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As the kids say, It’s been a minute since the Philadelphia Flyers last played a game. But as the NHL’s Olympic Break draws to its conclusion this weekend, the team is back on their practice ice in Voorhees, New Jersey, preparing for the final stretch of the season.
Flyers assistant coach Todd Reirden has run practice throughout the past week, as head coach Rick Tocchet is serving as Team Canada assistant coach in Milan. Today’s practice a simulated intersquad two-period game between Orange and Black units. Each segment of the practice rotated with five-on-five and four-on-four play. Reirden concluded it with power-play work.
With Travis Sanheim and Rasmus Ristolainen, the Flyers rotated defensive pairs throughout practice with a notable grouping of Jamie Drysdale and Emil Andrae. Philadelphia had used that pairing through early January.
Conversely, Saturday’s forward groups remained static from previous practice sessions this week:
Trevor Zegras-Christian Dvorak-Travis Konecny
Matvei Michkov-Noah Cates-Bobby Brink
Denver Barkey-Sean Couturier-Owen Tippett
Nikita Grebenkin-Carl Grundstrom-Garnet Hathaway
For the power-play portion of practice, the Flyers lined up with Cam York, Michkov, Barkey, Cates and Tippett on the first unit. Drysdale, Zegras, Konecny, Dvorak, and Brink were on the second unit.
It’s been well documented that the Flyers, like many NHL teams, haven’t had much extended practice time. So the past week has been a golden opportunity for a team that was running on fumes in early February to come back fresh and treat the time as a mini-training camp.
So, utilizing the time into a simulated game atmosphere for today’s practice was very intentional. Even leaving the ice for resurfacing was factored in, in preparing the team for their game on Wednesday in Washington.
“One hundred percent,” Reirden said. “Having them leave practice and come back to the ice keeps them sharp. I thought today was an important day to do that. Cooling down, coming back on ice, and lining us up (in preparation).”
Reirden On Team’s “Lack of Connectedness”
The Flyers struggles in January and early February are well-documented, as their 5-9-4 record illustrates. However, Reirden acknowledged the issues ran even through December, though the results at that point didn’t reflect them.
“I felt the connection between all five (on-ice) players, and the goaltending was really solid early on. Especially when you’re learning a new way of playing in the D-zone. You really lock into the details of it, needing to go to those exact spots.
“However, when they get used to it, there’s a little bit of separation in it. And I think that’s something that we’ve found in looking at it over the break.”
While the Flyers remain in the top 10 of the NHL in limiting shots against, so in a “big picture” sense, that’s an accomplishment, but the results remain what they are, as they are outside looking in at a playoff spot.
“The last month and a half to two months, we’ve gotten away from that.”
Practicing To “Re-Connect”
This week has been a chance for the Flyers coaching staff and players to get back to that connectedness they had earlier in the season. Despite not having goalie Dan Vladar, Sanheim, and Ristolainen yet, the week has been a reset with a particular focus on defensive zone coverage, both on-ice and in video work.
However, the Flyers have also struggled mightily on breakouts and zone entries, so that was another area of focus for Reirden and company.
“Those are things that I felt there’s been a bit of disconnect and too much separation between the forwards and defense. We did a better job of it in the last two games (before the break).”
Fixing The Weak-Side Problem
Another area of major concern before the break was the Flyers’ susceptibility to opposition weak-side goals. For a team that plays a Box-Plus-One coverage, attention to detail is critical.
“For us to play defense the way we want to, which is not man-on-man, then you need to rely and trust people to take care of areas of the ice.”
“Once that connection isn’t there, those areas of the ice open up. We feel really strong about how our goaltenders have played (within the system). When they’ve seen pucks this year, they’ve had the ability to stop them and not worry about anything on the backside. We got away from that.”
At the same time, it is fair to wonder if the players’ frustration as the losing skid continued contributed to the weak-side issues.
“The most difficult thing in being a coach in this league is figuring out how to stay ahead of situations that you know are coming your way and not overreacting. It’s something that we saw coming, but we got outstanding saves or failed execution by the opposition. But then they started going into the net, and that hurt us.”
In short, if the Flyers are going to execute better in their own zone, they will need to be more connected as a unit.
“We’ve got six guys that are responsible for doing their job. Everyone is counting on one another. To me, it’s the right way to play.”
Starting on Wednesday against the Capitals, we’ll see if the work that Reirden and his players have put in this week pays off in a strong start for the final stretch of the season.
