Flyers

Wayne Manor! Seven Takeaways from Flyers 3, Ducks 2

By Anthony SanFilippo

Published: Oct 8th, 2017 · 9:25 AM EDT

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When the NHL schedule was released last summer, the Flyers’ first few games seemed daunting.

A four-game road trip to start the season, including the California three-step in four days.

It didn’t look promising.

Yet, here we are, at the end of the Golden State portion of the trip and the Flyers have earned four of a possible six points. No matter how you slice it, that’s impressive.

The latest came in Anaheim, in overtime, when Wayne Simmonds scored his fourth goal of the season, beating Ducks goalie John Gibson (who had a helluva game) low glove for the game-winner as the Flyers won 3-2.

It was a goal born out of hard work by both Simmonds and Sean Couturier, one that was indicative of the type of effort the Flyers have provided in the first three games this season.

There’s a lot to like about so far – there are still some concerns, and we’ll address them – but you can’t help but be satisfied with what the Flyers are giving you right now.

To the Takeaways…

(Wait… did the headline say there’s only seven? I thought you’ve been doing 10?)

Yep… you’re right. I went a little shorter with this one. Why? A Few reasons.

1. You’re likely reading this on an Eagles Sunday and need to shift your sports focus, or set your fantasy lineup, or both.
2. I don’t want to repeat myself too much by harping on the same issues – especially when there are so many games in such a short period of time. Besides, doubling down on an opinion without a chance to get some intel from the team – since, like you, I’m watching on T.V. – is not my M.O.
3. This is the third night in the last four that I’m staying awake far past my bedtime just to talk about hockey. I’m getting old and cranky and need more sleep than most people associated with this site. So, get off my case… and my lawn.

Acceptable? Good. Now, Takeaways:

1) Line Swap

Yeah, Simmonds scored the game-winner. We’ll get to that in No. 3. It may have determined the outcome of the game, but it wasn’t the biggest story. Not even close.

The big story was Nolan Patrick and the Flyers’ decision to swap him and Valtteri Filppula in the lineup, almost certainly after reading my recommendation to do so.

All kidding aside, this decision couldn’t have worked out better.

Patrick being paired with Travis Konecny is a Flyers fan’s utopia. Understandably so. Konecny creates more scoring chances than arguably anyone on the team on a per-shift basis. Patrick has a ton of skill and just needs to learn how to play in the NHL. In the not too distant future, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Oskar Lindblom replace Dale Weise as the left wing on that line.

Sure, there’s the possibility that the line gets a little swallowed up against a veteran-laden and deep team, but more often than not, these guys will get chances to create – and excite.

It didn’t take long Saturday. The duo had a 2-on-1 chance on their first shift of the game, and Patrick would have netted his first NHL goal against almost any goalie other than John Gibson, who made a great save:

https://twitter.com/CFJastrzembski/status/916849007741333504

They had some other chances as well, and eventually, Patrick picked up his first NHL point, feeding Ivan Provorov for a goal just as a power play was expiring:

https://twitter.com/CFJastrzembski/status/916852417018454017

Patrick and Provorov were teammates on the Brandon Wheat Kings and are good friends who have a lot of familiarity on the ice.

This goal did beg an interesting question:

What even is a Wheat King?

— Mike Cilly (@Mcil9518) October 8, 2017

I can honestly say, I spent far too much time after bar-closing time researching the history of this name and got very little. The Interwebs failed me. Brandon is known as “The Wheat City” so, there’s that. I guess, they are claiming to be the kings of wheat agriculture. Sounds good. They’ve been around for 80 years. Let’s just go with it.

Anyway…

Patrick and Konecny almost hooked up again later in the game as well, this time with Konecny on the receiving end of a pretty pass from Patrick (intended alliteration):

https://twitter.com/CFJastrzembski/status/916884736030773248

The point is… these two are going to be dynamic together and Hakstol did the right thing getting them together sooner rather than later.

But on the “Flip” side (see what I did there?)…

 

2) Filppula

Hakstol praised the work Filppula did in the middle on the second line, but aside from this one chance…

https://twitter.com/CFJastrzembski/status/916884265291436033

… I thought Filppula was underwhelming. That was his only shot attempted the entire game (and he’s on the top power play unit, too),  he had a giveaway that could have resulted in something ugly (it didn’t), and he lost five of seven faceoff draws.

The other guys on the line were fine. Simmonds obviously scored the game-winner and got off five shot attempts. Jordan Weal had an assist and three shots on goal.

These three played together at the end of last season, so I’m sure they’ll figure it out as a trio, but this was not one for Filppula’s YouTube highlight reel.

 

3) This is the Sean Couturier We’ve Been Looking For

Quite Simply, Coots was the MVP of the game. Not sure who picked the three stars in Anaheim, but they should be fired.

When Hakstol made the move to put Claude Giroux on the wing and move Couturier to top-line center, this was what he imagined.

Couturier scored his first goal of the season on an absolutely gorgeous play:

Watch how this goal starts in the Flyers end and leads to the beautiful leave by Voracek to Couturier. pic.twitter.com/bmbAFIL0cv

— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) October 8, 2017

The outlet pass from Giroux to Voracek is just sick. Voracek’s deft little backhand pass to Couturier was a thing of beauty.

