WRAP: WINNABLE GAME TURNED INTO 5-1 BLOWOUT LOSS
A four-goal explosion by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the latter half of the second period, including three unanswered goals in the span of 2:17, turned an eminently winnable hockey game for the Philadelphia Flyers into an insurmountable mountain to climb. There was scant push-back thereafter as the Penguins went on to blow out Philly, 5-1.
For the first 30 minutes of the game, the Flyers generated numerous odd-man rushes against a sloppy Penguins team but then got very little out of them. Philly also danced between the raindrops a few times on some sloppy breakdowns of their own, but the Flyers arguably had the better puck pressure and won the majority of the puck battles.
Even after the Penguins cashed in a power play to make it 1-0, the Flyers struck right back to tie it. The game remained very winnable. Then the wheels fell off, very quickly.
"We thought we were playing better than them at first then they scored their second goal and we didn’t really answer to it. There’s a lot of frustration right now, and we need to find an answer," Flyers captain Claude Giroux said.
The Flyers list of shortcomings was lengthy over the latter 30 minutes. There were culprits galore, and repeated mistakes.
"If you want to generalize it, you can look at the finishing play that ends up in a goal against. I think you got to go further back, all three of those plays started in our offensive zone one way or another. You could probably go back and see 3 or 4 50-50 puck battles that went their direction. If you really want to simplify it and break it down on those plays, that’s a good place to start," Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol said.
The Flyers got outscored at even-strength, 3-1, by a Penguins team that came in ranked 30th both in 5-on-5 goals scored and yielded. Compound it with the fact that two of the goals were scored by Pittsburgh's fourth line by virtue of the Pens outworking their Flyers' counterparts and Philly lacking defensive support.
Add in a brutal night on special teams. The Flyers went 0-for-4 on the power play (although they got unlucky on one power play where a Shayne Gostisbehere shot hit the right post and danced along but clearly never over the goal-line and near the opposite post). They had a big breakdown in coverage on their first penalty kill and then gave up a second Pittsburgh power play goal late in the game to finish 0-for-2 on the PK.
With the exception of Gostisbehere, very few of the Flyers' best players stepped up to make plays. Ivan Provorov was one of many who had a tough night, along with Claude Giroux (who was a non-factor much of the game), Sean Couturier and others. On a brighter note, Nolan Patrick made some good plays that ultimately got lost in the woodwork.
When there were some early great chances for the Flyers -- including four separate odd-man rushes in the first period -- the passing selection and execution was bad. As the game progressed to the latter half of the night, far too much of the attack came from the perimeter.
Rookie defenseman Robert Hà¤gg got caught on a very ill-timed pinch attempt over the middle and veteran partner Andrew MacDonald lost a footrace and couldn't get back in time to prevent a breakaway goal that made it 3-1.
Hakstol elected not to call timeout at 3-1. His players continued to disintegrate, and it became 4-1 just 40 seconds later.
"I considered it," Hakstol said after the game. "In hindsight, we walk out of the game with a timeout in your back pocket, and it doesn’t do you any good there. At the same time, this team has had pretty good presence in those situations. Unfortunately, tonight we went back and gave up another one.…
The goaltending also wasn't very good either on this night. The Flyers did not get a single momentum save on this night, and at least two of the Pittsburgh goals were not impossible stops to make. Making his 14th consecutive start, Brian Elliott turned in a clunker, stopping just 10 of 14 shots. He was replaced by Michal Neuvirth to start the third period. Neuvirth stopped 10 of 11 shots in mop-up duty.
"It’s disappointing on a night like tonight. You want to be at your best, I wasn’t and I don’t think anybody can say they were, either," Elliott said.
Last but not least, the Flyers' competitiveness level fell off a cliff once the game got to 3-1. It never came back to any appreciable degree.
"They probably played harder. They were strong around pucks. They won the battles when they needed. We didn’t and next thing you know it’s in the back of our net," Couturier said.
Add it all up up, and it turned into a very ugly night in an important game to start a four-match homestand. In a single word and in every key facet, it was unacceptable.
Phil Kessel (power play, 17th goal of the season), Ryan Reaves (2nd), Conor Sheary (11th), Tom Kuhnhack (2nd) and Jamie Oleksiak (power play, 2nd) scored for Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby (22nd assist), Evgeni Malkin (23rd and 24th assists), Riley Sheahan (9th and 10th assists), Kuhnhackl (4th assist), Ian Cole (5th assist), Reaves (5th assist) and Kessel (27th assist) collected helpers.
"I don’t think there’s a whole lot we would change in the first 30 minutes. It’s the next two, two-and-a-half minutes that cost us the game," Hakstol said.
