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Flyers Playoff Gameday: ECQF Game 4 vs. WSH |
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GAME 4 PREVIEW: FLYERS VS. CAPITALS
Needing a win to stave off playoff elimination and send the series back to DC, Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers host Barry Trotz's Washington Capitals in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals on Wednesday night. Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 7:00 p.m. EDT. The game will be televised on CSN Philadelphia and NBCSN.
On Monday, following a spine-chilling pregame tribute to the late Ed Snider, the Flyers came out storming with a Michael Raffl goal in the opening minute. Overall, as they've done in all three games of the series, the Flyers were the better team in the first period but had no lead to show for it at the first intermission. In Game 3, the game was still up for grabs entering the third period. Then the wheels fell off and sheer ugliness ensued, totaling up to a 6-1 loss.
The Flyers biggest problem in the series has been the futility of both halves of their special teams. They are 0-for-13 on the power play. On the penalty kill, they have blocked a lot of shots but the Capitals have otherwise carved up an extremely passive PK box and at-will screens on point shot. Philadelphia went 5-for-6 on the PK in game one but only because goaltender Steve Mason figuratively stood on his head that night. On Monday, the Caps went a staggering 5-for-9 on the power play after going 2-for-2 in DC last Saturday.
In fairness, it should be noted that one of the Washington power play goals came on the rebound of one of the most freakish bounces off a side angle stanchion in the 21-year history of the Wells Fargo Center. Even those of us who have seen almost every game in the building's history cannot remember a bounce quite like the Justin Williams bank-in off the stanchion that a startled Mason boxed and Evgeny Kuznetsov pounced on for a rebound goal. The final two power play goals came in a garbage time shooting gallery.
The Flyers have actually defended reasonably well at 5-on-5 although they aren't getting much more than perimeter chances (albeit in pretty high volume) on their own offensive forays. The Caps have outscored Philly 4-2 at even strength but the differential is one "simply bad" and one "nightmarishly bad" goals that Steve Mason has allowed.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare received a major penalty, game misconduct and subsequent one game suspension from the NHL for a hit from behind on Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov late in the game. Equally frustrated teammates Ryan White and Radko Gudas drew 10-minute misconducts from the ensuing scrum. Washington received no penalties. All three penalized Flyers deserved the calls that were issued.
These are the final words that will be spoken in this blog space about what happened late in the game: In the waning minutes, 100 or so verminous cockroaches, masquerading as human beings and fueled by alcohol, their own lack of intelligence and a mob mentality, embarrassed the Flyers organization, its players, the actual fans of the team and the city of Philadelphia. They statistically comprised five-tenths of one percent of the sellout crowd but that fact will never be portrayed in most accounts of the souvenir bracelets thrown down on the ice, forcing PA announcer Lou Nolan to try in futility to appeal to the class and dignity of the boorish and brainless and then to embarrass those proud of their own ignorance into stopping.
Flyers Outlook
The Flyers' challenge in trying to prevent a sweep is to figure out how to win with no margin for error: stay out of the penalty box as much as possible, fix the PK for the ones that are unavoidable, fix the power play, allow no remotely stoppable goals and take the Capitals goaltender's eyes away.
Mason was tremendous in Game One, had an otherwise decent Game Two ruined by allowing a 101-foot goal that has become one of two lasting negative images of the series so far, and was strictly so-so in Game Three. Entering the series, his mission was to not allow anything that Braden Holtby would not give up if they switched uniforms. The challenge was met in Game One but not in the next two games. Michal Neuvirth may be in goal for Game Four.
Mason is far from the only key Flyer who has not delivered thus far. Claude Giroux is pointless through three games. Shayne Gostisbehere (one assist) has been a non-factor. Wayne Simmonds has no points and 11 penalty minutes (including taking himself out of a 1-0 game in the later stages of Game One). Jakub Voracek scored the Flyers' lone goal of Game Two but has otherwise continued his late-season struggles.
As brilliantly as Holtby has played in the series, the defense in front of him also deserves credit. There have been periodic loose pucks sitting on the doorstep that the Flyers have been unable to pump home, either because the defense got to them first or tied up a stick or blocked the potential followup.
Among the supporting cast, the Flyers have gotten some periodic good shifts. Sam Gagner and the Nick Cousins line have created some chances, although there is only one Gagner assist on Monday's early goal to show for it. Apart from his goal in Game 3, Raffl was one of the more effective Flyers in Game Three at forechecking and getting to the net.
There is no getting around the fact that the Flyers desperately miss Sean Couturier's two-way presence. Lost for the series with a shoulder injury midway through Game One, Couturier is one of the hardest players on the roster to work around an absence, especially on the defensive side of the puck. With Bellemare suspended for Game Four, the task becomes even more massive.
