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Flyers Hockey: You Never Know What You’re Going to Get – Thoughts After a 2-1 Shootout Win

Anthony SanFilippo

By Anthony SanFilippo

Published:

Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

This Flyers team makes no sense – and that’s why most fans just want to get to the end of the season.

With very little to play for, the Flyers clamped it down defensively, got mostly excellent goaltending from Carter Hart, and practically shut down a red hot Pittsburgh Penguins offense to defeat their cross-state rival 2-1 in a shootout.

This, of course, came two nights after getting their doors blown off 6-1 by Washington in a game where the Flyers chose not to even compete on the ice.

How a team can do this on a game-in, game-out basis as the Flyers have is utterly befuddling, but it’s worth noting that they have lost a game by four or more goals eight times this season and come back the very next game in each instance and earned at least one point:

  • 1/18 lose 6-1 vs. Buffalo
    • 1/19 win 3-0 vs. Buffalo
  • 1/23 lose 6-1 at Boston
    • 1/26 win 5-3 at New Jersey
  • 2/21 lose 7-3 at Boston (Lake Tahoe)
    • 2/24 win 4-3 vs. New York Rangers
  • 3/17 lose 9-0 at New York Rangers
    • 3/18 win 4-3 at New York Islanders
  • 3/20 lose 6-1 at New York Islanders
    • 3/22 lose in overtime 2-1 vs. New York Islanders
  • 3/25 lose 8-3 vs. New York Rangers
    • 3/27 win 2-1 vs. New York Rangers
  • 3/31 lose 6-1 at Buffalo
    • 4/3 lose in shootout 3-2 at New York Islanders
  • 4/13 lose 6-1 at Washington
    • 4/15 win 2-1 in shootout at Pittsburgh

So, that’s 0-8-0 and being outscored 54-11 in one set of games and 6-0-2 and outscoring the opponent 23-16 in the next set of games.

Jekyll and Hyde.

Not that it really matters anymore; the Flyers playoff hopes are practically gone. They are still six points behind the Bruins and Boston has two games in hand while the Flyers have just 13 games remaining.

If Boston were to play .500 hockey in those 15 games, and finish with 67 points, the Flyers would need to accumulate 22 points in 13 games, meaning they’d have to win 11 of 13. And they’d also need the Rangers to collect 19 points or fewer in their 13 remaining games.

So, you know, forget it. But, we’ll still give the breakdown for you diehards.

From here forward, it’s all about evaluation for the Flyers. Here are the players who stuck out the most in the win over the Penguins:

1. Carter Hart

Hart still has the worst statistics of any goalie who has played in at least 20 games this season (3.67GAA, .877 SvPct).

That said, he did win his first game Thursday since March 18, snapping a seven-game losing streak. And overall, since returning from his week-long reset earlier this month, Hart has been noticeably better. In those five starts he’s had a 2.32 GAA and a .910 save percentage despite losing four-of-five.

There’s no doubt Thursday was his best effort. Hart finished with 31 saves and then two more big glove stops in the shootout to preserve the win.

Here he is stopping old friend Jeff Carter:

And here was a game-saving stop on Evan Rodrigues:

And this was the big glove save to secure the win:

This was all good stuff. Hart needs this as rebuilds confidence that was shattered repeatedly in the month of March.

Keep giving him starts. Keep giving him a chance to find his game again. He is the most important asset on this team right now, and the Flyers need to nurture him along.

He did have one miscue though, that really can’t happen:

There’s a lot that goes wrong here. First of all, heads-up play by the Penguins’ equipment manager. It was within seconds that Crosby handed off his stick to teammate Brian Dumoulin who had lost his and the flawless handoff at the Penguins bench as Crosby picked up speed entering the Flyers’ zone.

Then there’s Wade Allison, making his NHL debut, and Nolan Patrick, who should know better, watching the play and not marking the man coming in behind the play. It was a lackadaisical effort by Patrick.

But Hart can’t whiff on that poke check either. He’s got to either poke the puck to the corner or corral it so what happened on this goal doesn’t happen.

Yet, it was just one blip on the radar for the Flyers goalie who seems to be getting back to who we all thought he’d be.

2. Wade Allison

Allison has been a prospect we’ve heard about for quite some time now. Ever since being selected in the second round of the 2016 draft, there’s been the promise of an NHL power forward coming.

It’s taken some time, as Allison had several long-term injuries to deal with at Western Michigan, and even dealt with another injury early this season that prevented him from getting a call up sooner.

But Allison, for one night, looked like he belonged. He wasn’t in awe of the NHL. He wasn’t chasing the game. He was very active. He was constantly around the net trying to get shots home. He was even used as the net front on the Flyers’ top power play unit.

He had several chances, but this one was his best:

He had the smarts here to stop the puck with his leg first and then try to get off the shot rather than take a lower percentage one-time swipe at the pass.

He has a boatload of confidence in the way he plays and yeah, he’s a bit of a personality to boot:

This kid is a beauty… and he’s going to be beloved in Philly.

3. Shootout moves

Oh, where have these been the last, oh, I don’t know, 16 years!!!!

The Flyers are notorious for being the worst shootout team in the NHL, but with moves like this, maybe they can start to flip that script.

Either way, Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier were showing off some serious creativity with these goals. The fans would like more of these kinds of efforts and not the ones where you shoot the puck directly into the goalie’s pads.

4. Miscellaneous

Here are some quick-hitter notes from the game:

  • Justin Braun has quietly been one of the Flyers’ best defensemen this season. That’s not saying much considering how poor the mix has been on the blue line, but I think it’s fair to say this was not one of his best games. He looked slow out there. He was out of position. He got turned around by the Penguins a couple times, namely Carter on that chance stopped by Hart above. The Flyers hope it’s just one of those nights and he’s back to his trusted form again Saturday against the Caps.
  • Meanwhile Phil Myers, who has been in and out of the lineup lately because of erratic and inconsistent play, had one of his better games in a long while. All it took was keeping things simple. When Phil plays a simple game and doesn’t overthink things, he’s at his best.
  • Nicolas Aube-Kubel was scratched in favor of Allison. Aube-Kubel finally was benched for his propensity to take minor penalties. When he’s not playing undisciplined, his game fits what the Flyers want and need out of a fourth liner. But, all too often he’s lacking discipline, and for now, it’s cost him his spot in the lineup.
  • Nolan Patrick took a puck to the ear when a Myers shot caught him on the way in toward the net. Patrick went down in a heap and was slow to get up as trainers from both teams rushed to his side. Postgame, the news was good and Patrick was all right. Scary moment, but a positive outcome.
Anthony SanFilippo
Anthony SanFilippo

Anthony SanFilippo writes about the Phillies and Flyers for Crossing Broad and hosts a pair of related podcasts (Crossed Up and Snow the Goalie). A part of the Philadelphia sports media for a quarter century, Anthony also dabbles in acting, directing, teaching, and strategic marketing, which is why he has no time to do anything, but does it anyway. Follow him on Twitter @AntSanPhilly.

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