|
Wrap: Flyers Lose Final Game of 2016, Mason Injured; WJC Update |
|
|
|
|
|
WRAPUP: FLYERS LOSE GAME, MASON IN SAN JOSE
Two weeks ago, the Philadelphia Flyers were riding a 10-game winning streak. Two weeks later, the team has lost three straight games in regulation and is in a 1-4-1 funk over its last six games.
On Friday night, the Flyers were blanked by the host San Jose Sharks, 2-0, in a game that was not as close as the score would suggest. The defending Western Conference champion Sharks manhandled the Flyers in all three zones and racked up a 34-21 shot advantage (12-7, 9-7, 13-7) and were credited with a whopping 11 takeaways to just two for the Flyers -- a strong indication of just how effectively and easily San Jose knocked the Flyers off the puck.
One of the stingiest NHL teams both in terms of shots allowed and goals against, the Sharks also blocked 18 Flyers shot attempts. Philly had a tough time getting point shots through to the net and the Sharks also bottled up the slots and netfront area.
First and foremost, it was the play of goaltenders Steve Mason (11 saves on 12 shots) and Anthony Stolarz (21 saves on 22 shots) that kept the Flyers in the game.
Mason was mostly left to fend for himself in the first period and kept the game from getting out of hand. The goalie had no chance of stopping a late first period Patrick Marleau power play goal scored on a scramble near the net with two Flyers screening him (and defenseman Andrew MacDonald bumping into him). Mason suffered an apparent hand injury in a late-period collision with Joe Thornton, finished the period and then left the game.
The Flyers said there would be an update on their number one goalie's condition on Saturday.
Stolarz, making his fourth NHL appearance and second relief outing, did everything the Flyers could have asked of him. He kept the score at 1-0 for the next 35-plus minutes but, apart from sporadic chances, the Flyers could not generate much momentum. Philly was unable to solve former University of North Dakota goaltender Aaron Dell.
At 15:23 of the third period, the Sharks added some insurance. Off the rush, Joe Pavelski fed the puck across to Justin Braun. From the right slot, Braun fired a shot in and out of the net to Stolarz's glove side.
If one were to look at the specifics of what the Flyers were doing right during their 10-game winning streak that they have not done well during their current losing skid, these would be the primary areas:
1) Special teams were crucial to the Flyers' winning streak, both on the power play and penalty killing side. In recent games, neither end of special teams has been very successful. That continued in San Jose, as the Sharks went 1-for-3 on the power play and the Flyers were 0-for-2 on their man advantages.
2) Attention to five-on-five detail. The Flyers got very goaltending for most of their winning streak but, for the most part, they put their goalies in position to succeed. The puck support was strong, defensive zone coverage breakdowns were mostly cleaned up, defenders boxed out around the net and rebounds were cleared. Forwards backchecked willingly, unforced turnovers were reduced, Philly players kept their feet moving consistently and outnumbered opponents around the puck. The offense was patient and opportunistic.
In the last two games, bookending the holiday break, the Flyers' attention to detail lapsed repeatedly. The Flyers actually made some steps in the right direction as Friday's game progressed -- one of the few positives that can be taken from the latest loss -- but the execution still has a lot of room to get better.
3) The goals have stopped coming. In five of the last eight games, the Flyers have either scored one goal or have gotten shut out. Some of it is puck luck and the cyclical nature of the game. Ultimately, though, teams more often than not make their own luck and get what they deserve over the long haul. The Flyers haven't done enough lately to score goals with regularity -- winning the battles that lead to scoring chances, generating counterattacks, getting pucks and traffic to the "greasy" areas and putting pucks on net when there are open shooting lanes.
With the Flyers scuffling offensively, Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol's decision to make rookie forward Travis Konecny a healthy scratch in San Jose was puzzling and hard to defend. Heading into the break, Konecny seemed to have hit the dreaded "rookie wall" with all the games the team had played in a short span. He was mired in a long goal drought and his two-way game at the NHL level is still a work in progress.
However, as with the previous one-game scratching of defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, the decision to sit Konecny came on the heels of a seeming bounceback game.
In the first game after the break, Konecny seemed to be rejuvenated offensively. He generated a pair of assists in St. Louis, including a picturesque setup of Wayne Simmonds, and a pair of shots on goal. The rookie helped create at least two other chances as well. He had a couple of lapses when he didn't have the puck -- which put him in the same boat as a lot of his teammates -- but still finished plus-one in the game.
It was almost as if Hakstol had made up his mind over the holiday break to scratch Konecny for a game, but the array of injury absences in the lineup and delayed it by an additional game. At any rate, Konecny will almost certainly be back in the lineup on Sunday in Anaheim.
Hakstol, who made no bones about his displeasure with costly first period penalties taken by Claude Giroux and Roman Lyubimov in the St. Louis game, scratched Lyubimov in San Jose. Radko Gudas, who participated in the morning skate, sat out Friday's game with a day-to-day upper body injury. Brandon Manning, a healthy scratch in St. Louis, returned to the lineup against the Sharks.
****************
PROSPECT UPDATES
* World Junior Championships: Matej Tomek served as the backup goalie for Slovakia in a 4-2 win over Latvia on Friday. Reigning gold medalist Finland was shockingly sent to the relegation round -- and fired their coach -- on Friday as Switzerland earned a 5-4 comeback win via shootout against the tourney's most pleasant preliminary-round surprise, Denmark.
In Saturday's games, Sweden (featuring Flyers prospects Felix Sandström and David Bernhardt) oppose the Czech Republic (David Kase), Team Canada (Carter Hart, Philippe Myers) has a marquee matchup against Team USA (Tanner Laczynski), Finland plays Switzerland and Russia (German Rubtsov, Mikhail Vorobyov) takes on Slovakia (Tomek).
* AHL: The Lehigh Valley Phantoms, now 1-1-1 after the Christmas break, settled for one point in a 4-3 overtime road loss to the Rochester Americans on Friday. Greg Carey (16th goal of the season), Danick Martel (eighth, power play) and Chris Conner (eighth, power play) scored for the Phantoms, while Alex Lyon stopped 36 of 40 shots as Taylor Fedun's overtime power play goal won the match for the Amerks. Phantoms second year defenseman Samuel Morin left the game after he was thrown down to the ice in a second period fight with Jean Dupuy, but returned late in the middle frame.
* ECHL: The Reading Royals, the Flyers ECHL affiliate, are helping to celebrate the Flyers' 50th Anniversary season with a series of "Flyers' Fridays" featuring Flyers Alumni as special guests at Royals games at the Santander Arena. The first guest was Doug Crossman. The Royals defeated the Wheeling Nailers, 4-2.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»