Given the precarious state of the Philadelphia Flyers' playoff hopes, the team will take two points any way it can get them. That's especially true when the opponent is a team such as the New Jersey Devils, which brought a seven-game winning streak against the Flyers (dating back to the 2012 playoffs) into last night's game.
Every point matters -- and the Flyers were 0-7 all-time in shootouts against the Devils --so it's certainly preferable to be the team that gets the second point in the standings, even if a shootout isn't a true hockey win.
First and foremost, the Flyers owe their two points from last night to goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov. He turned in one of his best games as a Flyer, making some very tough saves look routine and battling for all he was worth in a few scrambles around the net. The lone New Jersey goal -- a vicious deflection by David Clarkson -- was one that no goaltender would have stopped. Bryzgalov made 27 saves in regulation and overtime, and then turned back two of three in the shootout.
The other main heroes last night for Philadelphia was the team's penalty killers, getting the team through five disadvantages. That included a lengthy 5-on-3 kill in the first period and a pair of crucial kills in the third period and overtime after Scott Hartnell and Brayden Schenn took extremely undisciplined penalties in the offensive zone.
Philly's much-maligned blueline was solid in this game after getting badly exposed in Wednesday's game. The return of Luke Schenn (nine hits, one block) from a one-game absence due to the flu was big. Both Kimmo Timonen (23:54, three shots, three blocks) and Nicklas Grossmann (22:07, four hits, two blocks) -- the team's only two reliable defenders in Wednesday's debacle in Newark -- played well again.
Struggling Braydon Coburn (24:55, four hits, no turnovers) had his best game of the month. Andrej Meszaros continued to scuffle a bit but showed some signs of improvement. That enabled Peter Laviolette to confine sixth defenseman Bruno Gervais to 10:59 of mostly uneventful minutes at even strength.
Offensively, the Flyers really didn't generate very many chances as the game rolled along. The Claude Giroux line created a few but was unable to finish. Danny Briere had his best game in weeks, getting himself into position for no fewer than three excellent scoring chances; unfortunately, none ended up in the net and he was unable to convert his shootout opportunity. Even so, it was a step toward breaking loose from his offensive doldrums.
Philadelphia's lone goal in regulation came off the stick of checking liner Max Talbot. He was Johnny-on-the-spot near the net as Johan Hedberg got wiped out and the playmaking work of Matt Read and Simon Gagne on the rush enabled Talbot to have an open shot with Hedberg down and out. In the first and second rounds of the shootout, Read and Giroux snapped five-hole goals past Hedberg.
The outstanding play of Bryzgalov and the all's-well-that-ends-well outcome of the game masked a disturbing third period performance by Philadelphia. The team last night with an 0-5-0 record in games that entered the third period tied, and didn't exactly step up and seize the moment in crunch time last night, either. In fact, New Jersey pretty much dominated the third period and the majority of OT.
The Flyers mustered an anemic three shots in the third period and two more in the overtime frame. They were also very fortunate that their penalty killers and Bryzgalov stepped up after Hartnell took a silly slashing penalty midway through the stanza and then Brayden Schenn got way too aggressive with 1:42 left in regulation by leaving his feet to deliver a check to Peter Harrold behind the New Jersey net.
The Flyers are in Tampa Bay on Monday. There are 19 games remaining in the season.
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2013 PRE-SEASON EXPECTATIONS VS. REALITIES: FLYERS DEFENSEMEN
Kimmo Timonen
Expectations: The Flyers needed the four-time NHL All-Star and three-time Barry Ashbee Trophy winner to recover quickly from off-season back surgery and anchor the Philadelphia defense as his 38th birthday approaches.
Reality: Timonen, who has also struggled with plantar fasciitis in one of his heels, has lost a step. Plays in which he customarily made defensive stops now result in him being forced to take minor penalties or risk getting beaten cleanly.
That said, Timonen is STILL the team's best all-around defenseman on a night-in and night-out basis. His offensive production ranks fifth among all NHL defensemen this year. He still handles tough minutes, and is still the team's most poised and creative blueliner. If you think the Flyers' blueline has been a mess with Timonen, the thought of the team being without him should be terrifying.
With Chris Pronger's career finished and Timonen nearing the end of the line, the Flyers' number one priority needs to be succession planning. Their main target, Shea Weber, is now going to be a Nashville Predator for a long, long time. Meanwhile, even if the Flyers were to be able to draft Seth Jones this summer AND if Jones pans out as a future franchise player, that day is unlikely to come until he's about four or five years removed from the 2013 Draft. There will be plenty of growing pains along the way.
