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The Philadelphia Flyers, fresh off a 3-0 win in Game Two of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday, have a complete day off on Tuesday. They will hold a morning skate on Wednesday at Xfinity Mobile Arena ahead of Game Three. Game time on Wednesday is 7:00 p.m. EDT. The broadcast is on NBC Sports Philadelphia locally and TNT, TRUTV and HBO Max nationally.
Adjustments and Observations
- Going into Game Two, I fully expected the Penguins to adjust their strategies for exiting their defensive zone, coming through the neutral zone and try to gain possession in the offensive zone. Cross-corner dump-in, maybe some reversals on breakouts. High flips. Something. It didn’t really happen for the first 40 minutes of the game. That worked to Philly’s benefit.
- The Penguins finally did tweak some of their line combinations. Sidney Crosby, who has been eerily quiet so far in the series (save for losing his discipline in Game One), created a Grade A scoring chance in the third period.
- Philly has been the better team in five of the six periods played so far in the series. I didn’t love the third period of Game Two — at least the majority of it — from a Flyers’ standpoint. Fortunately, Dan Vladar stood tall when tested several times in the final frame.
- How about that Owen Tippett shorthanded shift that led to Garnet Hathaway’s goal?! Tippett was like a man possessed on that shift; even before he turnstiled Kris Letang. Speaking of Tippett, that burst of speed past the defense to create a penalty shot opportunity was also phenomenal. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to top it off with a penalty shot goal.
- The way Porter Martone has played in his first 11 NHL regular season and playoff games — including game winning goals in Game One and Two against Pittsburgh — has been something special to behold. Martone’s offensive savvy, ice vision, shooting ability, physical strength and competitive drive are the real deal. His Game Two goal involved some puck luck, yes, but it was also self-made puck luck. Martone found soft ice in the weak side slot and the puck bounced right to him in prime range.
5 Things to Track in Game 3
- The Flyers’ blueline corps has been outstanding — collectively and individually — through the first two games of the series. Pittsburgh’s defensemen have been collectively mediocre. Does that continue in Game Three?
- In the third period of Game Two, Pittsburgh finally started to get some traffic in front of Dan Vladar. The Penguins also made a few east-west plays happen. To be honest, the 2-0 lead did not start to feel comfortable until the frustrated Penguins came unglued in the late minutes of regulation. By the way: the Pens meekly let the Flyers run out the clock on their late power plays with a 3-0 lead. Then Pittsburgh stirred to pot after whistles.
- The Flyers’ penalty kill has been stellar so far: 7–for-7 with a shorthanded goal from Garnet Hathaway. That’s enabled them to survive a somewhat excessive volume of penalties: some of which were needless, some questionable from the officiating standpoint. Philly has used the PK as a momentum builder in the first two games. That’s an important factor is the series so far. Nevertheless, the Flyers don’t want to play with fire too often in Game Three and beyond.
- I’ll just toss out the fourth and fifth Flyers power plays from my Game Two evaluation. They wisely focused on playing keep-away and killing the remaining time off the clock. However, the first three man advantage opportunities reflected why Philly once again ranked last in the NHL on the man advantage. Come Game Three, will Philly find a way to scratch out a power play goal? Short of that, can it last produce a couple bonafide scoring chances?
- Team D and goaltending get an “A” grade in Game Two. In terms of offensive pressure, it was too sporadic for the first 30 minutes of the game. The back-to-back shifts where the fourth line wore down the Penguins on the forecheck and then Martone scored on the next shift was THE pivotal juncture on Monday. Philly still has room moving forward to add a bit more attack into the mix.
Game Two Postgame: Rick Tocchet press conference
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