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Flyers Preseason Gameday: 9/27/13 @ Washington

September 27, 2013, 8:30 AM ET [1001 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
PREVIEW 6:30 AM

The only good thing that can be said about the 2013 Flyers preseason is that ends tonight and none of the results count in the standings. With just one shootout win to show for six matches to date, the Flyers head to Washington to wrap up the exhibition slate with a game against the Capitals.

Taken individually, it is easy to come up with built-in excuses for why the Flyers have struggled in the preseason.

They had a split squad in their first three games, and played four games in three nights overall. They went a week without a game and, not unexpectedly, had a bad first period in the next game before settling in and playing better over the final 40 minutes. Last night, Philly's lineup was missing a host of regulars in a game that was basically treated as an evaluation opportunity for NHL roster bubble players combined with an unofficial Adirondack Phantoms preseason game.

All of that is true. What is also true is that many of the same problems that plagued the team last year (and, really, for segments of mutiple seasons) have shown no signs of being corrected.

The team has too many breakdowns that create transitional chances that wind up in their own net, struggles to deal with patient and defensively disciplined opponents, lacks puck support and spends too much time trying to get out of its own end of the ice. It's the kind of hockey played by non-playoff worthy teams -- and that's what the Flyers are right now until they prove otherwise.

Last night in Newark, a punchless Flyers lineup dropped a 4-1 decision to the New Jersey Devils. The Flyers, whose "A" lineup lost 2-1 to the Devils on Tuesday, were without much of the team end of the roster in last night's tilt. Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Scott Hartnell, Vincent Lecavalier, Kimmo Timonen, Braydon Coburn and Mark Streit all rested last night.

In their place, the Flyers trotted out a lineup featuring three NHL roster bubble forwards (Michael Raffl, Scott Laughton and Chris VandeVelde), three defensemen competing for the final two starting spots on the blueline (Nicklas Grossmann, Andrej Meszaros and Erik Gustafsson), two defensemen whose NHL-roster bubble is likely to burst in the next round of cuts (tryout Hal Gall and rookie Oliver Lauridsen) and several players who have already been assigned to the Phantoms (Tye McGinn, Nick Cousins, Ben Holmstrom).

The only players with guaranteed opening night starting spots, barring injury, who suited up for the Flyers last night were defenseman Luke Schenn, second-line forwards Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds, third liners Sean Couturier and Matt Read, and fourth line forward Adam Hall. Enforcer Jay Rosehill, the team's likely 13th forward on the depth chart, also dressed last night.

Steve Mason started in goal, stopping 21 of 24 shots. He's been OK in the preseason -- far from great, not glaringly bad -- but Ray Emery has easily been the better of the two. I would be surprised if Emery is not the team's opening night starter against Toronto next Wednesday.

After a scoreless first period last night, the Devils' Damien Brunner and Steve Bernier struck for a pair of second period goals spaced barely a minute apart. Ex-Flyer Dainius Zubrus made it three unanswered New Jersey goals when he tallied at the 14:04 mark.

The Flyers' lone offensive highlight of a night in which they generated just 13 shots (mostly feeble ones at that) on Cory Schneider's net came midway through the third period. With the penalty-prone Lauridsen in the box for his second minor of the third period, Read scored shorthanded to cut the Flyers deficit to 3-1. Veteran Michael Ryder scored an empty net goal with 1:27 remaining in regulation to restore the three-goal margin and seal a 4-1 final.

Last night's game can only be construed as a failure.

This was a game where the Schenn brothers needed to step up as the Flyers' top offensive catalyst in the lineup (Brayden) and top shutdown defender (Luke). They didn't. Brayden was invisible in most of his shifts. Luke was minus three in 18 even strength shifts (he also had three shorthanded shifts in 17:17 of ice time).

This was a game in which Raffl and/or VandeVelde needed to stand out and show they deserved to start for the NHL club. Raffl was the better of the two, basically cranking out another Mika Pyörälä-type of game in which he wasn't a liability by any means but also did little to stand out. Raffl's best preseason game was his first one. He's probably done just enough to start the season on the NHL roster but, if Daniel Cleary had not made a last-second decision to stay with the Detroit Red Wings, Raffl would almost definitely have been bound to start the season with Adirondack.

Meanwhile, VandeVelde had a rough night last night, ending up minus-two in 10:30 of even strength time and also taking a tripping penalty that put the Flyers shorthanded barely two minutes after the game's opening faceoff. I would not be surprised if VandeVelde's name is among the cuts announced today.

Laughton played a reasonably good game for his second match in a row. But was it good enough for the 19-year-old to deserve to unseat Hall right now and get into the starting lineup in the regular season? Probably not. Given that the Flyers seem likely to carry 13 forwards rather than 14 -- and that Laughton is better off playing than sitting -- I still think there's a good shot he'll be the final forward cut from the roster and will be reassigned to Oshawa.

Gustafsson is going to make the NHL roster out of camp. Entering the preseason, however, he pretty much had a starting job to lose and he may have lost it based on generally average-to-below-average performance. The sixth and final starting spot is probably between him and Meszaros, who looked better last night after a bad game on Tuesday.

If this were a few years ago (and he had an NHL contract), Gill's so-so preseason could be chalked up to an older veteran rounding into game shape. As things are now, between the team's numbers crunch on the blueline and Gill's generally uninspiring play in the preseason, I think he's going to be released from his PTO.

Lauridsen was pretty much a mess last night. Yes, he had three hits but he was also chronically off-balance or out of position. The hulking Dane took successive third period penalties, had a couple of failed zone clears that prolonged shifts in the defensive zone, and ended up as a minus-two in 17:17 of even strength ice time (17:40 total TOI). Even if he had a great game last night, he probably would have started the season in the AHL, but it would be nice if he'd made that a tough decision for Laviolette and Paul Holmgren.

If there were positives to take from last night it was that there were no reported injuries, young veterans Read and Couturier (after a somewhat rocky start) played reasonably well and Grossmann appeared to put a stranglehold on the number five spot on the blueline. All of those guys look ready to start the season. Last night, Grossmann was plus-one, four hits, two blocks in 21:09 of ice time last night including four-plus minutes of penalty killing time on a night where the Flyers went 4-for-4 on the PK.

Wayne Simmonds, who had a forgettable preseason between a bout with the flu and some ineffective games on the ice, should also be fine once the puck drops on the regular season. Last night, he played a fairly quiet 17:11 and did not attempt a shot (including those of missed net or blocked attempt variety).

Tonight, the preseason comes to an end in DC. The Flyers will start most of their opening night lineup, including Emery in goal.

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