POST-PRACTICE UPDATE 1:00 p.m. EST
The Flyers held a short practice this morning at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. Sean Couturier and Nicklas Grossmann took maintenance days. Steve Downie also remained off the ice. As of this writing, the team is still saying he's day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
After practice, I asked several players as well as coach Craig Berube about working through other teams that block a lot of shots. Los Angeles blocked 21 last night and, at least in the recent past before some personnel changes in New York, games against the Rangers were often marked by the Blueshirts blocking a lot of Philly attempts.
Jakub Voracek said it is primarily a matter of working harder to find open lanes, while Claude Giroux said the big thing is to not necessarily worry about how hard the puck is shot but rather the quick release and accuracy to get it on net.
Berube said that it's partially a question of knowing when there's a chance to get the puck through the defender. The coach did not think his team made up its mind to shoot often enough or quickly enough in the first two periods against the Kings last night. Los Angeles closes the lanes off in a hurry. The Rangers can do the same.
My own view is that I thought Claude Giroux got a little frustrated last night by his four shot attempts that got blocked down by the Kings. Rather than meeting the objective he laid out-- getting the puck on net regardless of velocity -- he was rushing the play a bit rather than showing his characteristic creativity and patience. Above all, credit the Kings for their tight checking on him in a game where he was held without a point.
Tomorrow night in Madison Square Garden, the Flyers have to expect another tough and physical game. They also have to get pucks on Henrik Lundqvist and look for greasy-but-good goals.
TWENTY MINUTES NOT ENOUGH AGAINST LOS ANGELES
Failing to show the same level of sustained intensity and focus against a top-notch opponent that was on display in recent wins over Pittsburgh, Chicago and St. Louis, the Philadelphia Flyers suffered a 3-2 setback in regulation last night against the Los Angeles Kings. Combined with the New York Rangers comeback win over Phoenix last night, the Flyers have slipped back into third place in the Metropolitan Division.
An early second-period goal by former Flyers forward Jeff Carter and a late-second period tally by ex-Flyer forward Justin Williams forged a 2-0 lead for Los Angeles. The Flyers rallied in the third period to tie the game on hippity-hop deflection goals by Matt Read and Jakub Voracek. Finally, a mid-third period turnover by Scott Hartnell with Kimmo Timonen pinching without support resulted in a 2-on-1 rush for Los Angeles. Dwight King turned the counterattack into the game-winning goal for the Kings.
Victorious goaltender Jonathan Quick made 30 saves for Los Angeles, with 14 of the Philadelphia shots (and both goals) coming in the final period. Ray Emery stopped 38 of 41 shots. Emery was sharp in net but the Williams goal was a bit of a strange bounce off the goaltender.
The Flyers were significantly outplayed by the Kings in the first and second periods last night. Los Angeles controlled the boards and there forechecking and backchecking pressure made life miserable for Philly. Additionally, the Flyers were guilty of a lot of unforced turnovers in the game. They gave up several odd-man rushes, which ultimately proved fatal.
Philly played into some tough luck during the game, but so did Los Angeles.
Most notably, Vincent Lecavalier had an opportunity to tie the game at 1-1 in the second period. Brayden Schenn fed the disc to Lecavalier, who had three-quarters of an open net from point blank range. With the puck very slightly behind him, Lecavalier rang his shot off the right post, then off the crossbar, then off the left post. The puck did not cross the goal line. There were no conclusive camera angles to prove otherwise.
In other sequences of the game, Los Angeles had some open scoring chances but players broke their sticks as they went to shoot. The same thing happened to Claude Giroux (whose six-game point streak came to an end) with a chance to tie the game at 3-3 in the third period.
Ultimately, the Flyers did not deserve to win this game. They did not execute or compete for the majority of the game nearly to the same level that the Kings did. If LA was a better team at finishing its scoring chances -- a problem all year for the NHL's 27th-ranked offense -- the Flyers easily could have been blown out long before the third-period comeback bid briefly produced a tie game.
Both teams went 0-for-4 on the power play. That was costly to both sides but especially to the Flyers.
LA had a would-be power play goal disallowed because of a Carter cross-checking penalty at 13:38 of the second period. Less than a minute later, Williams was sent off for slashing. As a result, rather than being down 2-0, the Flyers suddenly found themselves with a 4-on-3 into a 5-on-3 into a 5-on-4 power play with a chance to tie the game at 1-1.
What did the Flyers do with the critical power play and lots of open ice? Very little. They couldn't string together passes or get well set up in the offensive zone and the golden opportunity quietly passed them by without Quick breaking much of a sweat.
For 40 minutes last night, the Flyers couldn't generate enough speed through the neutral zone to carry pucks into the LA end. They also couldn't dump the puck in and set up a forecheck to retrieve it. There is a good reason why the Kings have the NHL's best goals against average but Philly did themselves no favors because they didn't have their feet moving enough in the first two periods -- which is a big negative difference from the games the Flyers had been winning of late (against some other strong two-way teams).
This was another physical game, which is to be expected against the collection of large-framed players that LA ices. The clubs combined for 75 credited hits, including 37 by the Flyers (former Kings Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn led the way with a half dozen apiece).
The Flyers had 21 shot attempts blocked -- while blocking just 13 -- marking the third straight game in which they’ve had 20 or more shot attempts blocked. That is part and parcel of playing a team like LA or St. Louis but it got frustrating at times. Giroux (four attempts blocked) was marked especially close.
On Wednesday night, the Flyers go to Madison Square Garden for a head-to-head clash with the New York Rangers. The winner will be in possession of second place in the Metropolitan Division. Philly still holds two games in hand on the Rangers but that is more meaningful if the teams are tied in points or, more preferably for Philly, the Flyers are back ahead by a point at the end of Wednesday. Being down two or three points with two games in hand is a tougher road to hoe with the unrelenting slate of difficult games coming up beyond the game at MSG.
NOTES:
* One area where the Flyers did well last night was the faceoff circle. The Kings entered the game as the NHL's top-ranked faceoff team. However, the Flyers win 39 of 63 draws (62 percent), led by Giroux winning 17 of 25 (68 percent) and Sean Couturier winning seven of 10 (70 percent).
* Flyers prospect defenseman Robert Hägg was in attendance at last night's game, watching from the press box after signing his entry-level contract earlier in the day. He will join the AHL's Adirondack Phantoms on Thursday. Incidentally, with Modo this season, Hägg was occasionally paired this season with former Calgary Flames defenseman Richie Regehr. The better-known Regehr brother, Robyn, skated 19:46 of ice time for the Kings last night.
* The Flyers practice today at the Skate Zone in Voorhees at 11:30 a.m. EST. I will add a post-practice update to today's blog.
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