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Flyers Wrapup: 2/21/08 vs. Sharks

February 21, 2008, 5:01 AM ET [ Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Flyers fell out of a playoff spot tonight in one of the poorest efforts of their current nine-game losing streak. The San Jose Sharks played last night while the Flyers rested and, meanwhile, the Sharks came in playing some of their worst hockey in recent memory.

Instead of Philadelphia outskating and outworking San Jose from the drop of the opening faceoff, the ice was tilted in the Sharks' favor. By the time the game was 10:13 old, shots were 12-3 in favor of San Jose. The Sharks went on to outshoot the Flyers 40-27.

"We've got to pull each other out of this," Mike Knuble said. "It's not going to come from the coaches. It's not going to come from some magic trade. It has to come from the group in here. ...It's not easy to come to the rink with a positive attitude when you go through something like this, but we all need to be accountable to each other and ourselves."

San Jose played a decent road game tonight, but they also gave up several outnumbered rushes (one of which resulted in the only Flyers goal, as Mike Knuble cashed in on a 3-on-1) and let the Flyers hang around and score to tie the game 1-1 in the waning seconds of the middle period.

The game was winnable -- largely due to the play of Martin Biron -- yet it never felt like the Flyers were going to win it. In many ways, it had the feel of a game from last season.

In the third period, newly acquired Jaroslav Modry got beaten one-on-one by Milan Michalek, who promptly scored. Less than a minute later (42 seconds to be exact), a Doug Murray shot deflected off Daniel Briere's arm and into the net for Murray's first NHL goal. That was all she wrote. The Flyers showed little fight thereafter and never even teased the possibility of mounting a comeback.

"It's a normal reaction in tough times to wait for the guy next to you to do something," said Kimmo Timonen. "When you come into the game, you have to make sure you're ready to play, not the guy next to you. But when things go this way, you start to think things you don't normally think, and do things you don't normally do."


ANALYSIS

Just about the only positives I away from this game were the competitiveness and heart of Jason Smith, the hustle of R.J. Umberger and Sami Kapanen (neither of whom could finish their chances) and Biron's overall play in net.

Among the many troubling signs tonight:

* The Flyers breakouts looked completely disorganized
* The Flyers penalties were born of sloppy play and frustration
* The Flyers didn't draw a single powerplay of their own and with the exception of a clearcut Kyle McLaren intereference with R.J. Umberger that went uncalled, really didn't deserve a powerplay, either.
* Outside of Jason Smith, the Flyers did very little hitting, but plenty of getting hit. For instance, Jeremy Roenick threw a pair of big hits on the bigger Braydon Coburn in a single shift in the third period.
* The Flyers got utterly dominated on faceoffs.
* Philadelphia exhibited negative body language pretty much throughout the game. I commented on this in the Ottawa game prior to the Kimmo Timonen shorthander. Tonight, it looked that much worse.


NOTES

* During the game, Paul Holmgren was scurrying around. Afterwards he was down in the lockerroom and weight room. Much of the media thought the Flyers were about to announce a trade but nothing was forthcoming.

* The Flyers moved Braydon Coburn up to the top pairing with Kimmo Timonen.

* Daniel Briere received heavy booing in the third period whenever he touched the puck. The very mention of his name got booed when the Flyers announced that Briere jerseys were on discount by 20% at the Fan Gear shop in the arena.

After the game, both John Stevens and Mike Knuble attempted to defend Briere.

"Danny really cares. He's very frustrated right now but I don't see any quit in him," said Stevens. "I thought Danny worked hard tonight and played pretty well."

"Danny is a world-class player when he gets going," said Knuble. "He always works hard in practice, and never takes any shortcuts."

* Riley Cote had a great fight -- and a very lengthy one-- with 6-foot-4, 230 pound Jody Shelley in the first period. Cote has not faired well in recent bouts, but got the better of this one, at least in the early going. Thereafter, it was pretty even.

A fight like that should have given the moribund Flyers a spark in what was still a scoreless game at the time. But the Sharks went right back to pinning Philly in deep and flurrying twice around Martin Biron over the next several shifts.

* Claude Giroux made a nice backchecking play in the first period and a couple of good passes. He played 9:49. Giroux's locker was already cleared out after the game, as his emergency callup has ended and has to play a game for Gatineau tomorrow.

