Breakdown, breakaway, Bryz breaks his stick. That's the Cliff's Notes synopsis of a broken 2013 season for the Philadelphia Flyers.
That has been especially true in four of the five games the Flyers have played against the New Jersey Devils this year. Actually, it goes back to the latter part of last season as well.
Regardless of the personnel that is playing or missing from any given game against the Devils, the Flyers struggle to deal with Pete DeBoer's clib. It didn't matter that the Devils dragged a 10-game losing streak into Philly. It made no difference that New Jersey is the lowest-scoring team in the NHL.
Last night's 3-0 Flyers loss was typical of their games against the Devils dating back to the playoffs last year. Philly was impatient and indecisive, and paid the price. After a disciplined (if somewhat dull) first period where the Flyers and Devils skated to a scoreless deadlock, New Jersey methodically took over the game.
Impatience and indecision were the bane of the Flyers' existence in this game. This is often the case against New Jersey and other teams that force the Flyers to play a 200-foot game. Eventually, Philly will turn over pucks and make low-percentage plays in a desperate effort to make things happen offensively.
While most of the Flyers were at a loss to explain the root cause of the team's problems against New Jersey, forward Danny Briere hit the nail on the head.
"I think the biggest problem is that we don’t know how to play a patient game," he said. "The last two years we’ve struggled against the Devils because they’re patient. They wait for their chance."
Briere continued, "It seems against the Devils they just realized how to play us. They realized how to wait us out. I guess they know we become very impatient. It’s frustrating. Against Montreal and against the Rangers we create a lot more offense. You feel good, you keep going, but with the Devils they wait four or five guys back, they don’t give you much. Like I said, you have to wait for your chances and I think we’re not very patient at doing that."
In earning the 121st shutout of his Hall of Fame career, Martin Brodeur was not tested more than a handful of times. He made 23 saves, and allowed few second-chance opportunities. When there was a scramble for a loose puck around the net, it was New Jersey that inevitably came up with the disc.
The turning point of the game came about five minutes into the second period. Matt Read made a nice initial play to take the puck away from Patrik Elias and led a 3-on-1 counterattack. Unfortunately, Read couldn't decide whether to shoot or pass and ended up coming to a standstall in the left slot, still holding the puck for a couple interminable seconds. That gave New Jersey plenty of chance to recover and Read never got the puck on the net.
Seconds later, Simon Gagne turned the puck over in the neutral zone and New Jersey had an odd-man counterattack of their own. The Devils didn't miss their chance. Ryan Carter snapped a shot past Ilya Bryzgalov to give the Devils a 1-0 lead.
New Jersey had several chances to extend the lead but Ilya Bryzgalov (28 saves) or the goal post got it in the way. The Flyers remained one shot away from tying the game for the next 28-plus minutes of hockey, but the 1-0 deficit might as well have been a 5-0 hole. The Flyers made too many wing-and-a-prayer plays with the puck, and the Devils picked them off at will. Philadelphia captain Claude Giroux was a frequent culprit in that regard.
The Flyers' Jakub Voracek did manage to put the puck in the net from a rather severe angle, but the goal was immediately and correctly disallowed because Voracek kicked it in the net. The top line right winger turned his skate and brought his foot forward. A brief replay delay ensued, and the call from the ice was upheld.
At the 14:10 mark of the third period, Flyers rookie defenseman Oliver Lauridsen turned the puck over to Jacob Josefson. Matt D'Agostini took a pass and broke in one-on-one against Bryzgalov. D'Agostini wristed a shot that went right through a gaping five-hole, almost as if he were shooting at an empty net. Bryzgalov smashed his stick over the crossbar in frustration.
There are many criticisms that get levied against Bryzgalov, some fair and some unfair. One of the legitimate gripes is that he is not very good in winning one-on-one battles with shooters, whether it's committing himself on a breakaway or getting beaten from about 10 feet away.
Now that the Flyers were down by multiple goals in the third period, the remaining air went out of the team's balloon. Adam Henrique punctuated the game with an empty-net goal with 1:13 left in regulation.
The Flyers have four games remaining in the season; two at home and two on the road. On Saturday, they will visit the Carolina Hurricanes.
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Mathematical elimination from the playoffs could come for the Flyers as soon as tonight, when the New York Rangers visit the Buffalo Sabres. Realistically, however, the Flyers eliminated themselves weeks ago.
With their regulation loss to the Devils last night, the Flyers fell behind New Jersey again in the standings. As of this morning, the Flyers are 23rd in the overall NHL standings this season.
If the season ended today, the Flyers would pick eighth or ninth on the NHL Draft unless they were to win the lottery.
