It’s difficult to resist the temptation to ask: “What if the Flyers had made the coaching change sooner?”
Not many can’t be thinking that hypothetical after the Flyers put up another game effort at Ottawa on Sunday afternoon before falling in overtime, 4-3, at the Canadian Tire Centre.
Ottawa’s Tim Stutzle picked up the winner at 1:40 of OT. At the time of the goal, the Flyers were not only killing a penalty but had one player without a stick (broken) and another player (Nick Seeler) trying to shake off a hand injury.
Flyers interim coach Brad Shaw’s record is now 5-1-1 since he took over behind the Philadelphia bench.
Shaw has to be happy with the way his team continues to compete. Judging from their energized level of play, the players would appear to be trying to keep Shaw around for next season and beyond.
The coach sounded satisfied with Sunday’s effort. Particularly the shot-blocking efforts of players such as Garnet Hathaway and Seeler.
“We have examples of that with Garnet and all the other guys on the PK (penalty kill),” Shaw said in a televised interview after the game. “We have a lot of guys playing with courage and it’s contagious. And it’s an identity that we’re really proud of.”
It seems like the Flyers are playing a more self-disciplined game since Shaw took over. That was the case in the first period, which is often the toughest on the road.
“I liked our game,” he said. “We didn’t have those long shifts where we had to defend. It didn’t feel like we were getting the game handed to us.”
Hathaway’s goal at 7:33 of the third period gave the Flyers a 3-2 lead when his wide-angle shot from the lower left circle beat goaltender Anton Forsberg on the short side. But Ottawa rallied on a goal from Thomas Chabot after goaltender Ivan Fedotov lost his stick in a scrum.
The Flyers took a 2-1 lead into the third period but Ottawa’s Fabian Zetterlund scored at 4:41 to reinstate the deadlock.
Following a scoreless first period, the Flyers got on the board first with a goal from Nick Deslauriers. He recovered the rebound of an Egor Zamula point shot at 11:43 and put it past Forsberg for his second goal of the season.
That lead only held up for 53 seconds. Stutzle rushed down the right side and eluded Zamula to get a shot past Fedotov, tying the score at 1-1.
A fine solo effort led to a go-ahead goal by Noah Cates with 2:41 to play in the period. Cates had his initial shot blocked but he took the rebound, circled the net and then banked a puck off defenseman Travis Hamonic’s leg into the net.
Cates now has 16 goals, by far the best season of his career.
“Overall the effort was there,” he said. “We’re playing smart. Not too many turnovers. That was a good team we were playing against.”
Deslauriers has been showing newcome Karsen Dorwart the ropes and it seems to be paying off.
“I think our line is getting better everyday,” said Deslauriers, mindful that the fourth line with Hathaway and Dorwart accounted for two of the Flyers’ three goals. “He’s a smart player. It’s just more of a different pace. He can make plays, he’s skillful. Smart two-way player as well.”
The Flyers would love to win their last two games against Columbus and Buffalo to really feel good going into the summer.
>Demanding weekend
It’s never easy to play back-to-back games but it’s even tougher when one is played in the United States on Saturday and a second is contested on Sunday in Canada. That was the case with the Flyers, who had to hustle north after a 4-3 shootout win over the New York Islanders on Saturday, then had to play the Senators less than 24 hours later.
“Just trying to recover the best you can,” Flyers right wing Owen Tippett said in a first intermission televised interview. “We’ve had a fair share of back-to-backs this year. Getting used to it by now. These afternoon ones come up real quick.”
>Grebenkin transactions
It was a busy day for Flyers prospect Nikita Grebenkin. He was recalled from the Phantoms early Sunday and then returned to Lehigh Valley. Grebenkin came over from Toronto in the Scott Laughton deal on March 7, NHL trade deadline day.
>Short shots
The Flyers play their final home game of the season on Tuesday night when the Columbus Blue Jackets hit town. Prior to the game, the team will announce its season awards, including the Bobby Clarke Trophy for most valuable player.