* After the game, Jason Smith had blood in his left eye and, usual, an ice pack strapped to his troublesome left shin. He also broke his nose the other day. Smith may not be the most naturally gifted player, but the Flyers' captain just has unbelievable heart.

* Lasse Kukkonen was a healthy scratch tonight, after playing a tremendous game on Tuesday, as well as a very strong game last Saturday in the front end of the Montreal home-and-home set.

Look, I understand there's a numbers issue on the blueline. But after tonight's game, Stevens spoke about how "there's an opportunity for players to play" based on their performance. The words rang hollow.

For much of this season, Stevens' lineups and ice time allotments send a message that for some players on this team, there is no REAL accountability when they play badly. For others, they can play effectively and the end result is that they still sit out or get their ice time cut the very next game.


***
The Flyers (30-24-2-4, 66 points) have earned just one of a possible 16 points in their last eight games. Viewed in that light, they are lucky to even still be holding onto the eighth and final playoff seed in the Eastern Conference if the season ended today (Buffalo also has 66 points but one fewer win). Tonight, Philly returns home to the Wachovia Center to play the San Jose Sharks (31-21-3-5, 70 points).

San Jose lost 3-2 last night in New Jersey and are playing for the fourth time in five days. The Sharks have dropped five in a row, including the first three games of their current seven-game road swing.

The Flyers have consistently had trouble beating the Sharks whenever the teams have met in the new milenium. Since the 2000-01 season, the Flyers are winless in six games (0-4-2), and were on the receiving end of a 6-1 pasting last season in San Jose. The loss came directly on the heels of a solid win against eventual Stanley Cup champion Anaheim.

Martin Biron will get the start in goal tonight for the Flyers. Thomas Greiss started for San Jose last night in New Jersey, so it's almost certain that regular starter Evgeni Nabokov will be back between the pipes tonight.

In Tuesday's 3-2 shootout loss in Ottawa, the Flyers came on strong after Kimmo Timonen's shorthanded goal gave them life when they were trailing 2-0 late in the second period. But it's no secret that the Flyers have been struggling both offensively and defensively during the eight-game losing streak.

The Flyers' once-dominant powerplay has looked out of synch of late. The Flyers enter tonight's game on an 0-for-21 slump with the man advantage (which included a couple lengthy 5-on-3 powerplays). Philly's last tally on the powerplay was Daniel Briere's second-chance goal in the loss to the Islanders last Tuesday. On that play, Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro took himself out of the play and was making snow angels while prone on the ice for what easily seemed to be about seven seconds.

For the Sharks, Joe Thornton has just one goal and two points during the club's current skid. Milan Michalek (one goal, four assists) has put up one point in each game, while Jonathan Cheechoo has scored just once since his hat trick against Nashville. Patrick Marleau (10 G, 29 points, -22) returned the lineup last night after missing four games with a groin injury. With an assist last night against the Devils, he has 11 points in his last 14 games after a miserable 12-game stretch in which he produced just one goal, one assist and a minus-12 rating.


Notes:

* Jaroslav Modry will make his Flyers debut tonight. No word yet on whether John Stevens will dress seven defensemen again (with Lasse Kukkonen perhaps going back to the swingman role he played in the back end of the home-and-home with the Canadiens last weekend). Rookie defenseman Ryan Parent remains with the big club, and is coming off a strong game in Ottawa.

On Tuesday, the since-traded Jim Vandermeer played the swingman role, and forward callup Stefan Ruzicka was a healthy scratch. Kukkonen played 19-plus minutes on defense and had what I thought was his best all-around game of the 2007-08 season. But the numbers game still works against the fearless Finn.

* Claude Giroux will play the second and final game of his emergency callup for the Flyers. By rule, he must be returned to Gatineau after tonight's game. His team plays tomorrow.

* Before opening faceoff tonight, the Flyers will conduct a brief pregame ceremony (no fine from the league this time) to honor ex-Flyer and current Shark Jeremy Roenick for scoring his 500th NHL goal earlier this season.

* Martin Biron played very well on Tuesday. But for his career, he has only won twice in the ten career shootouts in which he's played. This season, he's faced 10 shots and let in seven, including two on Tuesday. Two of his three credited saves, including one against Daniel Alfredsson on Tuesday were on shots that missed the net rather than actual saves. Among the 55 NHL goaltenders who have played in a shootout this year, only Cam Ward (six shots faced, five GA), Jonas Hiller (two shots, two goals), and Karri Ramo (two shots, two goals) have a lower save percentage than Biron's 30%.

