SILVER LININGS GET OLD
The Flyers have spent their last three games playing just well enough to lose. That was the case again on Tuesday night, as Philly was unable to hang on to a 2-1 lead in the third period and ended up with a 3-2 regulation loss to the Vancouver Canucks.
The Flyers did a lot of good things for two-plus periods and were especially solid in the opening 20 minutes. They stayed out of the box. They defended well in the first 40 minutes. The breakouts looked better. Tye McGinn twice got rewarded for going to the net, scoring his second and third goals in two games since his recall from the AHL. Steve Mason shrugged off a fluke bounce on a Ryan Kesler goal scored just 10 seconds after McGinn opened the scoring.
Nevertheless, looking for silver linings is starting to ring hollow. The Flyers are now 1-6-0 on the season, and they are doing what losing teams do: suffering critical breakdowns and basically waiting for bad things to happen. It's hard to keep putting an optimistic spin on coming away with zero points from winnable games. Here's the bottom line:
* The Flyers have been outscored 10-2 in third periods this year. That's unacceptable.
* The Flyers generated a combined 13 shots in the second and third periods. That's equally unacceptable. Roberto Luongo was leaving out rebounds much of the night but was only truly tested one or two more times after McGinn's second goal.
* The Flyers lost 70 percent of the faceoffs in this game, including two-thirds of even strength faceoffs and all five special teams faceoffs (0-for-4 on power play, 0-for-1 on PK). That's also unacceptable, too.
* The Flyers pretty much played scared in the third period, playing like they were skating on eggshells rather than aggressively trying to seize the two points that there were there for the taking. Well, guess what. The eggs broke, and the team came away with nada.
Vancouver's game-tying goal by Chris Higgins was a tragedy of errors by the Flyers. Nicklas Grossmann, Claude Giroux and Braydon Coburn all made gaffes on this sequence:
Who or what, exactly, is Giroux covering here? Henrik Sedin has all day behind the net. Then Grossmann abandons Higgins in the slot to challenge Sedin as he starts to swing around the net. Henrik is one of the world's most dangerous playmakers but he's not going to score from where he is. Higgins is the dangerous man. Coburn never rotates over to help his partner.
Bang, bang: Just like that the game is tied.
With just 2:25 remaining in regulation, the Canucks would grab the only lead they'd hold or need. The real killer moment in this sequence is a missed opportunity to clear the defensive zone. Once that happened, the Flyers got scrambled in their own end of the ice, and never got re-organized. Seconds later, Ryan Kesler batted a Higgins rebound in for the game-winning goal and his second tally of the game.
The Flyers will try again on Thursday when the arch-rival Penguins come to town.
NOTES AND QUOTES:
* Craig Berube on the Flyers' third period woes: " Confidence is the biggest thing. You have to go out and take it to the other team in the third period and win the game. We’re kind of sitting back a little bit and waiting for something bad to happen. We have to get over that hump."
* Claude Giroux on the team's performance: "“We played [our] best game. Like you said, it’s frustrating. Mason made the saves to keep us in the game. Obviously that first goal, there is nothing you can do about it. We are getting better every game, that’s how we all look at it, it’s a fact. If anybody knows anything about hockey, they’ll know we played a good game tonight, we played our best game and it’s a good thing coming right now.”
* Claude Giroux was 7-for-21 on faceoffs, Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn both went 4-for-14 and Max Talbot was 0-for-1.
* Giroux had one of the game's best scoring chances, but hit the post to remain goalless through seven games.
* With ex-Flyer Tom Sestito (eight shifts, 5:25 TOI) in the Vancouver lineup, Berube dressed Jay Rosehill after all. In a tight game, Rosehill (four shifts, 2:38 TOI) and Zac Rinaldo (six shifts, 4:45 TOI) barely played.
* For much of the game, the Flyers were doing fundamental things a lot better; things that they simply weren't doing before. For instance, on the first shift of the game, Wayne Simmonds alertly helped out Gustafsson by rotating down low to provide support. Also, even though the Flyers spent that entire shift in their own zone, everything was kept to the perimeter.
* On the Flyers first goal, Grossmann deliberately shot the puck directly at Luongo's feet, hoping for a rebound. He got one, and good things happened from there as McGinn made a beeline for the net. McGinn claimed the rebound and potted it.
* The end boards have been springloaded all season. Even apart from Kesler's goal 10 seconds after the McGinn goal, pucks were caroming quickly out in front of the net. There was one play in the second period where a startled Luongo suddenly had the puck come right out in front of him.
* There were some complaints that the second McGinn goal possibly came off a hand pass by Giroux. From the replay I saw, the puck simply bounced off the back of Giroux's glove or forearm. Although Mark Streit was not credited with an assist on the play (Giroux and Voracek got the helpers), it was Streit who nicely triggered the rush that ended up with McGinn's greasy goal on a fortunate bounce to him. Once again, McGinn went to the net and something good happened. Other Flyers may want to start doing that with greater frequency.
* I thought Erik Gustafsson had a rock solid game in his 23:03 of ice time. It was also a good game for Kimmo Timonen. In fact, I thought the entire Flyers blueline looked fine until the messups in the third period.
*************
Kindle users: Please sign up for Flyers Buzz. For more information
click here.
Click below to follow me on Twitter:
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»