"I think we played a pretty good 30 minutes. Do we want a little bit better? Do we want to find a way to get that first one? Of course. No question, but in saying that, I wouldn’t go back and change a whole lot. If we can execute on one or two of those, and get the lead, I think that’s a huge boost in our own building. At the same time, I thought throughout our lineup we had four lines that were going pretty good. The back end 60 that were defending pretty hard, moving the puck, then a couple of mistakes. So that’s what gets us to the 30 minute period [when things fell apart]."
Tristan Jarry (16 saves on 17 shots) got the nod in goal for the Penguins. He left the game with an apparent injury at 14:34 of the second period. Matt Murray came in and went the rest of the way, stopping all 11 shots he faced.
Jordan Weal (4th goal of the season) got a deflection goal that briefly made it 1-1 in the second period. Radko Gudas (4th assist of the season) and Brandon Manning (4th assist) collected an assist apiece.
1ST PERIOD
Gostisbehere broke up a scoring chance near the net on the game's opening shift. On the next shift, Valtteri Filppula shot high and wide of the long side with some room from the left circle but a tough shooting angle.
Jarry gloved a Provorov shot from near the same spot Filppula attempted his earlier shot for his first save of the game at 2:33. Gostisbehere broke up a potential 2-on-1 transition rush to neutralize a dangerous play near the 3:00 mark.
Shots were 2-1 Flyers when Philly took an icing at 6:35. Malkin won an offensive right circle draw against Scott Laughton and Elliott covered a puck that came out near his net from behind. A TV timeout ensued at 6:43. Filppula won the next draw and the Flyers broke out of the zone.
Jarry made a skate save on a Travis Konecny wrister from the right faceoff dot after Konecny cradled the puck and used the defender as a screen. On the next shift, Nolan Patrick cleanly won a left circle faceoff back to Manning at the point for shot on net. Manning was beaten in the neutral zone as the shift continued but broke up the play with a stick check.
Kris Letang got caught up ice as Michael Raffl poked a puck past him at the right point and the Flyers broke out on a 2-on-1. However, Raffl could not make connections with Jakub Voracek. Shots were 5-2 Flyers through 11:29 at the second TV timeout of the period.
Gostisbehere broke up Sidney Crosby on a rush, leading to a counter chance for the Couturier line the other way. The Filppula line had an oddman rush -- the Flyers' 4th of the period -- but could not get much out of it after a Voracek pass to MacDonald.
Elliott made a good save on Kessel with traffic swirling around him. The Penguins later iced the puck with 3:51 left in the period. In the last minute of the period, Voracek was taken down behind the Pittsburgh net (no call). The Penguins generated a 3-on-2 and Kessel had a scoring chance.
The game's first penalty was called with 7.8 seconds left in the period as Letang knocked down Andrew MacDonald and received a two-minute high-sticking minor although MacDonald's lip was cut. The Flyers took 1:53 of carryover power play time into the second period. First period shots were 10-6 in the Flyers' favor. Pittsburgh blocked six Flyers attempts (led by three Ian Cole blocks) while the Flyers blocked five Pens attempts (Manning blocked two). Faceoffs were 10-9 in the Flyers' favor (Giroux was 3-for-3 but Couturier was 1-for-5). Credited hits were 12-8 in Pittsburgh's favor (three for Guentzel, five Flyers with one apiece).
2ND PERIOD
With the first power play unit out to start the period, Couturier had a jam-in try near the net as the carryover 5-on-4 continued. The second unit got the final 35 seconds of the power play and failed to get set up at all.
After some excellent forechecking work down on the offensive zone by Raffl, Voracek had a high-zone shot that Jarry fought off for his 12th save of the game and second of the period. The Patrick line followed with a good shift of their own in the early portion but ended it with some trouble getting out of the defensive zone.
Brian Doumolin took a puck up high at 6:43. The Penguins' trainer came out but the player shook it off and went back to the bench on his own.
The Filppula line had a two-shot foray -- the second one coming from defenseman Robert Hà¤gg -- but the game remained scoreless. Konecny stepped around Letang near the Pittsburgh blueline, got taken down to the ice and ended up with a tripping penalty a moment later. The deadly Pittsburgh power play went to work for the first time at 9:09.
The Pens cashed it in quickly on a rush at 9:35. Kessel took a pass and from the right circle, fired a low shot to the long side past Elliott. Crosby and Malkin got the assists as the Pens took a 1-0 lead.
Philly got the goal right back. Gudas received a pass at the right point, moved over the middle and fired a shot. The puck deflected off Weal and into the net. Manning got the secondary assist as the game was tied at 1-1 at the 10:29 mark.
The Penguins' fourth line restored the lead at 11:09. Reaves parked himself near the doorstep and Sheahan worked along the right side and put the puck to the net. Reaves swept the puck home. Kunnhackl got the secondary assist.
Pittsburgh then made it 3-1 at 11:49. Cole sprung Sheary on a breakaway with Hà¤gg caught in the offensive zone moving over the middle as the puck got past Couturier three-quarters of the way up the left wall inside the offensive zone. MacDonald was unable to catch up in retreat. Sheary moved in and beat Elliott cleanly over the glove with a wrist shot.