The Flyers recalled veteran forward Colin McDonald from the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Sunday. On Monday, they added goalie Anthony Stolarz, defensemen Davis Drewiske, Mark Alt, Robert Hägg and Samuel Morin as well as forwards Taylor Leier, Chris Conner and Cole Bardreau as black aces.
Capitals Outlook
Other than improved first periods, there really isn't too much that Washington needs to strategically adjust from the first three games. The one concern is injuries.
Shutdown defenseman Brooks Orpik was severely shaken up on a routine hit by Flyers forward White in Game Three. He had to be helped off the ice, seemingly concussed, and has been ruled out for Game Four at minimum. While the Caps can work around his absence, Trotz had mostly relied on four defensemen up to that point of the series, playing third-pairing defensemen Orlov and Nate Schmidt sparingly. Another injury within the Capitals' top four would create a worrisome situation where the blueline depth gets thin.
Goaltender Holtby left the ice favoring a leg after a collision with a teammate at Wednesday's practice. However, it sounds as if it was more precautionary than anything else. Officially, Holtby is a game-day decision but Trotz said he expects his goaltender to be available for Game Four.
The Capitals have been very patient offensively during the series. They've hit some posts and missed the net on a few point blank chances in each game but it has never been cause for alarm because they'll eventually get another, similar chance if they wait out of the Flyers.
On the power play, despite the high volume of Philadelphia shot blocks, the Caps have done as they've pleased in terms of puck movement and traffic. Most of the Philadelphia zone clears have come off the rare puckhandling flub and not due to forced errors under pressure. Marcus Johansson has had free reign as a netfront forward, and has been highly effective in setting up heavy screens directly in front of the net as well as scoring a deflection goal in Game Four.
Key team stat comparisons
Regular Season (overall NHL ranking in parenthesis)
Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.57 (22nd), Capitals 3.02 2nd)
Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.59 (T-13th), Capitals 2.33 (2nd)
5-on-5 Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 133/130, Capitals 166/128
Power play efficiency: Flyers 18.9% (T-11th), Capitals 21.9% (5th)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 80.5% (T-20th), Capitals 85.2% (2nd)
Shots per game: Flyers 31.0 (5th), Capitals 30.6 (T-7th)
Shots against per game: Flyers 30.7 (23rd), Capitals 28.4 (6th)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 51.0% (6th), Capitals 49.6% (19th)
Series to date
Goals per game: Flyers 0.67 (0,1,1), Capitals 4.00 (2,4,6)
Goals against per game: Flyers 4.00, Capitals 0.67
5-on-5 GF/GA ratio: Flyers 2/4, Capitals 4/2
Power play efficiency: Flyers 0.00% (0-for-13), 47.1% (8-for-17)
Penalty kill efficiency: Flyers 52.9% (9-for-17), 100% (13-for-13)
Shots per game: Flyers 31.0 (19,42, 32), Capitals 27.0 (31, 23, 27)
Shots against per game: Flyers 27.0, Capitals 31.0
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 52.2% (93-for-178), Capitals 47.8% (85-for-178)
Projected lineups (subject to change, will be updated)
Flyers
10 Brayden Schenn - 28 Claude Giroux - 17 Wayne Simmonds
93 Jakub Voracek - 12 Michael Raffl - 89 Sam Gagner
21 Scott Laughton - 52 Nick Cousins - 24 Matt Read
76 Chris VandeVelde - 25 Ryan White - 36 Colin McDonald
47 Andrew MacDonald - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
55 Nick Schultz - 32 Mark Streit
23 Brandon Manning - 3 Radko Gudas
30 Michal Neuvirth
[35 Steve Mason]
Scratches: Evgeny Medvedev (healthy), R.J. Umberger (healthy), Jordan Weal (healthy), Sean Couturier (upper body, left shoulder), Michael Del Zotto (wrist surgery), Pierre Edouard Bellemare (one-game suspension), Anthony Stolarz (healthy), Davis Drewiske (healthy), Mark Alt (healthy), Robert Hägg (healthy), Samuel Morin (healthy), Chris Conner (healthy), Taylor Leier (healthy), Cole Bardreau (healthy).
Capitals
8 Alex Ovechkin - 19 Nicklas Bäckström - 77 T.J. Oshie
65 Andre Burakovsky - 92 Evgeny Kuznetsov - 14 Justin Williams
25 Jason Chimera - 10 Mike Richards - 90 Marcus Johansson
26 Daniel Winnik - 83 Jay Beagle - 43 Tom Wilson
27 Karl Alzner - 2 Matt Niskanen
88 Nate Schmidt - 74 John Carlson
9 Dmitri Orlov - 4 Taylor Chorney
70 Braden Holtby / 31 Philipp Grubauer
Scratches: Taylor Chorney (healthy), Stanislav Galiev (healthy), Michael Latta (healthy), Mike Weber (healthy), Brooks Orpik (upper body, suspected concussion).
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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