PHILADELPHIA – When there’s five seconds left in a period and the Flyers are busy passing the puck around the offensive zone at Xfinity Mobile Arena, you can hear the fans’ shout in chorus: “SHOOT!”
Maybe those spectators should do that for the entire game.
That’s because the Flyers are near the bottom of the National Hockey League in shots on net.
Perfect example: In their two games preceding Monday night’s game against the New York Rangers, the Flyers had totaled just 31 shots (16 vs. Utah, 15 vs. Pittsburgh).
No matter how you cut it, that’s not a formula for success. If an opposing goalie doesn’t have to work that hard, chances are he will be fairly fresh right down to the final horn.
The Flyers are well aware of the problem and sound determined to do something about it.
Defenseman Jamie Drysdale knows the team has to not only generate more shots but make sure they get on net.
“I think it’s a mixed bag,” after Monday morning’s pre-game skate at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees, N.J. “Sometimes it’s just us turning away shots, just looking for perfect plays, things like that.
“Sometimes you look up and you don’t see bodies in front of the net. That can deter you from taking shots. So I think maybe it’s a matter of simplifying the game and not turning away shots.”
The six defensemen might be the most guilty parties.
The solution?
“Yeah, I think it’s just having a shooting mindset,” Drysdale said. “Not looking for those perfect plays and resetting a lot of pucks, which is fine. Kind of brings you back to where you were before you got the puck.”
Drysdale said a defenseman should try to work his way to the middle, between the dots.
“Just being in places where you can get shots through,” he said. “It’s just having a shooter’s mentality.”
Drysdale has perhaps the hardest, most accurate shot from the point, which plays a part in why he quarterbacks the first power-play unit.
In light of that 31-shot total for two games, Drysdale was asked if players on the bench pay attention to the number of shots taken by each team.
Surprisingly, the answer was not much.
“It probably depends on the guy to be honest,” Drysdale said. “I mean sometimes you will look up and see what the shots are and. . .maybe we should shoot more.
“Your odds (of scoring) aren’t going to be very high if you have six or 10 shots.”
One team which does take a lot of shots is Carolina, which just happens to lead the Eastern Conference standings.
Coach Rod Brind’Amour’s crew tries to get as many shots as possible, from all angles and all situations.
“I think every team needs to find what works for them,” Drysdale said. “Carolina has a team that throws a lot of pucks toward the net, from behind the goal line, kind of anywhere. That’s been working for them. There’s definitely a happy medium.
“The consensus is we have to get more shots toward the net.”
Flyers coach Rick Tocchet scored 48 goals one season and that didn’t just happen by picking and choosing where to shoot from. There were nights when he was firing five, six, seven shots at the net when he played for the Flyers and the Penguins.
Tocchet has assistant coach Todd Reirden working with his defensemen to get this issue straightened out.
“There’s the eye test and there’s analytics, right,” Tocchet said. “I think we’re last in shots from the point. Todd is working with them on creating shots with lanes and positioning.
“We want Jamie and ‘Yorkie’ (Cam York) to shoot more. But they’ve been defending really well. So it’s just baby steps. I think we’re fourth-best at limiting shots. So there’s a little give-and-take.”
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