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Wrapup: Flyers Routed in Raleigh, 5-1 |
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WRAPUP: FLYERS ROUTED IN RALEIGH, 5-1
Producing clunkers in the first game back from a long schedule break is nothing new for the Philadelphia Flyers, not just this season and not just under head coach Dave Hakstol. After a somewhat cursory Monday afternoon practice following the National Hockey League's All-Star Break, the Flyers got their heads handed to them in a 5-1 road loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday evening.
The Flyers, now 1-3-0 with a horrendous 9-17 goal differential when coming off breaks of four or more nights, flat out failed to compete against a Canes team that staggered into the break. How bad was it? Through the game's first 50 minutes, the Flyers managed only six shots on goal -- and just one by a forward (a Michael Raffl scoring chance in the first period).
Philadelphia handled the puck like a grenade, turning pucks over frequently even when not under pressure. There was no speed, no energy, no physicality. In the second period, there was no discipline, either, as the Flyers took four minor penalties. They found themselves down on a 5-on-3 early in the third period.
Before long, even the relatively low-scoring Hurricanes feasted offensively. Impressive rookie forward Sebastian Aho racked up his first career four-point game and first hat trick on his 13th, 14th and 15th (power play) goals of the season. Jeff Skinner (18th) and Justin Faulk (10th, 5-on-3 power play) also scored for Carolina, while Elias Lindholm collected a pair of assists.
With the game hopelessly out of reach, the Flyers received several power plays as the third period rolled along. At 10:27, Brayden Schenn bagged his team-leading 12th tally on the power play (16th goal overall, 100th career goal in his 402nd career game) on the team's seventh shot overall and second by a forward. Shayne Gostisbehere and Jakub Voracek got the assists.
That was it as far as Philadelphia highlights went, although the team went on to generate nine more shots in garbage time. Winning goaltender Cam Ward stopped 15 of 16 shots overall. The Canes had a would-be sixth goal disallowed in the final minute as it was played with a high stick.
While Flyers starter Steve Mason finished with a very ugly stat line (23 saves on 28 shots), he was the least of Philadelphia's problems in this game. The first two goals were the result/ of bad turnovers by the Flyers -- after a couple of previous ones had been erased -- and nice plays by Aho to make them pay. The first turnover was by Travis Konecny, the second by Claude Giroux.
On Skinner's goal, Carolina had multiple cracks in a short span and the Flyers' efforts were further hindered because defenseman Brandon Manning was down, bleeding, in the defensive zone corner on an undetected high stick. On the third Aho goal, Andrew MacDonald tried unsuccessfully to block the shot and instead screened his own goal. Faulk's 5-on-3 power play goal was a blast in which it looked like Ivan Provorov inadvertently provided a partial screen.
Earlier the game, Provorov saved the Flyers a goal as he blocked a wide-open power play chance with Mason overcommitted to the right side and a gaping net. Otherwise, the Flyers' skaters -- forwards and defensemen alike -- did very little to help out their netminder.
When the Flyers had a late-game power play, Hakstol sent out of the fourth line trio of Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Chris VandeVelde and Roman Lyubimov to start the advantage on the offensive zone draw. Whether or not it was an attempt to send a message about competitiveness, this was a night were the bottom end of the lineup markedly out-competed the ones who are supposed to be the team's best players.
The Flyers, especially in the second period, spent too much time worrying about what the referees were -- or were not -- calling. They spent more energy yelling at the officials than they did trying to match the effort being thrown at them by the Hurricanes. Missed calls or not, that cannot happen.
Philadelphia was particularly peeved, with justification, by a high hit near the boards by Lee Stempniak on MacDonald. The Flyers defenseman was sent off to undergo concussion-testing procedures but returned to the ice. Stempniak received a two-minute boarding penalty, but the Flyers argued that it was worthy of a checking-to-the-head major because MacDonald's head was clearly the primary point of contact whether inadvertently or not.
The Flyers finished the night 1-for-5 on the power play, while the Hurricanes were 2-for-7. Carolina also won 58 percent of the game's faceoffs.
Philadelphia, who had won three in a row heading into the All-Star break, returns home to play the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night. The Flyers retained their tenuous hold on the Eastern Conference's lower wildcard spot because the Toronto Maple Leafs suffered a 6-3 road loss to the Dallas Stars while the Flyers were getting shredded by Carolina.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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