It prompted a text from a former co-worker of mine at the Flyers that read, “That’s one of the greatest goals I’ve seen involving all three forwards.”

While I might not go to that extreme, and recognize the excitement level of someone who works for the company might be a little elevated, I understood the wow factor. It was a pretty amazing goal. And Couturier scored because he didn’t have to think about it. Quite simply, he reacted. He’s a better scorer that way. When he has time, I think he tries to do too much. When he just lets his skill take over without much thought, you get goals like that.

But that wasn’t even his best play. This was:

.@Simmonds17 strikes again! This time, it's an OT-winner. #NHLFaceOff https://t.co/irk6MHSsUE

— NHL (@NHL) October 8, 2017

The work along the wall. The ability to recognize the over-commitment on defense by the Ducks. The drop pass to Simmonds – it’s what the Flyers envision from their 24-year-old, top line center.

These are the kinds of performances by Couturier that are encouraging for Hakstol’s big move on the top line and it being remembered as a stroke of genius rather than a mad scientist experiment.

 

4) PEC-uh-O

After starting the season 3-for-3, the Flyers had gone 12 straight power plays over three games without a goal – and last night, they allowed their first shorthanded goal, which could have been incredibly deflating if they didn’t come out of it with two points:

https://twitter.com/CFJastrzembski/status/916877743341568000

This was a bad pass, and it allowed Ducks defeseman Cam Fowler to get a breakaway the other way.

A lot of social media anger was directed at Brian Elliott, who many thought should have made a save here.

I look at it the other way. I give Fowler a ton of credit. A lost art in hockey is the mini-breakaway slap shot. It used to happen all the time. John LeClair made a career of it here. But now guys are more interested in showing off their dangle than firing a shot with authority.

Fowler went old school – and why not, when you have that much speed and momentum in your favor, it’s a smart play. It caught Elliott a little by surprise and it was spot-on accurate. Give credit to the shooter rather than chide the goalie.

This isn’t about Fowler– this is about the Flyers’ power play.

It should be noted that the Provorov goal came one second after the  power play had expired, so it was basically a power play goal, even though it wasn’t officially credited as such. But the top unit still has issues. Specifically Giroux and Voracek continuing to fall into old habits. Gostisbehere is getting shots and Simmonds is doing his thing in front of the net, but I’m not sure where Filppula fits here, and honestly, is kind of the forgotten man if you watch the Flyers constantly pass around him.

The fact is, the Flyers are not a great 5-on-5 team in terms of scoring – they have four 5-on-5 goals so far, but one was on an absolute gift turnover in San Jose, one was an empty netter, and another was Provorov’s goal which came one tick after a power play expired. Only Couturier’s goal seems like a true 5-on-5 goal at this point. So if the 5-on-5 continues to struggle, the Flyers really need the power play to be even better.

 

5) MacDonald Part Deux

If I’m going to repeat a negative takeaway, I might as well repeat a positive one. Actually, I got someone else on Twitter to do it for me:

https://twitter.com/jsaquella/status/916887565659197440

A long season ahead of us guys, but I think you’re going to see more positive games out of MacDonald – even if you don’t want to admit that right now.

 

6) California Posers

I don’t want to dampen the 2-1 start, but the competition has been subpar.

First off, San Jose looks to be a shell of itself. And last night, Anaheim was missing five regulars– Ryan Getzlaf, Ryan Kesler, Sami Vatanen, Hampus Lindholm and Patrick Eaves.

The schedule doesn’t get easier as the next five games include the defending Western Conference champion Nashville Predators (twice), Washington and Alex Ovechkin, who has seven goals in the team’s first two games, Florida, and then Edmonton with reigning MVP Connor McDavid.

After eight games will be a good point to take stock of this team.

 

7) Loose Pucks

• Pretty uneven game for Voracek. His play on Couturier’s goal was awesome and he had a few other chances as well, but his bad pass led to Fowler’s goal and his bad play on a board battle led to a complete communication breakdown between him, Robert Hagg, Travis Sanheim and Giroux, allowing Antoine Vermette to be left alone with no one near him in front of the net. That can’t happen.

https://twitter.com/CFJastrzembski/status/916854367688581122

• That was Vermette’s 500th point in the NHL.
• Speaking of milestones, Giroux’s assist on Couturier’s goal was No. 394, moving him to 4th place on the Flyers all-time list behind only Bobby Clarke, Brian Propp and Bill Barber.
• Wayne Simmonds on the team’s ability to continue to dominate third periods, “I think we all feel great out there. We’re in good shape and we feel like we can skate all day.” This could be another underrated move by Hakstol – having them in peak condition right off the bat.
• Um, Radko Gudas – What the…

https://twitter.com/CFJastrzembski/status/916870427905060865

And finally….

• After Patrick’s pass to Provorov from behind the net, noted Brantford, Ontario native Keith Jones had this exchange with Jim Jackson and Chris Therien:

Jones: You know who else used to make passes from behind the net like that? Wayne Gretzky. Brantford Ontario’s own.

Jackson: Not surprisingly you were able to fit in your home town.

Jones: Yep, Gretzky and me. The Great One and the Other One.

Therien: You might not even be the Other One. How about Chris Gratton?

Jones: Fine. The Other Other One.

That’s good T.V.