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The wave of injuries that has decimated the Flyers' projected starting blueline has at least given the organization a chance to look at some of the young defensemen in the farm system. Since several people have asked, here is my take on how they have performed during their callups:
Erik Gustafsson: The most NHL-experienced of the Flyers callup defensemen has performed well overall in his latest recall. He led all skaters on both teams with 25:52 of ice time last night. During his most recent recall, he's been moved from the third pairing to play with Kimmo Timonen on the top pairing at even strength. They've done a good job for the most part.
Gustafsson's pairing with Timonen makes for an extremely undersized duo, but senior partner Timonen has a knack for finding chemistry with defensemen of different styles. Even so, for the long haul, Gustafsson is more ideally suited to playing with a big-framed defensive defenseman.
In terms of his development, I don't think Gustafsson has much more to gain by playing in the AHL. It's time for him either to sink or swim in the NHL. To be honest, there have been times I have regarded Gustafsson as a future third pairing regular and times I've seen him as an AHL-NHL "tweener" -- good enough to be promoted from the AHL, not quite good enough to hold down a regular starting spot in the starting lineup. If he can sustain the way he's played of late, he's an NHL defenseman.
Part of the issue is finding a niche and self-identity at the NHL level. That only comes with experience. Is Gustafsson going to be more of a puck-mover or an outright offensive defenseman? There have been times during his NHL stints (including one earlier this season) where he's been too tentative and indecisive. At other times, he's thrown caution to the wind and made ill-advised pinches.
Gustafsson will never be a shutdown defenseman but he is at least adequate in most of his coverages. He does not have the surprising physical strength that Timonen possesses despite his diminutive stature. Gustafsson sometimes get manhandled by big forwards in battles for positioning down low in the defensive zone.
I don't think Gustafsson will ever be able to produce as many points as Timonen, but he can learn a lot by studying the savvy Finn's approach the game at both ends of the ice. Over time, perhaps Gustafsson can evolve at the NHL level into a poor man's Timonen at both ends of the ice. A poor man's Timonen would still be a useful NHL defenseman, albeit a role-player rather than one of the team's top two.
The other issue with Gustafsson is health. He has dealt with hand, wrist and/or foot injuries each of the last few seasons at both the AHL and NHL levels. The injury setbacks have delayed his quest to stake down a full-time starting spot with the big club. Right now, he's healthy and playing with confidence.
Come next season, Gustafsson is no longer eligible to be sent to the AHL without passing through waivers. He will have an opportunity to win an opening-night roster spot. Whether he can grab and hold a starting six spot for an 82-game season remains to be seen.
Oliver Lauridsen: No defenseman in the Flyers' farm system has improved as much over the last two seasons as Lauridsen. My assessment of him when he turned pro was that his mid-range potential was akin to David Printz and his best-case scenario ceiling was to develop into a late-blooming NHLer roughly akin to a lesser Kjell Samuelsson.
Early in the 2011-12 season, Lauridsen had a hard time getting into the Phantoms' starting lineup. He looked at times more like a defenseman who needed ECHL seasoning because he looked a little too slow, too frequently out of position and suspect with the puck even against AHL competition. To his credit, the big Dane worked and worked and worked on his game and improved substantially throughout the season.
How much did Lauridsen improve last year? He got better to the point that he was one of the Black Aces during the Stanley Cup playoffs. He was praised by Derian Hatcher and Ian Laperriere alike as a player who could be a potential NHL callup in 2012-13.
Entering this season, I was sold on Lauridsen as a reliable AHL defensive defenseman. However, I still far from convinced that he'd ever be able to set foot in the NHL without being overwhelmed by the speed and skill of the players he'd face at the top level.
Once again, Lauridsen worked tirelessly all summer and throughout the season. When the Flyers lost Nicklas Grossmann to a late-season concussion, the club had a need for a big-framed defensive D-man to block shots and bang bodies. Lauridsen got his first NHL callup.
In the 11 games he has played with the big club, Lauridsen has had some ups and downs but has been impressive overall. He is very willing to engage in physical play and he's fearless about putting his body in harm's way when it comes to shot blocking.
At the same time, Lauridsen's limitation and rawness are still very evident. He could really use a summer of intensive power skating to better deal with attackers who come at him with speed. He still needs to get significantly better when he has the puck on his stick. Lastly, he needs to gain the experience to learn how to avoid over-committing and to spot dangerous players away from the puck.
Grossmann knows how to compensate for his own suspect mobility with positional savvy (few forwards have blown by Grossmann on rushes this year because he's usually good at spacing and angles). Lauridsen has gotten leaps and bounds better at angling than he was at the start of his rookie pro year but he's still not quite good enough at it yet to hold down a full-time NHL job.