* As expected, Simon Gagne will be placed on LTI now that Dr. James Kelly has recommended he sit out the remainder of the season with concussion issues. Once Gagne is moved from IR to LTI, the Flyers will gain a credit to go up to about $1.5 million over the salary cap to replace him for the remainder of the season. As a result, the Flyers can add about $3.8 million in salary by the trade deadline on Feb 26.

Last night on television, Flyers/Versus commentator Keith Jones suggested that Philly may attempt to use Gagne's cap space by looking to acquire Alex Tanguay. The former Avs star has struggled this season under Mike Keenan in Calgary and is allegedly on the trading block at the deadline.

On an appearance on NHL Network's On the Fly, former Flyers defenseman and Comcast studio analyst Chris Therien said he sees Flyers instead going after Tampa's Brad Richards.

Of the two, Jones' suggestion seems to makes more sense, as the Flyers need a winger (with Joffrey Lupul out for another few weeks and Gagne gone for the year) more than they need a center in Richards. But neither Tanguay nor Richards have played very well this season, and both carry salaries that could tie the Flyers' hands over the summer, assuming Gagne will fully recover in time to play next season.

* Peter Forsberg gave an interview to Allehanda (his hometown newspaper) today. Reporter Pelle Hägglund asked Forsberg if he will aim for a comeback next season if he's unable to play this year. Forsberg said, in so many words, "it's now or never."

Forsberg also denied reports that he's had any recent setbacks with his foot, saying "it's getting better, but it takes time."

Even so, time is very short now and if he's serious that it's now or never.... well, the odds still seem decidedly in favor of never.


* At the end of this blog, I've repeated the segmented season stats for the Flyers top-nine forwards that I posted last night.


Potential lines/scratches

Hartnell - Richards -Giroux
Umberger - Briere - Kapanen
Upshall - Carter - Knuble
Cote - Dowd - Kukkonen/Ruzicka

Timonen- Jones
Coburn- Modry
Smith - Parent/Kukkonen

Biron
[Niittymäki]

Scratches:
One of Ruzicka or Kukkonen (healthy)
Hatcher (knee)
Lupul (ankle)
Downie (concussion)
Tolpeko (concussion)
Fitzpatrick (IR, sports hernia)
Gagne (LTI)
Rathje (LTI)

***********

Scoring is fickle -- especially come playoff time -- and depth has a way of disappearing in a hurry. All players go through offensive ups and downs over the course of the season.

But this year's Flyers team has quite a few players who can catch fire for about seven to 10 games and then produce very little for an equally long -- or longer stretch. In light of the team's goal-scoring woes during the current losing skid, I think it's worth looking at just how streaky most of the key Flyers forwards have been this year.

Mike Richards is the exception. While he only has two goals (eight assists) in the 12 games since the All-Star Break and five goals (with 17 helpers) in his last 25 games, Richards has only gone back-to-back games without a point once this entire season to date. He had a three game pointless stretch around New Years. That's it.

As for the rest of the projected top nine forwards coming into the season, here is their segmented production over the course of the 2007-08 season:

Daniel Briere
Season: 60 GP, 21 G, 33 A, 54 PTS, -22, 10 PPG
First 3 GP: 4 G, 3 A, 7 PTS, +1
Next 12 GP: 1 G, 9 A, 10 PTS, -6
Next 7 GP: 7 G, 5 A, 12 PTS, +2, 4 PPG
Next 7 GP: 1 G, 4 A, 5 PTS, -3 , 1 PPG
Next 7 GP: 3 G, 3 A, 6 PTS, -2, 1 PPG
Next 4 GP: 0 G, 1 A, 1 PT, -1, 4 PPG
Next 8 GP: 4 G, 4 A, 8 PTS, -5, 6 PPG
Since ASB (12 GP): 1 G, 5 A, 6 PTS, -9


Jeff Carter
Season: 60 GP, 19 G, 17 A 36 PTS +6 4 PPG, 2 SHG
First 9 GP: 6 G, 1 A, 7 PTS, +8, 1 PPG
Next 16 GP: 2 G, 4 A, 6 PTS, -6
Next 1 GP (Minn): 1 G, 2 A, 3 PTS, +3
Next 6 GP: 0 G, 1 A, 1 PT, -5
Next 11 GP: 8 G, 4 A, 12 PTS, +4, 2 PPG, 2 SHG
Since ASB (12 GP): 1 G, 3 A, 4 PTS, -1, 1 PPG


