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Wrapup: Flyers Get Uninspiring Point as Winless Streak Hits Six Games |
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WRAPUP: FLAMES 3 - FLYERS 2 (OT)
The resistable force of the Philadelphia Flyers' 29th-ranked offense was held back by the movable object of the Calgary Flames' 30th-ranked defense as the Flames skated off with a 2-1 overtime win at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday night. Calgary came into the game averaging 4.23 goals against per game, while Philadelphia had averaged 1.92 goals scored.
The loss entends the Flyers' winless streak to six straight games (0-4-2) but was at the first point the team has gained thus far from a tire fire of a road trip through Buffalo and western Canada. The trip concludes on Saturday in Winnipeg.
From an all-situations Corsi point of view, the Flyers had the puck possession advantage against Calgary with 63 attempted shots, including 22 that got blocked and 14 that missed the net compared to 42 for the Flames, including nine that were blocked and three that missed that the net. By Fenwick standards, the Flyers had a 41-33 edge..
From the perspective of what actually matter at the end of the night, the Flames put two pucks in the net to just one for the Flyers and also put more of their shot attempts on goal (30-27) than Philadephia, making a so-called advanced stats "victory" against the defensively pourous Flames ring very hollow indeed as far as signs of progress go.
When all was said and done, the Flyers wasted another strong goaltending performance from Michal Neuvirth (28 saves on 30 shots). Neuvirth had earned another start after a stellar 45-save performance in Edmonton and, with Steve Mason under the weather, starting Neuvirth was an easy call for Flyers' head coach Dave Hakstol.
During regulation, Calgary's Josh Jooris and the Flyers' Michael Raffl scored the lone goals for the two teams. Mikael Backlund won the game for the Flames just 35 seconds into the 3-on-3 overtime. Winning goaltender Karri Rämö turned back 26 of 27 shots and even earned the secondary assist on the goal-winning goal.
Juris' goal, scored at the 4:40 mark of the opening period, came moments after the player exited the penalty box on a holding-the-stick minor. Vincent Lecavalier made an ill-advised and errant pass back to the point, where it eluded Brandon Manning (who fell down for good measure) and the puck went directly to Jooris as he stepped out of the box. Jooris now had a breakaway.
Neuvirth stopped the breakaway but got no help from teammates, who either took a seat on the Saddledome ice while backchecking (Manning again) or wound up as as spectators (a worm-farming Michael Del Zotto lunging with his stick at a puck already out of reach, Lecavaler hooking weakly at a third Flames). Backlund got a second crack at the puck and then Jooris got a third before the puck finally went in the net.
Shots in the first period were eight apiece. In the second period, Philadelphia slightly outshot Calgary (10-9) but appeared headed for the locker room still trailing by a goal until the Claude Giroux line struck to knot the game at 1-1.
The Flyers nearly scored off a set play on a right circle offensive zone faceoff as Giroux narrowly missed connections with Raffl as he went to the net. The Flyers retained possession down low, however, and cycled the puck. Giroux centered a pass out to Raffl in the left circle and Raffl put a low shot on net that leaked past Rämö when it seemed like the goalie had the angle covered.
Raffl's goal, scored at 19:24, was his first of the season. Giroux got his third assist and seventh point of the season to tie defenseman Mark Streit for the club scoring lead through 13 games.
“That was a huge goal,” Neuvirth said to the attending media after the game. “Tying goal in the last minute of the second period. We played a great third period. Maybe they had one scoring chance. A lot of shots from the outside. The guys around me did a really good job tonight.”
In the third period, the Flyers held a significant territorial advantage but had a miserable time trying to get shots through and/or on the net. The puck was in the Calgary end for the decided majority of the period but the frame was scoreless and the Flames recorded 10 shots on goal to Philadelphia's eight although most of the Calgary shots were from the perimeter.
The game moved to 3-on-3 overtime, where it ended quickly. The long rebound of a Wayne Simmonds shot bounced past Sean Couturier and was gathered by the dangerous Johnny Gaudreau. Calgary counterattacked rapidly. Neuvirth made a save on Gaudreau's initial shot but the rebounding puck went in off Backlund's leg as the Swede crashed the net.
