All the things which made the Flyers such a dangerous team last April seem to have been forgotten in October.
It was an unexpected run of success and maybe it woke up teams which had not taken the Flyers all that seriously up until then.
Or perhaps the Flyers have gotten a little too comfortable with what they accomplished last spring.
Whatever the case, the Flyers need to get some things straightened out.
Going into Saturday afternoon’s game at Boston, the Flyers had played five times and only one player (Matvei Michkov) had scored more than one goal.
The shots allowed have been almost record-breaking. After five games prior to the Bruins encounter, the Flyers had been outshot by a tidy 89 to 184 margin.
Taking a step back from those stats, the Flyers had surrendered 158 shots while taking only 62 through four games. That comes out to a minus-82, second-worst in the NHL since official shots started being kept in the 1959-60 season.
And what else can be said about the Flyers’ power play, which was scoreless through the first four games (0 for 11) before finally connecting in Thursday night’s 2-1 loss to the Senators?
Nothing new here. The Flyers have been at (or near) the bottom of power-play stats for a number of years and there doesn’t seem to be a solution in sight.
Coach Rick Tocchet has been trying hard not to use the recent shortened training camp as an excuse for all these issues.
He keeps pointing out that every team is in the same boat. Two weeks (for the full squads) wasn’t really enough time to map out strategy or work on certain aspects of the game.
From this vantage point, the Flyers’ most crucial problem is scoring. One of the possible solutions is to urge forwards to press the attack closer to the net in prime scoring areas.
Up until now, forwards seem content to unload from the perimeter and that’s exactly what most opposing goaltenders like to see.
Getting more shots on net usually means the team unloading them is spending more time in the attack zone. Too many times the Flyers find themselves trapped in their own end and when they do finally get possession of the puck, the breakouts are not smooth.
The one Flyer goal scored in the 4-1 loss to Tampa on Monday night was an example of this. Tyson Foerster wheeled out of the circle with Porter Martone creating a presence in the crease. Foerster’s shot made its way past goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy because of the havoc created by Martone and linemates.
Getting back to the power play, the Flyers have tried everything. The hope this year was that defenseman David Jiricek and his powerful point shot might change things up a bit. But even the most potent blasts from the blue line often need help out in front, either to create screens and deflections or set things up for a second chance off a rebound.
When teams know the other team’s power play (the Flyers were 29th out of 32) isn’t working, they can afford to take more liberties in even-strength play.
One part of the game which the Flyers can’t be faulted for is goaltending.
While Dan Vladar’s effort in a season-opening loss to Pittsburgh was way below his normal standard, the other games (prior to Boston) were decent. Of particular note, the work of Vladar’s partner, Joseph Woll, who performed well in all three games he played.
Tocchet is still experimenting with different line combinations on a nightly basis. The demotion of Alex Bump to Lehigh Valley and the signing of free agent Michael Bunting just made the coach’s job a bit more challenging as he tries to find a mix of players who can click together.
It’s not like the team and its followers didn’t see this coming. A 1-3 preseason record, including injuries to Vladar and Denver Barkey, let the hockey world know the Flyers might be getting off to a slow start.
As Tocchet said after the final exhibition game: “Maybe we’re not as good as we think we are.”
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