PHILADELPHIA – Toward the end of the recent Seattle game, Jamie Drysdale gambled and pinched into the attack zone at a critical time in the game.
The Flyers had rallied from a 5-2 deficit to trail by only a single goal.
As the clock wound down at the end of the third period on Thursday night in Washington state, Drysdale thought it was worth moving in from the blue line.
Unfortunately, the puck squirted out of the zone, the Kraken’s Oliver Bjorkstrand took off on a breakaway, scored and that was the old hockey game.
After the game, Flyers coach John Tortorella made it a point to meet with Drysdale to discuss his midjudgment on the play.
Before Saturday night’s Vancouver-Flyers game at the Wells Fargo Center, Drysdale met with the media and tried to explain his side of the story.
In the bigger picture, the way everything was handled might be a good thing. It doesn’t hurt to have a coach and a player on the same page to build stronger communication in the long run.
“I think that goal, we had a good O-zone shift, we were pressuring a lot, we had a lot of good chances,” Drysdale said. “I just felt like they probably had tired legs, so that was kind of my read, So I just wanted to maintain the pressure. I talked to him (Tortorella) about it, it’s just maybe one of those moments where you just kind of take the play and just live another day, for a lack of better words.”
At the time, Tortorella wasn’t exactly thrilled with Drysdale’s risky play.
“Five-four, I just hate to see the pinch by Jamie,” Tortorella said after the game. “Those are things that Jamie has to understand. We don’t need to overextend ourselves there. When it’s five-four and there’s five-plus minutes left, we don’t need to open ourselves up.
“I thought we had ‘em. Those are the little things, when you’re trying to crawl back in that we have to learn. A young player has to learn that. I’ve already talked to him about that.”
Drysdale is a quick defenseman and knows there can be no indecision in his game. The coach told him as much.
“I think the main thing that he (Tortorella) just keeps reinforcing and telling me is make a decision and go with it,” Drysdale said. “Don’t be in between. Trying to do that as much as I can. I’m just looking to build each game.”
The Flyers finished their road trip with a 1-2-1 mark. Drysdale gave his assessment of the season-opening journey.
“I think it was all right, there was definitely a lot of room for improvement,” he said. “I think that’s pretty much it. We did some good things. Personally, I can obviously be a lot better in that aspect. Just looking to build and build.
“I think that’s just all part of the learning curve and getting a feel for it.”
It’s not like Tortorella doesn’t trust Drysdale’s ability. Drysdale has spent considerable time as the Flyers’ point man on the power play and that’s a key job this season because the team is trying to improve in this area after finishing last in the NHL the past three seasons.
So far, so good. The Flyers scored five power-play goals in their first four games.
“It has been good,” Drysdale said. “I think we’ve been successful, I think we’ve been able to sustain pressure as well as get on the board, which is the main priority.
“We’re definitely building some chemistry there and getting a feel for where each other is going to be. Hopefully we’ll just continue to work on it.”
