fire Rocky and his impotent power play that’s 0/30 in March. The third best is to bump Torts upstairs and find a new coach. Can’t have him as a detriment to possibly not have any worthy free agents sign here. Have to get off the treadmill.