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The exciting vibes of a surprisingly successful Western road trip are in the rear view mirror for the Philadelphia Flyers. That much is certain as they dropped three important Eastern Conference games this past week.
On Monday, they were shut out at home against the New York Islanders, 4-0. That was followed by a tight 4-3 road defeat against the Columbus Blue Jackets, and a crushing 6-3 loss to the Boston Bruins on Thursday.
The losses have put a serious dent in their Eastern Conference playoff outlook as they jockey for position before the February Olympic break.
The Week That Wasn’t
Coming off their best win of the season against the NHL-best Colorado Avalanche, the Flyers came home and laid a proverbial egg against New York. It was only the second time this season that Philadelphia had been held off the score sheet.
Far more alarming was their flat effort in which they seemed a skate stride behind New York the entire game. As a result, they turned a golden opportunity into a four point game that gave ground to the Islanders.
Against the Blue Jackets, the Flyers also started meekly as they fell behind by two goals after 40 minutes. While they were able to ride a Travis Konecny hat trick to tie the game at 3-3 in the third period, the Blue Jackets were able to respond with a late goal to hold Philadelphia off.
Finally, despite head coach Rick Tocchet’s line shifting, the Bruins completely dispatched the Flyers at TD Garden. After falling behind 2-0 in the first period, Christian Dvorak appeared to score and cut Boston’s lead in half. But it was called back for goal interference. From there, Philadelphia got their doors blown off as the Bruins would pad their lead to 5-2 by the second intermission.
In all, the potential progress from the week before was negated. The Flyers now find themselves 10 points out of a Wild Card spot and eight points adrift of third place in the Metropolitan Division.
Fractured Defensive Structure, Sub-Par Goaltending, & Not-So-Special Teams
From a pure game-play standpoint, the Flyers “flat as a pancake” efforts at the start of games has been highly concerning. Despite having the reputation as one of the NHL’s best comeback teams, it’s difficult to flip the switch as consistently as they’ve had to this season.
While the play of the Flyers’ goaltending, especially from Sam Ersson, has been inconsistent, the team’s structure in front of them has cratered in January. However, as pointed out by Hockey Hot Stove colleague Bill Meltzer, the Flyers problems have been creeping up on them since December.
The club’s defensive structure is collapsing. This is not alarmist, it’s the reality of the situation. They repeatedly allow back-door goals as they overcommit to one side. Tocchet’s system is designed so that goaltenders only have to think about half of the ice in front of them. The minute that structure falls apart, Vladar and Ersson have to start thinking about the play on their far side, which allows teams to slip into those vulnerable spots.
At the same time, there have been of moments where Ersson have given up stoppable shots, so there is more than a bit of “chicken and the egg” where struggles from the goaltending causes the play in front of them to slip. Subconscious or not, this is where you find out how connected a team is.
While the Flyers have been trying to hold up at even-strength, their special teams work has worked against them. The penalty killing units now stand at 20th in the NHL overall for the season at 78.6 percent. And the less said about the power-play (15.5% success rate) the better as only the Utah Mammoth’s is worse.
Personnel Shift’s Whiff of Desperation
The Flyers have lost 10 of their last 12 games (2-8-2) and have allowed 4.58 goals per game during it. So desperate times call for desperate measures. So prior to Thursday’s game, Tocchet got the lineup blender out and hit the “Puree” button.
Nikita Grebenkin — Christian Dvorak — Travis Konecny
Matvei Michkov — Trevor Zegras — Bobby Brink
Denver Barkey — Noah Cates — Owen Tippett
Nic Deslauriers — Sean Couturier — Garnet Hathaway
Travis Sanheim — Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York– Jamie Drydale
Nick Seeler — Noah Juulsen
One of the biggest questions has been whether Tocchet will give Trevor Zegras some extended runway at the center position and if so, time with Matvei Michkov. Their first game together with Bobby Brink was one they’d like to forget with some disjointed shifts together.
If Zegras is going to get a longer look, the expectation is that he will need to get MUCH better on face-offs (1-for-12 on Thursday, 33.9 percent for the season). He will also need to becond more aware in the defensive zone, because the box + 1 relies heavily on the center to cover a lot of turf. He’s become adequate defensively on a wing, but the center responsibilities are several notches higher.
Team captain Sean Couturier, goal-less in 26 games, was finally moved off a scoring line and was able to focus on bolstering a fourth line that has struggled throughout the season. The fact is: it’s uncertain if Couturier can be counted on for consistent offensive numbers at this point of this career.
Defensively, as the Flyers approach the trade deadline, I can’t help but wonder if placing Rasmus Ristolainen on the top pair is a bit of feature work to move him by then for an acceptable return. While reports are that it would take “alot” to move him, his continued injuries (he’s only played 17 games this season) likely give other clubs pause.
If they continue to fall out of the playoff race, then “alot” could change to something less than that.
What’s Next Before The Olympic Break?
Philadelphia (24-20-9) begins a three game homestand on Saturday before the February break. They play the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday afternoon, before two important Eastern Conference games against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday and the Ottawa Senators on Thursday.
If the Flyers are looking to keep in the playoff race, they’re going to need a better week than this one was.
