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As well as their November ended, the Philadelphia Flyers (14-8-3) started off December with a resounding thud, losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-1 at the Xfinity Mobile Arena on Monday.
The loss snapped the Flyers’ three game winning streak, which included road wins over Florida, New York Islanders, and . It was their fourth game in six nights and their first at home since their 6-3 win over the New Jersey Devils on November 20. They enjoyed a relatively successful November with a 8-4-2 record.
For the Penguins, winger Bryan Rust had a strong performance with a goal and two assists. Sidney Crosby, the undisputed king of Flyers-killers, scored two goals. Center Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Erik Karlsson picked up two assists, while Thomas Novak and former Flyer Kevin Hayes each added a goal.
However, Monday’s loss was a game where the Flyers played like a team that was running on fumes and got decimated by a dominant Pittsburgh power-play that took advantage of the opportunities presented.
But of even greater concern is the status of winger Tyson Foerster. The Flyers leading goal scorer left the game in the second period with an upper body injury that seemed to occur on the follow-through of a shot. He came off the ice with his right arm limp and did not return to the game.
Flyers Game Summary
Pregame
Prior to the game, the Flyers announced defenseman Adam Ginning had cleared waivers and had been officially assigned to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Ginning had been on a conditioning loan to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms since November 18, but was approaching the end of it. As a result, the Flyers recalled and placed him on waivers yesterday.
Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet kept his forwards groupings from Saturday’s game. However, he adjusted his third defensive pairing, opting for Noah Juulsen to pair with Nick Seeler.
Forwards:
Tyson Foerster- Noah Cates- Travis Konecny
Trevor Zegras- Christian Dvorak- Owen Tippett
Matvei Michkov- Sean Couturier -Bobby Brink
Nikita Grebenkin- Rodrigo Abols- Garnet Hathaway
Defense:
Cam York- Travis Sanheim
Emil Andrae- Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler- Noah Juulsen
First Period
It was a bit of a skittish first period for the Flyers early on, especially in their own end. Turnovers by Hathaway and Drysdale on successive shifts gave the Penguins some chances in front. However they seemed to stabilize and carry play at times.
After a successful penalty kill, the Penguins caught the Flyers with a transition rush that saw winger Bryan Rust fire a shot that rebounded off of Dan Vladar. Sidney Crosby was there to collect it and pop it home to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead at 9:18.
Following the Crosby goal, Pittsburgh controlled play for much of the rest of the period. Shots were 8-7 in favor of Philadelphia.
Second Period
Philadelphia seemed to turn up their intensity early in the second period, however penalties proved to be their undoing.
Travis Konecny got an chance on the rush, rings the puck off of the left post. Subsequently on the same shift, he drew a tripping call on Erik Karlsson. They would apply early pressure with the man-advantage. Penguins defenseman Connor Clifton got tagged for interference, which gave the Flyers a two man advantage for 1:17.
And the Flyers took full advantage to tie the game at 1-1. Tyson Foerster fired a whip shot from right circle that ticks off goalie Tristan Jarry’s skate and into the net at 5:36.
However, despite getting another two man power-play, the Flyers would not convert. To make matters worse, Foerster left the ice following a wrist shot on goal, holding his right arm. He would not return to the game.
Following a Rodrigo Abols holding penalty, Crosby helped his team regain the lead as Rust would find him in the slot for a wrist shot that beat Vladar.
After a Sean Couturier holding penalty at 15:20, Rust would use Travis Sanheim as a partial screen and fire a tracer over Vladar’s glove to make it 3-1 at 15:52.
Shot were 9-6 Pittsburgh for the period.
Third Period
The Penguins, sensing that the Flyers seemed vulnerable, generated a couple chances, including a hat-trick bid for Crosby that Vladar snatched with his glove. Pittsburgh almost claimed a three goal lead when Anthony Mantha’s wrist shot beat the Flyers goalie. However, Evgeni Malkin was called for goalie interference, negating it.
The Flyers would get a chance to get things closer when Pittsburgh’s Ville Koivunen was called for interference. With Foerster out, Tocchet deployed a power-play unit that included Zegras and Michkov, together with Cates, Konecny, and Sanheim. While they got some interesting looks, they did not convert.
Following Matvei Michkov’s slashing penalty to defenseman Ryan Graves, the Penguins would score their third power-play goal. Thomas Novak wristed home a shot past Vladar at 15:52, giving the Penguins a 4-1 lead.
Finally, former Flyer Kevin Hayes would put the exclamation point for Pittsburgh victory when he scored his second goal of the season on a back-hander.
3 Takeaways, Powered By The Mens and Boys Store
1. Foerster Concern, Who Are The Candidates To Fill In?
The upper body injury to Tyson Foerster had a ripple effect on the rest of the lineup in tonight’s game. The Flyers, fighting against a lack of sharpness from their recent heavy stretch of games, were put further on the backfoot after their leading goal scorer went up the tunnel to the locker room.
“He’s such an important part of our team,” center Noah Cates said, of Foerster. “Part of our core, special teams, everything. It kind of messed with our lineup. We have to go back to the basics, stick with the systems, and communicate with your guys.”
Depending on Foerster’s injury severity, Tocchet and Briere will be pressed to find a replacement for him. Who are the most likely candidates? It’s possible that Nikita Grebenkin might move into his slot and the Flyers look to add a veteran like Carl Grundstrom, Jacob Gaucher, Lane Pederson, or Anthony Richard to replace him on the fourth line. Don’t rule out a regular season debut for top prospect Alex Bump either.
2. Tocchet Unhappy With Flyers Penalty Kill
The Flyers gave up three power-play goals for the first time this season. At one point in November, they ranked as high as second in the league. After tonight, they are ninth at 82.1 percent overall and have fallen to 18th in the league at home.
But Tocchet’s concerns for his penalty killing units started before tonight.
“We’ve got to clean it up,” Tocchet said. “I really haven’t liked the structure of the PK the last five games. We’ve been lucky a little bit with Vladdy and Ersson (in net).”
“We’ve been running around lately. We run an aggressive diamond (PK formation). If you look at the goals, two guys ran out of position and that opens up the middle twice. Those are killers. If you give them the flanker shots, you can live with them. Sanny (Travis Sanheim) was flexed and he was backed in too much. It could be guys being tired, I don’t know.”
3. Sidney Crosby Loves Playing the Flyers…In Philly
Crosby continues to set records against his cross-state rivals. Per NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman, with his second marker, the Penguins captain notched his 29th road goal against Philadelphia. The goal passed Washington’s Alex Ovechkin for the most goals scored by an opponent in Philadelphia.
In addition, Erik Karlsson’s assist on that goal pushed him past Peter Forsberg for eighth all time in points amongst Swedish born players with 886.