At the 35-second mark of OT, Gaudreau earned his 12th assist of the season on Backlund's second goal of the campaign. Because the puck bounced from Rämö to Gaudreau on the save against Simmonds, the Calgary goaltender received a secondary assist on the game-winner.
After the game, Hakstol and the Flyers players tried to spin positives from getting a point out of the third game of a 3-in-4 on the road.
“We want to pick up [in Winnipeg] with this same type of effort,” Hakstol told the attending media at his postgame press conference.
“This was a gutty road effort by us. We need to pick up where we left off there. Things aren’t going well. You’ve got to find a way; you’ve got to push to get over the hump. We earned a point tonight. We get the first two opportunities in OT and it comes right back, our goaltender makes a good save on a rush, and that’s the way it’s been going; off a shin pad and in the net. I think we move on from this pretty quick and make sure we build from here.”
In terms of genuine positives, the overall performance of Couturier in his return to the lineup after missing six games with a concussion was encouraging. Unfavorable bounces in OT and a bad faceoff night (7-for-20 aside, his line was one of the Flyers' most effective units during the game. Simmonds generated seven of the Flyers' 27 shots on goal overall (and attempted 10) and came close to scoring a few times.
Beyond that, the diligent work that led up to the somewhat lucky goal by Raffl and the performance of Neuvirth in goal, there really wasn't much genuine sign of progress from the Flyers in their performance against a Calgary team that came in struggling just as much -- if not even worse -- than Philly.
Bottom line: The Flyers did enough things wrong to deserve to lose the game.
It's hard to claim legitimate progress when getting a slew of shot attempts blocked or shot off-target against a club that has been hemorrhaging goals to the rest of the NHL, losing 53 percent of the faceoffs against one of the NHL's bottom-ranked clubs on the draw (had Giroux not gone 18-for-26 on faceoffs, the team numbers would have looked especially ugly) and took an 0-for-2 on the power play to extend their goalless stretch on the man advantage to 0-for-16. Beyond that, the Flyers were charged with 23 turnovers (nine unforced via charged giveaways, 22 forced via credited Calgary takeaways) to 14 by one of the league's most turnover-prone teams thus far.
Prior to the game, Hakstol made a questionable decision to keep Lecavalier in the lineup and make Sam Gagner a healthy scratch. Possibly, it was done because Gagner hasn't played any better than Lecavalier during the road trip and the tipping point was starting the physically bigger and stronger Lecavalier against a team loaded with 6-plus foot and numerous 200-plus pound players (at least that would have been ex-coach Craig Berube's most likely rationale for a similar decision).
However, when all was said and done, the Flyers more or less went with just 10 forwards in the third game of a three-in-four and six-in-four on the road. Not exactly the all-hands-on-deck personnel management scenario that a team ideally needs in that sort of situation.
On merit, Lecavalier skated just nine shifts and 4:37 of ice time. He had the initial turnover that started the Jooris goal sequence. In the second period, Lecavalier took a careless swing at an airborne puck and went up high-sticking linemate Brayden Schenn directly in the face (Schenn was OK afterwards and completed the game). Lecavalier rode the pine for the final 28:56 of the game.
In the meantime, R.J. Umberger played 9:54 over 15 shifts. It was the third straight game that he's gotten slightly below the double-digit mark for ice time.
In terms of in-game management, Hakstol did what he clearly felt he had to do. Whenever possible, he sent out the players he thought would give his team the best chance to pick up a desperately needed win. By necessity, he burned the candle at both ends with players like Giroux (22:35 of ice time), Voracek (19:50, four shot attempts, zero on goal), Couturier (19:31), Del Zotto (23:33) and Streit (23:22).
However, by starting a player (Lecavalier) in whom he has very little faith in the first place and then changing up lines and double-shifting often in a game with relatively little special teams play, the coach set himself up to be forced to empty the holster by playing with a short bench for much of the night.
To end up with one point rather than two and produce one meager goal against Calgary is another disappointment in what has been a hellish 10 days and six games for the Flyers. Yes, the team at least possessed the puck better against Calgary than against Buffalo, New Jersey, Vancouver or Edmonton but it was a baby step where a big leap was needed.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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