Burned to a Crisp - Thoughts After Flames 4, Flyers 0
Goaltending saved the Flyers in Vancouver on Thursday. It tried to save the Flyers again on Saturday, but even if it was perfection in net, the game might still be going on, because the Flyers had no jump, no bite, no energy, and no offense to speak of whatsoever in a 4-0 loss to Calgary.
Carter Hart was excellent in net. He’ll have three goals against on his record and 32 saves on 35 shots, but were it not for his impeccable performance, especially in the second period, where the Flyers were completely and utterly dominated by the Flames, this performance would have been reminiscent of one of those Ranger games from last season. You remember when the Flyers were giving up eight or nine goals.
Yeah, the teams were that far apart:
Beautiful save from Carter Hart to keep this game 0-0. #Flyers pic.twitter.com/hyd99eZnsG
— TLY (@TheLibertyYell) October 31, 2021
The Flyers haven’t scored a goal in more than five periods. Their offense, which was humming along heading into Vancouver, has averaged just one goal in each of the last two games. The power play suddenly looks lifeless. The puck possession game that carried them through the first six starts, is on the side of a milk carton this morning. The scoring chances, depending on whose charting of them you go by – the team’s, the analytics community, or your own two eyes, all of which net a different total – may have been in the single digits.
It’s possible the Flyers were due for a game of this type. They happen throughout a season to all teams, good or bad. After all, it was their third game in four nights in three different cities after flying all the way across the continent, so you can give them a pass.
But, if there’s one thing we’ve learned in Alain Vigneault’s tenure as a coach it’s that the way to play against his system is to bring a tight-checking game and for the Flyers, the only way through a tight-checking game is more energy and effort, which they certainly didn’t have against the Flames.
“There’s not a lot of room on the ice, so when a team plays that way, you’ve got to make plays offensively,” Vigneault said. “The execution has to be at its best. Obviously they took that away from us tonight.”
The Flyers ended up with just 20 shots on goalie Jacob Markstrom, who recorded his second consecutive shutout as the Flames won their sixth straight game.
And although Calgary is rolling, that’s not an excuse for the Flyers, who had just one player – Hart – show up for them in the contest:
Carter Hart is literally playing against everyone else on the ice
— Hunter Mikosz (@MikoszHunter) October 31, 2021
“It’s disappointing to put an effort like that in front of him because realistically he’s the only reason it ended up (being a close game),” said Travis Konecny. “He made some unbelievable saves… Tonight we didn’t help him at all and he kept us in the game. It’s just too bad we couldn’t capitalize for him.”
Sean Monahan scored a power play goal in the first period on a tip-in and then Hart stopped seemingly everything. In the second period, the Flames outshot the Flyers 16-5, and after the period it was still just 1-0:
Carter Hart with a big pair of saves to keep the Flyers within a goal. pic.twitter.com/kaWjZAPiyR
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) October 31, 2021
“(Hart) gave us a chance,’’ Vigneault said. “Without him there’s no game. He was the best player on the ice for us in this game. We weren’t able to follow up.”
Calgary added a second power play goal in the third period by Matthew Tkachuk. Mikael Backlund potted an empty-netter as the Flyers tried to get back in the game, and that was pretty much it. Johnny Gaudreau did score a goal in the final two minutes on Hart, who returned to the net with the team resigned to their fate, but that goal was akin to the Eagles fourth quarter offense in that it occurred in garbage time.
Where is the discipline?
There is always one negative that seems to thread its way through several games, even when a team has been playing well, as the Flyers had been prior to Saturday. So far this season, it’s the penalties. The Flyers are taking way too many minors and having to spend too much time shorthanded. This time, the Flames had five power play opportunities, and they cashed in on two. Zach MacEwen hooked Dillon Dube in the third period, which lead to Tkachuk’s goal and was the game changer.
MacEwen has taken a couple of those untimely penalties now, which isn’t going to sit well with the coaching staff. But he’s not alone with these transgressions.
The Flyers have taken 5.22 penalties per 60 minutes, the most in the NHL. The Flyers have been shorthanded for 50:22 so far this season. That total ranks seventh in the NHL, but of the six teams who have spent more time shorthanded, five of them have played two more games than the Flyers. Only Carolina (53:47) has played the same number of games as the Flyers.
This is a problem the Flyers need to address before it becomes chronic – and it’ll become worse based on reputation, something the league has never fixed with it’s officiating.
If a team is more prone to taking penalties, then the officials will be more likely to call a 50/50 play a penalty on that team.
“We’re going to have to get it under control,” Vigneault said. “There were some I was shaking my head at, I’m not sure they were deserved. But there were some that were deserved.
“The last two we took were 200-feet from our net. They were deserved.”