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Meltzer's Musings: Adjustments Start With Skating, Phantoms Finale |
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Key Adjustments for Game Two: It Starts with Skating and Puck Pursuit
Throughout the 2013-14 season, the Philadelphia Flyers were a Jekyll and Hyde team. Much of the root cause of the difference between the team that knocked off a series of top contenders and the struggling version could be found in the game's three most fundamental elements: skating, puck pursuit and possession.
From his very first day as Flyers' head coach, Craig Berube emphasized this theme on a team-wide basis: skate quicker, think quicker.
When the Flyers move their feet and focus on getting numbers on the opposition, they do not look like a slow team. They don't look like a team that failed Passing 101 or a squad that couldn't generate a forecheck if the players' collective lives depended on it. When players get too stationary or when there is not the safety valve of a forward hanging down low, the Flyers run into a lot of trouble getting the puck up the ice.
In Thursday night's game at Madison Square Garden, the one thing the Flyers did well for the majority of the match was to have forwards hustling back on the backcheck. That, along with a solid goaltending performance by Ray Emery, was the main reason the game was tied 1-1 before the Flyers unraveled midway through the third period.
As for the other elements of the game, well, the Rangers were much better than the Flyers. Philly made life pretty easy on New York and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist because Philly couldn't generate any sort of breakout. It's pretty tough to forecheck effectively when you can't even get the puck near the offensive blueline with control, much less making a good decision as to whether to dump-and-chase or carry the disc into the offensive zone.
The anemic 15 shots and one power play opportunity the Flyers generated in Game One of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal playoff series against the Rangers were direct products of Philly getting outnumbered and not having their feet moving -- collectively, not individually -- on nearly a consistent enough basis.
More than Jason Akeson's double-minor for high-sticking and subsequent penalty killing failures and more than the two pucks that bounced off Kimmo Timonen directly to eventual New York goal scorers, the Flyers lost this game because of subpar skating and passing.
When the two teams play Game Two on Easter Sunday afternoon, the Flyers need Claude Giroux to be much more involved in carrying the puck than he was in Game One. I thought his wingers, Jakub Voracek and especially Scott Hartnell, played with a lot of jump and positive energy on Thursday. The center was way off his game, partially because the Rangers checked him tightly and partially because it seemed like he wasn't skating very well. He worked hard but not necessarily smart in that game.
If the Flyers can get Giroux going, get some more pucks past the New York defense and grind down the Rangers -- rather than being the team constantly pinned in their own end of the ice -- they have a much better shot a more favorable outcome than Game One. While Henrik Lundqvist is certainly capable of stealing a game if he has to, the Flyers weren't even close to forcing the issue in the series opener.
Hartnell's forechecking work and the traffic in front that contributed directly to Andrew MacDonald's goal than opened the scoring was exactly the sort of play that Philly needs more of over the remainder of the series. So was the second period Matt Read and Sean Couturier rush where they got numbers on the Rangers. Unfortunately, the Flyers couldn't finish that one off but if a team gets enough chances like those, not even Lundqvist is going to stop all of them.
It looks like Steve Mason has a good shot at returning to the net for Game Two, depending on how he feels at practice today. While having Mason in goal helps in two ways -- better puckhandling than Emery and faster post-to-post movement in net -- goaltending was a non-factor in Game One. Emery did his part. The team in front of him didn't do nearly enough to support him.
That said, don't underestimate how much Mason's puckhandling ability can assist the Flyers in doing a better job at getting out of their zone. If the Philadelphia skaters are skating, the speed and accuracy with which Mason can get to the puck and either set it up quickly for a defenseman or else pass it up the wall has the potential to be a step in the right direction toward bettering the breakouts and spending a little less time defending.
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Phantoms Drop Home Finale in Overtime
The Adirondack Phantoms played their final home game in Glens Falls, NY, last night, dropping a 3-2 overtime decision to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. The Flyers' American Hockey League affiliate will relocate to Lehigh Valley, PA, next season, presently leaving Glens Falls and its Civic Center venue without a minor league team.
Derek Whitmore had a goal and an assist in a losing cause for the Phantoms, who also got a tally from Brandon Alderson to open a 2-0 lead they would be unable to protect. Nick Cousins and defenseman Mark Alt had an assist apiece.
Shayne Gostisbehere made his professional hockey debut last night, recording three shots on goal. Fellow defense prospect Robert Hägg had a pair of shots on goal, was minus one and took a late second period hooking penalty.
For Bridgeport, a second period shorthanded goal by Scooter Vaughan and power play goal by Mike Halmo with 6:16 left in the third period tied the game at 2-2. Johan Sundström won the game in overtime for the Sound Tigers. Defenseman Ryan Pulock, the New York Islanders' first-round pick in the 2013 NHL Draft assisted on Halmo's game-tying goal.
Kevin Poulin stopped 24 of 26 shots for the victorious Sound Tigers. Phantoms goaltender Tony Capobianco made 29 saves before Bridgeport's overtime winner with 1:37 remaining on the clock.
The Phantoms (30-37-2-6) will play their final game as Adirondack when they take to the road on Saturday for a tilt with their longtime rivals, the Hershey Bears (38-27-5-5).
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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