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The Philadelphia Flyers have a series on their hands now.
Faced with a chance to put away their cross-state rivals in Game 5, they once again came up short with a 3-2 loss to the PIttsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Monday.
The loss cuts the Flyers’ series lead to three games to two in their Eastern Conference Quarterfinals Series. Game Six will be Wednesday at the Xfinity Mobile Arena (7:30pm ET).
They entered Monday’s faced with making key adjustments to their lineup following their loss on Saturday.
The most noteworthy change was winger Matvei Michkov sitting out as a healthy scratch, along with defenseman Noah Juulsen.
In their place, Alex Bump made his playoff debut, while Emil Andrae came back for the first time since the opening game of the series. I
n addition, Tyson Foerster was slotted to the right wing of Noah Cate’s line.
A Better Start, But Penguins Strike First
If the game plan was to get deep, possess the puck, and get initial screens on Penguins goalie Arturs Silovs, the Flyers were able to do plenty of that early in the first period.
However, a blown line change involving Garnet Hathaway and Porter Martone led to the Penguins striking first. As that happened, Penguins winger Anthony Mantha was able to outmuscle defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen on the forecheck. Mantha came up with the puck and found a wide open Elmer Soderblom, who would fire home a one timer past Dan Vladar.
Philadelphia kept up their pressure throughout the period, but goalie Arturs Silovs was able to stave off their scoring chances. Philadelphia got better movement on their first power-play, but were unable to get to the slot consistently to make much of it.
Late in the period, the Flyers forecheck began to pin the Penguins in their own end. On one sequence, Trevor Zegras was able to spring into the slot area with a point blank chance, but he couldn’t get off an accurate shot.
The Flyers had a territorial advantage in the majority of first period did a good job of getting through the neutral zone well. But they were unable to.get shot on net consistently, with nine blocked shots and 13 missed.
Wild Second Period Followed By A Locked-Down Third
The Penguins started the middle period with a withering forecheck that kept the Flyers pinned in their own end. As Cam York, Jamie Drysdale, and Travis Konency were stuck in the Flyers end, Penguins winger Connor Dewar rifled a shot that beat Vladar just under the bar. For the second straight game, the Penguins had a two goal lead.
However, Bump was able to tie the game only 12 seconds later with a critical response goal. The rookie winger charged into the Penguins end off the draw, went around Parker Wotherspoon, and beat Silovs short-side for his first postseason goal.
As the period inched just under five minutes remaining, the Flyers got an extended shift in the Penguins end. Travis Sanheim and Ristolainen worked the point, then the former fired a shot from a tight angle that ticked off of Karlsson’s stick to tie the game at 2-2.
Pittsburgh got the ultimate bit of puck luck to retake the lead. Crosby was able to fire a pass from behind the net to Kris Letang near the blue line. The Penguins defenseman’s shot hit off the stanchion and somehow caromed off the back of Vladar’s left pad into the net to give Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead.
Following several early period chances (including a huge left pad stop by Vladar on Bryan Rust), the Penguins were content to let the Flyers come to them in the final period. Pittsburgh squeezing the life out of the Flyers with a withering forechecking game in the offensive and neutral zones.
Despite some late looks with Vladar pulled, the Flyers couldn’t find the equalizer.
The Good
- Alex Bump had an excellent postseason debut, giving the Flyers the jump they needed from their third line. In addition to his first postseason goal, Bump finished with 10 shot attempts, a takeaway, and a blocked shot. If he had any signs of jitters, he didn’t show it on his first shift as he helped disrupt a Penguins rush in the neutral zone, then got in position for a good look at the net. His goal came as the result of a brilliant move on Wotherspoon.
- In addition, Bump’s linemates also had a good night as Cates picked up the second assist on the rookie’s goal and was strong on faceoffs (13 of 18). While Foerster didn’t register a point, he played well off of Cates’ especially in the neutral- and defensive-zones and had four hits. However, in the offensive zone, he had just one scoring chances of note, and he missed the net from a prime shooting angle. There’s too much of that on Philly in this series, even in two of the three wins.
- While it doesn’t show up on the score-sheet, Denver Barkey had an overall good game and was dogged in his pursuit of pucks.
- The Sanheim-Ristolainen pairing continue to be reliable workhorses and point producers. Ristolainen has been a play driver with a goal and five points, while Sanheim is tied for the team lead with two goals and a plus five.
- The Flyers fight-back in the second period was admirable and is something they can point to as a positive heading into Game Six.
The Bad
- They’ve had two opportunities to close out the series, but the young Flyers haven’t shown that killer instinct yet. Their physical play has quieted in the last two games, while the Penguins have stepped up their game (even if they were outhit 41-37). A perfect example was Mantha’s outmuscling Ristolainen on the Penguins first goal. Even more concerning is that the Flyers are struggling to deal with their forechecking game, no more so than when they were chasing the game in the third period.
- The Flyers got traffic in front of Silovs, but struggled to get shots on net throughout the game. The Penguins goalie never seemed taxed. Early in the series, it was the Penguins who were struggling with playing uncomfortable hockey. Now the skate is on the other foot. How will the Flyers respond?
- There’s more than a little concern for Owen Tippett (minus two, three missed shots), who was banged up coming into the series. Enough so that he wasn’t practicing between games until Game 4. After being a physical force through the first three games of the series, it’s fair to wonder if whatever is ailing him is affecting him.
- After a two for three performance in Game 3, the Flyers power-play is back to it’s ineffective ways with an 0 for 2 night. While they were able to actually stay in the offensive zone and move the puck around the perimeter, they were unable to get effective chances down low.
- Trevor Zegras made some strange stick-handling plays at times in this one. One of which was his point-blank chance on Silovs late in the first period that he looked like he completely out-deked himself. It was also a rough night on faceoffs for him, winning only one of seven.
The Ugly
- Nothing worse than a fluke goal becoming a game-winner, but that’s exactly what happened to Vladar. The Flyers goalie was quick to state that the team was okay after the loss on Saturday. Now it’s fair to wonder how the team will view the Letang goal and if it’s the moment that turns the series on it’s head.
- The Flyers have yet to score a first period goal in this series. That’s a problem, especially since they’ve been forced to play from behind in Games Four and Five.
- It was a very difficult evening for Cam York and Jamie Drysdale. The pairing got utterly caved in from a territorial standpoint. Correspondingly, both were minus-two on the night. As good as both have been at times in the series, they got caught on the ice for an extended shift that led to the Penguins second goal. York, in particular, seemed to greatly struggle with the Penguins forecheck.
- One of the biggest concerns for the Flyers dealing with the Penguins forecheck has been multiple failed clearing attempts. It was at the heart of two of the three goals Philadelphia gave up in this one.
- How does Anthony Mantha keep getting away with throwing uppercuts in scrums? The officiating could be charitably described again as “uneven.”
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