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The Philadelphia Flyers (3-8-4) are winless in their last three games, following their 5-2 loss to the Washington Capitals on Wednesday. Any momentum that they generated with their three game winning streak, following their early difficulties, is now gone. With no games until Sunday, Philadelphia has a big hole to dig out of if they hope to be in playoff position this season.
This game was a pretty simple case of one team outclassing the other, as the Capitals held control of the game for the most part. Washington put the Flyers on their heels with a goal less than two minutes in. Unlike the night before, Philadelphia didn’t fold and actually carried play for about ten minutes. But as the game wore on, the Capitals were consistently imposing their will in a fairly low event affair. They were also opportunistic on a pair of Jordan Kyrou goals.
Alex Tuch also scored twice and was a plus three. He bookended the game with the opening goal and an empty netter that finished things off. Alaiksei Protas scored the game wining goal. Center Dylan Strome had three assists. Defenseman Jack St. Ivany, a former Flyers draft pick, added two assists.
Philadelphia got goals from Sean Couturier and Matvei Michkov, while goalie Joseph Woll finished with 25 saves on 29 shots. Trevor Zegras, Denver Barkey, and Nick Seeler each picked up assists.
For an in-depth recap, read here.
The Good
- The Flyers’ response following the Tuch goal was encouraging, especially after they were folded in the opening 20 minutes the night before. Philadelphia would have the next seven shots on goal and the better of play. They just weren’t able to finish on the chances.
- Matvei Michkov continues his torrid scoring pace and is carrying the Flyers offense. As of this writing, his nine goals ties him for fourth in the league with Toronto’s Auston Matthews and William Nylander, along with New York’s Alexis Lafreniere and Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor. Additionally, his five power-play goals are second only to Leon Draisaitl’s six.
- The Flyers power-play remains a positive touch point of late, despite ranking 24th in league at 16.3 percent .The shoot first mentality, especially by the first unit of Zegras, Michkov, Barkey, Porter Martone, and Jamie Drysdale, has given the unit the kind of dangerous movement they haven’t had in years.
- Sean Couturier scored his first goal of the season on an outstanding re-direction of a Nick Seeler shot that was going wide. Couturier dominated on face-offs as well, winning 12 of his 14 draws.
The Bad
- There wasn’t a distinctly dominant performance by the Capitals. But other than on Couturier’s game tying goal, there was never a sense that the Flyers were going to be able to challenge them. Even when the Flyers outshot them in the first period, there weren’t any particularly dangerous chances against goalie Logan Thompson.
- Despite trying to play their box, the Capitals had several sequences where they were able to find seams to get chances on Woll. When the Capitals started to work their puck possession game down low, the Flyers struggled to keep them up at times. That allowed Washington time to get positioning for those sequences.
- Bad penalties didn’t help, either. Porter Martone’s second period tripping call on Tom Wilson negated an odd man rush opportunity, while Jacob Gaucher picked up a four minute double minor coming to the defense of his teammate. With a one goal deficit, neither penalties were good for the Flyer to take.
- Jordan Kyrou was in the right place at the right time (and the wrong place and time for the Flyers) on his two goals. The first goal came on the power-play where a missed shot managed to carom off the back board. The puck ended up right on his stick and Woll didn’t have a chance. On his second goal, he got a hold of the puck following St. Ivany’s shot deflecting off of Nick Seeler’s skate and tucked it past the Flyer goalie.
The Ugly
- The Flyers’ lack of physicality displayed itself in their inconsistency in moving the puck constantly. Tocchet acknowledged the team “pauses” too much. Against a team like Washington, one of the biggest in the league, that hesitation leads to mistakes and counter-rush openings. This was displayed in the Flyers’ giveaway numbers. They had 20 of them to the Capitals 12.
- This was another game where the Flyers were outhit by the opposition (32-23) despite having to “chase the game.”
- A near ugly moment in the first period: Noel Acciari, playing in his 600th NHL game, was down in a heap following a scrum in the corner. During the scramble, Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary’s knee came down on Acciari’s neck. The veteran forward stayed down on the ice, holding his neck. Luckily after going up the tunnel, Acciari returned to play his next shift.
Flyers Lineup
Trevor Zegras – Christian Dvorak – Cole Knuble
Porter Martone – Noah Cates – Matvei Michkov
Alex Bump – Denver Barkey– Tyson Foerster
Michael Bunting – Jacob Gaucher – Noel Acciari
Travis Sanheim – Jamie Drysdale
Cam York– Nick Seeler
Hunter McDonald – Oliver Bonk
Joseph Woll
[Dan Vladar]
Team Toyota Spotlight: Soft Play A Big Problem
There’s little question that the Flyers lack of physicality is beginning to frustrate the team’s leadership group. Against a team like the Capitals, the Flyers have to play a smart, physical game. They were anything but that on Wednesday night.
A perfect example happened on a play where Tyson Foerster lost a puck battle with defenseman Cole Hutson in the first period. Foerster is 6 feet 2, 215lbs. Hutson is 6 foot, 180lbs.
“At times this year, we’re soft, I would say,” Couturier told reporters in Washington. “Not hard on battles. Lose battles easily. It’s one thing to make mistakes and not win a battle, but if you’re in there trying hard and stuff, that’s different. We definitely need to pick up our physicality. It goes into competing as well, I think.”
Head coach Rick Tocchet agreed with his captain’s assessment.
“He’s not wrong,” Tocchet said. “We need a bit more, a bit more dig. We always talk about body position in pressure situations. You have to be somewhat physical.”
Washington beat Philadelphia by basic attrition. Yes, the Flyers had expended a lot of energy trying to rally from a three goal deficit the night before. But that doesn’t excuse the need to up their physical play against them. And it’s not just about hitting. It’s the willingness to get into the tough spots of the ice where they have to battle.
Of all the Flyers issues in the early going, it’s one of their biggest puzzles to solve.
Tocchet Postgame Video
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