As with Samuelsson before him, Lauridsen possesses a heavy and surprisingly accurate point shot but it takes him so long to wind up and uncoil that it is only useful when the opposing defense collapses down low and simply concedes a shot from the point. Even then, goalies will usually make the stop (unless he is screened) but there is a good chance for a rebound because Lauridsen gets a lot steam on the puck when he has a wide-open chance to step into the puck and blast it. He'll never be a power play defenseman but he may eventually bag a few goals a year in a similar manner to the way Samuelsson used to get 4 or 5 a year off faceoff wins or lack of pressure up high.
Unlike Gustafsson, I think Lauridsen would benefit from an additional season at the AHL level. He has shown enough during his callup that the team would not hesitate to recall him next year in the event of an injury that takes Grossmann or Luke Schenn out of the lineup.
With the aforementioned ongoing improvements to his game, Lauridsen could even compete for a third-pairing spot at the NHL level by 2014-15. That is truly a testament to his commitment because he's by no means a player with a lot of natural hockey assets apart from his imposing size.
One thing is for cetain: If Lauridsen levels off and remains at his current level, it won't be for lack of hard work. He will most certainly put in the time, the sweat and shed the blood.
Brandon Manning: Manning is another young player with a tremendous work ethic, and he's a mature and analytical young man off the ice. To be honest, however, I was expecting him to have a better second season in the AHL than he had for the majority of the 2012-13 campaign. There were times he's been very effective for the Phantoms, but also many games where he got a bit out of control with and without the puck in all three zones of the ice.
With Manning, it all comes down to playing within himself and keeping things simple. He is often prone to trying to do too much, whether it's a hit that takes him out of position, a low-percentage stretch pass that gets intercepted and turned into a high-speed counterattack with forwards caught up the ice or an attempted pinch without a third man high in the zone to cover.
During his cups of coffee in the NHL each of the last two seasons, Manning has played things simpler by necessity and has not been a liability. There have been periodic flashes of offensive zone aggressiveness, particularly the pinch against the Rangers that resulted in a Brayden Schenn goal and Manning's first NHL point. There have been a couple peaks at his ornery side, such as when he engaged (unfortunately, behind the play with New Jersey on a line rush) with a Devils player late in last night's game. For the most part, though, he's stuck to safe plays.
Manning still has a lot of work to do to harness his energy and zealousness and turn it into a viable NHL game. The raw elements are there but still need to be refined and polished. A third AHL season is probably in his future for 2013-14 and it will a very important one in his evolution toward either becoming a candidate for an NHL job or getting labeled as too much of a low-percentage risk-taker without the elite level skills to get away with it at the top level.
It should also be said that "Manndog" is a very easy player to root for to make it to the top level. He's personable and earnest and is clearly a player who is dedicated both to his team and his own betterment on the ice. He is not the biggest or fastest defenseman you will see but he gives his team everything he's got to offer.
At the Flyers' prospect camp last summer, Manning sounded wise beyond his years when discussing the process of developing one's game as well honestly assessing his first pro year. Without being asked, he (and Lauridsen) took locker room leadership roles and served as mentors to the first-timers at the camp. He has also emerged as a locker room leader on the Phantoms.
I view Manning's long-term NHL upside as being anywhere from a 5th to 7th defenseman, and that is assuming he better harnesses his current game without losing the energy and drive that are his greatest assets. It's a thin line to walk, Right now, Manning is still an AHL-caliber defenseman pressed into NHL service due to the many injuries on the big club.
As with Lauridsen and Gustafsson, it won't be for lack of effort or work ethic if he doesn't make it.
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Jon Hodes, a fixture on the HockeyBuzz message boards under the Pelle Lindbergh-inspired handle "Hammarby31", will be competing in this summer's Maccabiah Games in Israel as part of the US Masters Hockey Team (age 40+). I wish him and the rest of the American team entry the best of success in a field that also includes teams from Canada and Israel with potential participation of teams representing Russia and France.
Participation in the hockey tournament in Metula is an expensive out-of-pocket proposition. Jon can use some help from his fellow HockeyBuzz readers' in covering as much as possible of the roughly $9,000 worth of expenses his participation will incur, between tournament fees ($3k of which go to direct sponsorship of a younger athlete), travel and accommodations.
Jon has set up a
personal page on the
Maccabi USA site, which allows other people to contribute to athlete's fund raising in two different ways: 1) a direct tax-deductible donation or 2) with a raffle ticket purchase. Hodes' goal is $6,000 and he has thus far raised $1,040.
With such a such a significant personal financial commitment that comes with participating -- not to mention the challenge of coming together as a team on the ice that every team at every level of hockey faces if they are to be successful -- every dollar that can be raised is a big help to the participating players like Jon and many others.
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