3 Flyers Takeaways: Rookie Mistakes, Michkov’s Improvement, & Hellebuyck’s Impact

The Philadelphia Flyers suffered their first home loss of the season, dropping to 1-2-1 after their 5-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets.

It was a weird, low-event game. There were a combined 32 shots in the game, 17 by Philly and 15 by Winnipeg. The Flyers did a good job keeping the Jets on the perimeter and limiting the number of opportunities they allowed the Jets.

However, with a team as dangerous as the Jets, any mistake is costly, and they proved it Thursday night. Two of Winnipeg’s goals came following a critical error by the Flyers, while the other came on the power play.

For the Flyers, offense seemed to only come during the second period. The team actually looked good offensively in the middle 20, but periods one and three were an entirely different story.

Here are three takeaways from the Flyers’ 5-2 loss Saturday night.

Read More: Mistakes Haunt the Flyers in 5-2 Loss to the Jets

Flyers’ Rookie Mistakes Lead to 2 Jets’ Goals

The Philadelphia Flyers are a young team. That’s what happens when you are trying to rebuild for sustained success. As they have been since the second game of the season, both of the Flyers’ rookies were in the lineup for Thursday’s game. Both rookies made big mistakes, leading to two Winnipeg goals. I can’t confidently say both will be in on Saturday against the Wild.

To start, the Jets netted their first goal of the game following a Jett Luchanko miscue at the blueline. The Flyers’ rookie was trying to push the puck out of the defensive zone and had multiple chances to do so. He could not, and they took advantage and buried the score. Sam Ersson actually made a great stop on Nino Neiderreiter’s initial attempt. However, Jamie Drysdale was facing the net, not the play, giving Vladislav Namestnikov the easy goal. As a side note, that was Drysdale’s only real mistake of the game. For the most part, I actually thought he had a fairly solid game as a defender.

In the second period, Travis Sanheim sent a pass up the boards to Nikita Grebenkin, who was unable to hold on. Gabe Vilardi then took advantage and found the always-dangerous Mark Scheifele, who had a clean look on Sam Ersson.

It was two rookie mistakes that cost the Flyers two goals on Thursday. You have to wonder if we’ll see Rodrigo Abols, Nick Deslauriers, or even both in Saturday’s game against the Wild.

No Need to Worry About Michkov

If there was any concern about Matvei Michkov heading into this game, it should go away. The Flyers’ star had had some early-season struggles, but looked much better Thursday night.

Michkov was moving much better on Thursday and seemed much more impactful on offense. He made a couple of great passes, leading to high-end chances that the Flyers could not cash.

Ice time had been an area of concern for Michkov, as the Flyers’ lack of discipline and more time on the penalty kill had eaten his minutes. Thursday, Michkov had 18:48, his season high by far.

Not to mention, Michkov got his long-awaited first point and goal of the season, scoring late in the third period (6v5).

He still made some mistakes, and definitely has a long way to go before reaching that “mid-season form” that is expected. However, Michkov proved Thursday night that there is no need to panic about the young star.

Read More: PhHN Daily: Flyers Recap; Sabres Rumors; Tkachuk Injury

Connor Hellebuyck: Good at Hockey

Two goals are rarely ever enough to win a hockey game.

The Flyers did not put forward an effort worthy of winning the hockey game, but Connor Hellebuyck did not make it any easier. Facing the reigning Vezina and Hart Trophy winner is not an easy task. Hellebuyck touts those accolades for good reason.

The Flyers could not win the hockey game while tallying just two shots on goal in a desperate third period. In fact, it’s pretty hard to generate any offense when a 12-shot second period is bookended by a three-shot first and two-shot third period.

However, in that second period, where the Flyers had some spark, Hellebuyck stood tall and did what he does best: kept pucks away from the net. That second period could have gone much differently if it weren’t for Hellbuyck.

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