Timonen, who could have been an unrestricted free agent this summer, would have been highly paid no matter where he went. Defensemen command a premium on the open market, and with virtually every potential UFA defenseman of consequence having already been extended by their current teams, Timonen's $6 million price tag for next season was NOT a significant overpayment in terms of what his market value would have been.
In terms of the structure of his one-year extension, it's basically a shared 50-50 risk between the Flyers and Timonen in case an injury forces him to retire before next season. Half of the money -- which will count against the cap regardless -- comes in the form of a signing bonus. The other half is his base salary, which would NOT count against the cap if Timonen were to retire. Because his contract is a one-year deal, he is not subject to the NHL's rules on over-35 contracts.
When he signed the one-year extension, Timonen indicated that next season will probably be his final one before retirement. So the Flyers had better get cracking on that succession plan for the top end of their blueline.
Luke Schenn
Expectations: Provide a physical presence on the blueline, and get his career back on track as a potential shutdown defenseman after coming over from Toronto in the James van Riemsdyk deal.
Reality: Schenn's good games have outnumbered the bad ones by a healthy margin. There have been three games where he's been a major force. Schenn's reported lack of mobility -- cited constantly in Toronto -- was exaggerated. He also makes a pretty good first pass out of the defensive zone. He does sometimes get out of position or get caught flat-flooted but, all in all, he's shown himself to be a keeper.
Braydon Coburn
Expectations: Build on his excellent all-around second half of last season and, with Matt Carle gone, assert himself offensively and as a puck-mover for the first time since the 2007-08 season. With his combination of size and mobility, Coburn was expected to be the Flyers' undisputed number two defenseman and possibly even start to take over the reigns from Timonen as the team's leading Barry Ashbee Trophy candidate this season.
Reality: Coburn has been a huge disappointment thus far, coming nowhere near meeting those lofty -- and in retrospect, excessive -- goals. He's been inconsistent defensively, turnover prone with the puck and seemingly in over his head when trying to be an offensive defenseman. Not everything he does goes wrong, but his Karl Dykhuis-like season to date has been part of the problem. The truth with Coburn is that he's always been a streaky player, and it seems like he always will be. But given the personnel on the blueline, they need greater reliability from him.
Nicklas Grossmann
Expectations: Continue doing what he did last year after coming over from Dallas; block a lot of shots, take the body, make the simple play with the puck.
Reality: The Flyers are happy with Grossmann. They can just set him and forget him, knowing he will churn out similar efforts game after game. Grossmann has remained steady and reliable, especially when playing about 18 minutes per game. Occasionally tries to do a little too much on the pinch, but is generally content to stay at home. He's not the fleetest of defensemen by any means but he knows how to compensate with his size and strength.
Andrej Meszaros
Expectations: Over the summer, the hope was that Meszaros could recover quickly from back surgery and get back to the form that enabled him to win the 2009-10 Barry Ashbee Trophy in his first season in Philadelphia. Those expectations got scaled back when Meszaros sustained a torn achilles' tendon in August, and the hope became simply that he'd be able to play this season and be reasonably effective.
Reality: Meszaros made it back for opening night after the lockout ended. He turned in a few solid games and then suffered a separated shoulder, missing over a month. He has struggled horribly since his return to the lineup. With three major injuries suffered in the last calendar year, his ability to remain healthy has become a question mark. Even when healthy, Meszaros tends to run hot and cold in both his offense and defense. He seems to play his best hockey on the third pairing with slightly easier defensive matchups.
Bruno Gervais
Expectations: The Flyers brought in Max Talbot's best friend to provide a mobile presence as a righthanded shooting, third-pairing upgrade on Andreas Lilja.
Reality: He's been barely passable as a sixth defenseman, and has often gotten exposed whenever his minutes have gotten extended beyond about 10-12 minutes. He looks more like a seventh defenseman who should be in the lineup only in the case of injury. Tends to lose coverages and turn pucks over under pressure. His breakout passes are often inaccurate and he lacks split-second decisiveness. The pairing of Gervais with Coburn for several weeks in February was a nightmare to watch.
Kurtis Foster
Expectations: Use his big shot to be an asset to the second power play unit; play adequate enough defense to be usable as a sixth defenseman at even strength while primarily being a power play specialist.
Reality: The journeyman dialed up one early season power play goal, but really never got into the special teams flow before he exited the lineup in favor of other options. His defensive liabilities have largely kept him as a healthy scratch.
Erik Gustafsson
Expectations: Seize the available opportunity to become a full-time NHL starter. Develop his two-way game with further defensive improvement, and greater assertiveness in triggering the rush and looking for offensive opportunities.
Reality: He's been injury-prone and inconsistent in both the AHL and NHL this season. When called up to the Flyers, he did outplay Gervais for a stretch of games but then struggled so mightily that he ended up back in the AHL.
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