R.J. Umberger
Season: 58 GP, 11 G, 32 A, 43 PTS, +5
vs. Pittsburgh: 5 GP, 6 G, 5 A, 11 PTS, +5
vs. Rest of NHL: 53 GP, 5 G, 27 A, 32 PTS, E
Best streak: Points in 7 of 8 games (Jan 10-24)
Biggest drought: One point in first six games after ASB (Jan 29-Feb 9)
Since ASB: 12 GP, 2 G, 6 A, 8 PTS, -5


Joffrey Lupul
Season: 44 GP, 18 G, 21 A , 39 PTS, +2, 7 PPG
First 16 GP: 6 G, 9 A, 17 PTS, +2, 3 PPG
Next 11 GP: 0 G, 2 A, 2 PTS, -2
Next 9 GP: 10 G, 8 A, 18 PTS, +3, 4 PPG
Next 3 GP (until spinal inj): 0 PTS, E
Since ASB (5 GP, until ankle inj): 2 G, 2 A, 4 PTS, -1


Mike Knuble
Season: 60GP, 21G, 18A, 39 PTS, -4, 14 PPG
First 3 GP: 2 G, 2 A, 4 PTS, -1, 2 PPG
Next 11 GP: 1 G, 1 A, 2 PTS, -1
Next 2 GP: 2 G, 0 A, 2 PTS, -1, 2 PPG
Next 6 GP: 1 G, 3 A, 4 PTS, +4
Next 2 GP: 2 G, 2 A, 4 PTS, -1, 2 PPG
Next 3 GP: 0 PTS, E
Next 4 GP: 2 G, 3 A, 5 PTS, -3, 2 PPG
Next 9 GP: 1 G, 2 A, 3 PTS, -2, 1 PPG
Next 3 GP: 3 G, 0 A, 3 PTS, E, 2 PPG
Next 3 GP: 0 G, 1 A, 1 PT, E
Next 2 GP (before ASB): 2 G, 1 A, 3 PTS, +2
Next 2 GP (after ASB): 0 PTS, -1
Next 3 GP: 5 G, 1 A, 6 PTS, +2, 3 PPG
Last 7 GP: 0 G, 2 A, 2 PTS, -4


Simon Gagne
Season: 25 GP, 7 G, 11 A , 18 PTS, -8, 5 PPG
First 3 GP: 2 G, 4 A, 6 PTS, E, 2 PPG
Next 3 GP: 0 PTS, -1
Next 2 GP (1st concussion): 2 G, 0 A, 2 PTS, +2
Next 2 GP (2nd concussion): 0 PTS, E
Next 6 GP (Jan return): 2 G, 5 A, 7 PTS, -1, 2 PPG
Next 2 GP (last games before ASB): 0 PTS, -1
Last 7 GP (3rd concussion): 1 G, 2 A, 3 PTS, -6, 1 PPG


Scott Hartnell
Season: 58 GP, 19G, 15A, 34 PTS, + 5, 8 PPG, 1 SHG
First 3 GP: 0 PTS, +1
Next 2 GP, 0 G, 2 A, 2 PTS, +3
Next 10 GP: 0 G, 1 A, 1 PT, -1
Next GP (PITT): 1 G (ENG), 0 A, 1 PT, +1
Next 3 GP: 0 PTS, -4
Next 3 GP: 2 G (2 ENG), 2 A, 4 PTS, +3
Next 5 GP: 0 PTS, -1
Next 3 GP: 2 G, 1 A, 3 PTS, -2, 2 PPG
Next 7 GP: 1 G, 2 A, 3 PTS, +2
Next 7 GP: 10 G, 4 A, 14 PTS, +8, 6 PPG, 1 SHG
Next 2 GP (last before ASB): 0 G, 2 A, 2 PTS, -1
Since ASB (12 GP): 3 G, 1 A, 4 PTS, -3


Scottie Upshall
Season: 41 GP, 9 G, 10 A, 19 PTS, +1, 3 PPG
Best streak: 3 G, 1 A, 4 PTS in three games (Nov 12-17); six points in four games (2G, 4 A, Jan. 13 to 22)
Biggest drought: 10 consecutive pointless games, minus-two (Dec. 11-Jan 12)
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