On the heels of 5-3 loss in Uniondale that was worse than the final score suggested, the Philadelphia Flyers suffered an even uglier 7-1 pasting at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night. The Flyers were buried under a four-goal barrage in a first period where they failed to execute or play with energy, with disastrous consequences.
Poor gaps, coverage breakdowns, careless turnovers, flat-footed puck watching, inability to string passes together, and a lack of forechecking pressure were among the issues that arose. The Flyers defense corps struggled in particular; collectively but also individually (Travis Sanheim, to name just one of may culprits, looked indecisive and lacking both poise and confidence).
Brian Elliott was the victim of very poor play in front of him. Perhaps a seeing-eye perimeter shot by Justin Schultz early in the first period -- Bryan Rust in the slot attempted to play the puck with a borderline high stick but missed it and the puck went in off Elliott's shoulder -- was stoppable. Most of the others were not. Elliott went the first 40 minutes, stopping 22 of 28 shots.
Carter Hart, in need of work and a dose of success, nearly got through the third period unscathed, but a turnover behind the net by Sanheim turned into a Dominik Kahun goal in the final six-plus seconds of the game. He stopped eight of nine shots.
Schultz (1st), Jared McCann (4th), Dominik Simon (2nd) and Sidney Crosby (5th) scored in the first period. Elliott kept the gap to four goals until the latter stages of the second period when Jake Guentzel (7th) and Zach Aston-Reese (3rd) scored 20 seconds apart to open a 6-0 lead. The game was already in garbage time by the point Oskar Lindblom (6th) converted a 3-on-2 rush into a goal from the right circle, assisted by Sean Couturier and Shayne Gostisbehere.
Marty Murray was tested a bit in the second period and sporadically at other points in the game; making the saves he needed to make. He finished with 29 saves on 30 shots.
The Penguins' 2nd, 3rd and 4th goals of the first period was a parade of opportunistic, well-executed plays by Pittsburgh and horrific breakdowns by the Flyers. The McCann goal was a point-blank one after the Flyers lost a battle down low and had four players overloaded to one side and watching the puck as Kahun (three-point game) centered it to him. The Simon goal that made it 3-0 saw a bad gap by Sanheim on Crosby and then Hayes backing off. A precision pass and a nice shot later, the Penguins had another goal. On the Crosby goal that extended the lead to 4-0,the Penguins got Crosby's line out against the Flyers' fourth line. Then Sanheim fell down covering the rush. Taking a feed from Simon, Crosby wired home a precision shot from a severe angle.
Just about the only thing the Flyers did well on this night was kill penalties. They went 3-for-3 in good shape. Unfortunately, 5-on-5 play was so deep underwater that is scarcely matter. The Flyers power play went 0-for-5.
Claude Giroux was credited with six of the Flyers' 30 shots on goal. He attempted eight in all. Giroux win 17 of 28 draws. However, he came up empty on the scoresheet.
It's almost unfair to single out individual culprits on a night were almost no Flyers players were effective. However, it is fair to wonder if Mikhail Vorobyev (-3 in 15 shifts and 8:55 of ice time) will still be on the NHL roster come Friday or back with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, because that's a relatively easy move for general manager Chuck Fletcher to make. Unless Scott Laughton is placed on long-term injured reserve for both roster and cap allowance reasons, there's not too much that can done without waiving a player. Anything is possible, though, including a player being waived.
The Flyers, who have played four games in six nights, are now off until Friday. They will visit the New Jersey Devils in Newark to open a slate of 16 games in 30 nights in November. The next night, the Flyers host Toronto at the Wells Fargo Center.