FLYERS ENTER 2014 IN STYLE
After stumbling out of the gates with a 1-7-0 record in the first eight games of the 2013-14 season, the Flyers have gone 19-10-4. They are 7-1-1 over their last nine games, including a 4-1 victory in Calgary last night on New Year's Eve.
One night after getting outplayed but stealing a shootout win in Vancouver courtesy of spectacular performances by goaltender Steve Mason and team captain Claude Giroux, the Flyers were patient and opportunistic in taking down the struggling Flames. Ray Emery turned back 23 of 24 shots. The Flyers generated just 21 shots of their own for the game, but four of them found the net.
Let's be honest here: The Flames are one of the NHL's weakest teams, as reflected by their fourth-worst record. In particular, Calgary's offense isn't going to scare anyone. The Flames have managed just one measly goal (Sean Monahan's second period goal last night) in their three games since the Christmas break, and their 27th-ranked offense has managed to score just 96 goals (2.4 per game) in 40 games.
Nevertheless, the Flyers can only play the team that's in front of them. Last night's match had "trap game" written all over it -- playing a lesser opponent on the heels of beating one of the NHL's best teams, playing for the third time in four nights, and playing an opponent that figured to be an ill humor after getting shut out in back-to-back games. Philly deserves credit for not falling into the trap and, instead, going out and taking care of business the way they were supposed to do.
The Flyers managed the puck pretty well, with just two charged giveaways plus five credited Calgary takeaways for the game. They did a good job for the most part at limiting the Flames shots and chances, and Emery stepped up whenever he was needed.
On a night where Giroux saw his nine-game point streak come to an end and Jakub Voracek was held without a point for a second straight game (after a nine-game point streak of his own), the Flyers found other ways to put four pucks in the cash register.
Brayden Schenn, who snapped a 16-game goal drought with the tying goal in the final minute of regulation in Vancouver, broke loose last night for a three-point night (one goal, two assists). Along with linemates Scott Hartnell (one goal) and Wayne Simmonds (two assists), the Schenn line delivered two of the team's four goals.
As a club, the Flyers have woken up offensively of late. The team has tallied three or more regulation goals in eight straight matches. A big part of the reason, apart from the recent torrid offensive streaks of Giroux, Voracek and Simmonds, has been that the Flyers have been getting regular offensive contributions from the blueline of late.
Collectively, the Flyers defense corps has chipped in with 11 goals in the last 12 games. Although not a direct factor in any of the goals last night, Craig Berube's emphasis on having a third forward up high to allow defensemen to make intelligent pinches has been paying off of late.
Mark Streit (four goals and seven points in the last eight games) has been the blueline's primary offensive contributor, as he should be based on his role. He finally seems comfortable and is now shooting the puck with regularity after showing hesitancy to use his number one asset in the first couple months of the season.
Last night, both Streit and Braydon Coburn contributed goals to the Flyers' effort. Streit opened the scoring for the game at the 3:15 mark of the first period, while Coburn closed it out with a shorthanded empty net goal that put an exclamation point on the win with 1:56 remaining in the third period.
Streit's tally was the type that made him a four-time double-digit goal scorer in the NHL and an All-Star back in 2008-09. Receiving a pass from Schenn at the right point, Streit faked a slap shot and got a Calgary player to go down, looking for a block. Seeing daylight, Streit moved to the center point and unleashed a wrist shot that beat Swiss countryman Reto Berra through heavy traffic.
Hartnell, who started the entire sequence by forcing a turnover just outside the Calgary blueline also provided a screen in front of Berra on Streit's shot. He did not get an assist on the play but this goal would not have been possible without his work. Simmonds, who earned the secondary assist, was also down low screening on the play.
The 1-0 lead held until 14:30 of the second period. Vincent Lecavalier turned a puck over to Paul Byron in the neutral zone, creating a 2-on-1 for Calgary as Byron passed to Monahan at the Flyers blueline. Sean Couturier was the only Flyer back to defend. Puck carrier Monahan elected to shoot rather than attempting a cross-ice pass to Lee Stempniak. Monahan's shot from the left circle beat Emery high to the glove side.
Overall, this play was the sloppiest sequence of the game for Philly and deserved to end up in the back of the Flyers' net.
For one thing, the team was never able to get a full line change on the extended sequence and ended up with four forwards (Lecavalier, Couturier, Brayden Schenn and Zac Rinaldo) and just one defenseman (Streit) out on the ice. That's because Couturier had been on a point during the latter part of a Philadelphia power play preceding the goal. He was never able to get off the ice for a change, so he ended up functioning as a defenseman.
Secondly, the Flyers made a pair of low-percentage passes. Schenn made a dangerous diagonal pass from the left half boards intended for Lecavalier on the right side just over the blue line. They got away with that one, as Lecavalier claimed the puck. Then Lecavalier tried a second consecutive diagonal pass, presumably looking for Schenn as he headed up ice toward the Calgary blueline. This one got picked up.
Compounding the problem was the fact that Streit drifted too far up the ice with no support around him. He ended up bumping into Lecavalier after the puck was turned over, taking both Philly players out of the play and leaving a tired Couturier back as the only one to defend the ensuing 2-on-1.
Fortunately for the Flyers, breakdowns of this scale were the exception last night. The team was also able to strike back and regain the lead before the end of the second period, which was a bitter pill for Calgary to swallow because the middle frame was the Flames' best and the Flyers weakest of the three periods.
At 18:31 of the second period, Andrej Meszaros flubbed an attempted shot from the point. In a case of a player making his own good luck, the puck went directly to Brayden Schenn, who scored on a quick turn-around shot from the middle. Had Schenn not kept his feet moving, peeling off the perimeter to go to an open area over the middle as Meszaros went to shoot, the puck would have dribbled harmlessly to the Calgary defense. Instead, the shanked shot ended up being a de facto pass into the slot.
Hartnell added an insurance goal midway through the third period. With his head up all the way, Brayden Schenn hustled into the corner to retrieve a puck and quickly passed to defenseman brother Luke at the right point. The point shot was re-directed home by Hartnell from the doorstep.
There were only three minor penalties taken in the entire game; two by Philly and one by the Flames. With Streit in the box late in the third period and an ensuing offensive-zone faceoff, the Flames pulled Berra for an extra attacker. On a set play, Couturier won the draw cleanly back to Coburn, who was lined up in a direct line to quickly fire the puck down the ice. The puck slid into the vacated cage at the other end of the ice to make it a 4-1 final.
The only downbeat note to this game for the Flyers was that they lost Matt Read. On his seventh shift of the game, Read sustained an unspecified upper body injury. He did not return to the game.
The Flyers have New Year's Day off but are back in action tomorrow night for the fourth match of their six-game road trip. Playing for the fourth time in six nights, the Flyers will be in the Mile High City to take on the Colorado Avalanche. Game time is 9 p.m. eastern.
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