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Wrap: Flyers Drop 2-1 (2-1) Shootout vs. Blues |
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The Philadelphia Flyers had to settle for one point in a 2-1 (2-1) shootout home loss to the St. Louis Blues on Monday at the Wells Fargo Center.
In regulation, one bounce of the puck in the first period that went the Flyers way and a less-than-artistic second period breakaway goal by St. Louis represented all of the scoring. Scott Laughton and ex-Flyers center Kevin Hayes scored for their respective teams.
In the shootout, Jake Neighbors and Morgan Frost traded off one goal apiece. Finally, in the bottom of the fourth round, Pavel Buchnevich scored the winner for St. Louis.
Goaltenders Samuel Ersson and Jordan Binnington each played excellent games for their respective sides. Ersson stopped 24 of 25 shots in regulation and overtime. He stopped two of four in the shootout. Binnington, named the game's first star, denied 40 of 41 shots during the hockey game and three of four in the shootout.
Playing for the third time in four nights, the Flyers seemed a bit sluggish at times, especially over the first 40 minutes. The third period was better, and Philly defended well in both the first and third periods.
The Flyers went 0-for-2 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill. A latter third period kill with Marc Staal in the box for a tripping infraction help ensure the Flyers at least got one point from the game.
In overtime, the Flyers started with Ryan Poehling and Noah Cates as their two forwards along with defenseman Travis Sanheim. It was a very conservative approach, similar to one the Flyers employed to start overtime in Toronto on Feb. 12.
On that night, Laughton lost the center ice faceoff and the Flyers never got puck possession. Attempting a risky line change, the Flyers never get situation in coverage before Toronto won the game at the 54-second mark. Last night, Poehling lost the opening OT faceoff and St. Louis had the puck -- with a couple of reloads -- for the first 1:37 of sudden death before Ersson made a save on Buchnevich and froze the puck for a stoppage.
As overtime progressed, the Flyers had a pair of golden opportunities to win the game amid six shots on net. Cam York, who played another strong all-around game, came within a whisker of scoring on a 30-foot wrist shot. With time ticking down in the final half-minute, Frost made a nice lead pass to send Sanheim in one-on-one with Binnington. The goalie made the save with 12 seconds remaining and then denied Frost's follow-up attempt. Incidentally, it appeared that Sanheim was slashed on the play but there was no way the officials were going to call it.
Flyers defenseman Nick Seeler (24 shifts, 16:57 TOI, three blocked shots) took a Colton Parayko shot off the outside of his left foot with three minutes remaining in the second period. Seeler struggled mightily to stand up. Finally, he hobbled off the ice under his own power and limped up the tunnel. Seeler returned for the start of the third period but was unable to finish the game. He left midway through the period and did not come back to the bench again.
Olle Lycksell (eight shifts, 6:58 TOI) returned to the Flyers lineup after being benched in the third period of last Friday's game in Washington and scratched on Saturday against Ottawa. Nic Deslauriers exited the lineup.
Cam Atkinson, scratched in back-to-back games (vs. Tampa Bay, at Washington) last week, played against both the Senators and Blues. Unfortunately, he continued to struggle mightily. Against the Blues, Atkinson (14 shifts, 10:18 TOI) spent most of the third period and all of overtime on the bench.
Lately, based on usage, Tortorella considers Laughton to be his first line center. Poehling's line with Cates and Garnet Hathaway, is often used like the second line. Frost, generally getting about 14 to 15 minutes of ice time including power play duty, is used as the 3C. Meanwhile, Sean Couturier (15 shifts, 12:07 TOI) has been relegated to fourth line center -- plus PP time and spot 5-on-5 shifts as 3C on shifts starting in the defensive zone -- in each of the last four games. On Monday, Laughton (26 shifts, 21:37 TOI) and Poehling (25 shifts, 19:52 TOI) sometimes were deployed on nearly an alternating-shifts basis at certain junctures.
Laughton has been scorching hot lately, along with Tyson Foerster. Meanwhile, Poehling's entire line has been playing well since the All-Star break. That said, I do not believe this arrangement is advisable or sustainable. The stretch drive is going to get brutally difficult very soon.
As I see it, the Flyers NEED to prioritize getting Couturier back to where he was before a mid-January injury and subsequent precipitous drop in his play. Poehling is a good role-playing center but he's not a top-six forward. Laughton's offensive run has been a huge boost to the team but it's unlikely to be sustainable for six more weeks. The Flyers need Couturier to find a second wind if they are to see things through to holding onto third place in the Metro.
Likewise, Tortorella needs to actually show the same trust in Frost in 4-on-4 and empty net situations that he shows in Owen Tippett (who is, arguably, Philly's most defensively suspect non-rookie winger). Finally, it's going to be hard for Brink (13 shifts, 10:47 of ice time) to do what he does best -- create offense -- unless he spend more time in the top nine of the lineup rather than as the 11th forward or looking over his shoulder that any defensive lapse with plant him on the bench.
The Flyers have an off-day on Tuesday. On Wednesday, they will have an 11:00 a.m. ET practice at the FTC in Voorhees before departing for a tough road trip that will see them go up against the Florida Panthers (42-16-4) on Thursday and the Tampa Bay Lightning (33-24-6) on Saturday.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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