FAMILIAR SCRIPT IN PRESEASON LOSS TO NEW JERSEY
Ordinarily, there is no cause for concern over how a team plays in the preseason. It is also common for teams to struggle in the opening period of their first match after a lengthy stretch of days without a game. Teams can have intense practices for days on end, especially at this stage of training camp, but there is still no substitute for game action.
That said, the Flyers' 2-1 home loss to the New Jersey Devils last night looked awfully familiar. It looked like much of the 2012 Eastern Conference Semifinals, in which New Jersey dispatched the Flyers in five games. The game also looked much like the regular season series from last season, in which New Jersey won four of five games and held the Flyers to one or zero regulation goals in three of the games.
Basically, Pete DeBoer's Devils play the Flyers the same way, game in and game out. They are patient and make Philadelphia work for every foot of real estate. Despite personnel changes over the last couple years, Peter Laviolette's Flyers still have not found ways to cope. They may play well in a given 20-minute period (as was the case in the middle period last night) but they tend to pay the price for defensive breakdowns and struggle to finish scoring chances against this team.
Preseason or not and week-long game layoff or not, the first period last night was an abomination for the Flyers. The defense-to-forward gap was way too wide, the forecheck was non-existent with the Flyers spending too much time in their own end of the ice.
The Flyers, who have given up the first goal in every preseason game to date, fell into a 1-0 hole at the 6:37 mark of the opening period. Defensemen Erik Gustafsson and partner Mark Streit ended up on the same side of the ice and New Jersey defenseman Marek Zidlicky was able to pinch in untouched, step around Gustafsson and Ray Emery and then tuck the puck into net from near the post.
Philadelphia got outshot 11-4 in the opening period. They were held without a shot until the fourth line worked a close-range scoring chance for enforcer Jay Rosehill with 7:35 left in the period.
The second period went much better for the Flyers but they were unable to solve Cory Schneider. Team captain Claude Giroux, playing his first preseason game since returning from surgery to repair torn tendons in his right index finger, began to assert himself with several good shifts in this period. Most notably, Giroux rang a shot attempt off the goal post during a power play in the middle stanza.
At the 7:05 mark of the second period, top line right winger Jakub Voracek got a breakaway. Voracek was hauled down heavily by New Jersey defenseman Bryce Salvador, striking his lower back into the goal post as he slid in. Voracek was unable to convert the penalty shot. Shortly thereafter, he left the game and did not return.
Voracek will be re-evaluated today. The early indication, however, was that it is a day-to-day injury and he was removed from the exhibition game for precautionary reasons.
At the 12:52 mark, the Flyers put together their best conceived rush of the game. Emery came out of his net to stop a New Jersey dump-in and the puck was quickly worked by Gustafsson to Braydon Coburn in the corner. Coburn then sent a stretch pass up the ice onto Sean Couturier's stick near the New Jersey blueline. Now the Flyers had a 2-on-1 rush, with Couturier carrying up the right side with Scott Hartnell joining him. Couturier elected to shoot, trying to go five-hole on Schneider. The goalie sealed everything up and did not yield a rebound.
Overall, the Flyers generally had the better of play in the second period, including a pair of power plays. They were unable to score but outshot New Jersey by a 10-3 margin.
In the third period, play was fairly even and tight checking on both sides. Unfortunately, the Flyers paid the price for a breakdown in their own end of the ice.
The second New Jersey goal started out innocently enough for the Flyers until Vincent Lecavalier failed to clear a puck up the right wall. Suddenly, all three forwards were caught up high in the zone. Moments later, Andrej Meszaros, who had a rough night overall, was mesmerized by puck carrier Rod Pelley and the defenseman got beaten by Mike Sislo after a nice pass by Pelley. Sislo's backhanded shot found the net to give New Jersey a 2-0 lead at the 7:34 mark.
Philadelphia, which outshot New Jersey 9-3 in the third period and ended up with a 23-19 shot edge in the game despite the lopsided first period, had a couple of scoring chances in the third period but Schneider had the answer. Mostly, however, the Devils kept the Flyers off to the perimeter with few second-chance opportunities.
Finally, with 1:31 remaining in regulation and Damien Brunner in the box for his second hooking minor of the third period, the Flyers got on the board. With Emery pulled to create a 6-on-4 attack, Giroux worked the puck back to Kimmo Timonen at center point. Scott Hartnell provided a heavy screen in front of Schneider and Timonen hammered a shot into the net.
The Timonen goal broke up Schneider's shutout bid but the Flyers were unable to find the equalizer in the remaining regulation time. Philly fell to 1-3-1 on the preseason.
On Thursday, the Flyers and Devils will rematch in Newark. The following night, Philly closes out the preseason with a road tilt in Washington.
POSITIVE SIGNS
* Once Giroux started to get his game legs under him in his first preseason game, he played a solid game. Apart from his late-game assist, he went 9-for-11 (82 percent) on faceoffs and played 22:04, leading the team among forwards and second overall after defenseman Mark Streit’s 23:57 TOI.
* Ray Emery looked calm and confident in goal, as he did in his first exhibition outing against Washington last Monday.
* Sean Couturier quietly continued a solid preseason in which he's played well in all three zones.
* Braydon Coburn and Nicklas Grossmann turned in quality defensive performances. In my opinion, barring a trade or training injury, Grossmann should be a slam-dunk for the fifth starting spot on the Flyers' defense corps. Whenever he's healthy, the big Swede is a set-'em-and-forget-'em type of reliable defender.
* Scott Laughton played his best game of the preseason.
* Michael Raffl may not have stood out in terms of scoring chances but his play with and without the puck was pretty good.
NEGATIVE SIGNS
* The game may not count in the standings but it was clear the Flyers still have a lot of work to do to beat New Jersey and similar teams come the regular season.
* Voracek's injury. Even if it's nothing serious, you hate to see a top line player have to leave a game as a result of an injury in a meaningless game.
* Meszaros looked like the same tentative, defensively suspect player he was in between shoulder injuries during the lockout-shortened season. He had played fairly well in his previous preseason outings, however, so hopefully it was just a one-game hiccup.
* Gustafsson settled in nicely after his early miscue, but it seems like a lot of mistakes thus far in the preseason have ended up in the Flyers' net.
NOTES AND QUICK HITS
* The Flyers will not make any further roster decisions until Friday.
* Chris VandeVelde did not play in this game, which was a bit surprising given that he's battling Raffl and Laughton for a roster spot. I'd assume he'll be in the lineup on Thursday.
* SHL: Flyers defense prospect Robert Hägg did not have a point and was even (+0,-0) in Modo's 2-1 loss yesterday to Frölunda. The second-round pick took a costly cross-checking penalty in the second period, which resulted in Frölunda scoring on the ensuing power play to grab a 1-0 lead. Although Hägg otherwise played well -- in particular, he made a very nice breakout pass to create a 3-on-2 rush and also nearly scored on a play where he pinched up and had a good look at the net from the left circle -- Modo changed up their defense pairings in this game. For much of the match, Hägg was moved off the top pairing with Richie Regehr and played on the third pairing with Viktor Lööv as his partner.
* WHL: Taylor Leier's first period goal was one of the few highlights for the Portland Winterhawks in a 6-2 loss to the Tri-City Americans. In three regular season games to date, Leier has five points (one goal, four assists).
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