Raffl had a breakaway chance near the 13 minute mark but tucked a backhander through the crease. Moments later, Gostisbehere pinched up to the right circle for a blast on net.
The score became 4-1 at 13:26. Gostisbehere lost a battle with Sheahan behind the net, and then Provorov (after an initial poke check) was beaten on a second effort swipe by Kuhnhackl, who put a low shot home from the left slot. Reaves got the secondary assist.
The Flyers got their second power play at 14:52 as Guentzel got the gate for delay of the game. A Gostisbehere shot through traffic hit the post and stayed out as it pinballed along the goal line. Then a Couturier chance from the slot was swept away as it trickled near the left post.
Late in the period, Couturier rocked Cole along the right boards with a crunching hit as Cole was in the process of icing the puck. Second period shots were 8-8 (18-14 Flyers overall). Faceoffs were 13-8 in the Flyers' favor (23-17 overall).
3RD PERIOD
Neuvirth came out for the third period. He made a good lateral save on Hagelin about a minute into the period for his first save. A few minutes later, Malkin dangled around the offensive zone, shook off Hà¤gg behind the net and put a backhander on goal in front from the other side.
Manning dropped the gloves and fought the gargantuan Jamie Oleksiak at 5:08. Recently acquired from Dallas as a reclamation project, Oleksiak was trying to make an impression on his new team and Manning was trying to spark his team. Oleksiak easily won the fight.
MacDonald was tripped by Kuhnhackl in the Flyers zone at 5:53. The Flyers got their third power play. Weal took a cross-ice feed from Voracek, who had weaved his way in on a zone entry, but double clutched on his shot and Murray got over to make the save.
Raffl got an offensive zone interference penalty at 12:17. The Penguins went on their second power play after a TV timeout. Oleksiak pinched in unimpeded to stash home puck near the left post to make it a 5-1 game. Worse than that, Provorov was in a lot of pain after blocking a shot off his foot, and he went to the bench in a lot of pain. He did not, however, go up the tunnel. Malkin and Kessel got the assists.
At 14:25, Cole went off for tripping. The Flyers went to their fourth power play. They didn't score or come close to scoring.
Third period shots were 11-10 Pittsburgh (28-25 Flyers overall).
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WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS UPDATE
The semifinals of the World Junior Championships will take place on Thursday. Team Canada will play the Czech Republic and Team USA will oppose Sweden. In Tuesday's quarterfinal games:
* Canada blew out Switzerland, 8-2. Flyers 2016 second-round pick Carter Hart saw just 14 shots for the game, stopping 12. The first goal he had no chance to stop, a severe double-deflection. The second one, a shorthanded goal for the Swiss team in the third period, came long after the rout was secure but was a stoppable shot from the top of the right circle that Hart should have had. It was the first soft goal he's allowed in the tournament; arguably, the first bad one he's allowed in the last eight weeks, between WHL and WJC play.
* Team USA skated to a 4-2 win over Russia. Flyers 2016 first-round pick skated 18:08 of ice time across 30 shifts. Pointless in the game, he was even in plus-minus and had one shot on goal. The Acadie-Bathurst (QMJHL) center finished the tournament with four points (one goal, three assists), a plus-four rating, nine shots on goal and one minor penalty in five games. While not a poor showing in most of the games as he played responsibility without the puck and created some chances, the 19-year-old nevertheless was not as much of an offensive factor as he needed to be. His offensive skill level is above what he's produced so far both in the Quebec League for two teams and in his second WJC.
* Team Sweden, the only team in the tourney to go undefeated in the preliminary round, methodically produced an uninspiring 3-2 win over underdog Slovakia. Flyers defense prospect Linus Högberg, continuing to be seventh on the blueline depth chart but dressing in every game, skated a mere 4:03 over eight shifts.
* In what was by far the most entertaining game of the day, Finland outplayed the Czech Republic over most of the 70 minutes (regulation plus a 10-minute) overtime, but the Czechs prevailed via shootout, 4-3. The Czech side opportunistic offense and a spectacular game in goal by Josef Korenar in a game where Finland had a 54-30 shot edge and a wide edge in frequency of quality chances, too. Potential top-two 2018 draft pick Filip Zadina also excelled for the Czechs.
In the first game of the best-of-three relegation round, Belarus led Denmark by a 4-3 score in the final minute of the third period and then collapsed to give up two goals and lose in regulation, 5-4.
Flyers right wing prospect Maksim Sushko continued to be the brightest spot for his team. On Tuesday, he logged a staggering 26:55 of ice time across 37 shifts, registering two assists and four shots on goal. He was minus-one in this game. For the tournament, he's posted six points (one goal, five assists) and an even plus-minus for his still-winless team.
The Belarusians need a win on Thursday to force a decisive third game. If not, they will find themselves back at the Division 1 level next year.