Wrap: Late Collapse Drops Flyers, 4-3

The table was set perfectly for the Philadelphia Flyers to skate to a solid home win over a struggling Ottawa Senators team at the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday night. The Flyers dominated for two period and still held a 3-1 lead midway through the third period against a Senators team that played the previous night in New York and had lost four straight games by multi-goal margins.

Instead of slamming the door, the Flyers collapsed. Ottawa got a few bounces their way but the Flyers had only themselves to blame for what turned into a 4-3 regulation loss.

"I don’t think it’s lack of focus; I think it’s just the way things are going right now. Everything we touch it just doesn’t work. Like I said, nobody gives a damn of the position we are in. Every single guy in the locker room has to find a way to go out there, no matter what the score is, no matter what time it is during the game, we have to find a way to contribute. It feels like we got scared. We started slamming pucks across the ice instead of just holding it and making a hard play. We were just whacking on it, it’s not a good thing," Jakub Voracek said.

"We were fine the first 40 minutes. We were making simple plays, when we had the puck we made a play out of it instead of just­––as soon as you start whacking pucks standing still that’s trouble. I think that’s what we did in the third period, that’s why they came and won. We just gave the puck away and put our other guys in a tough position. If you have the puck or the ice, you have to take it and make the play. That’s the bottom line."

A Mark Stone rebound off the post was potted by Brady Tkachuk (8th goal of the season) to cut the gap to 3-2 with 8:28 left. Then Tkachuk (9th of season, 2nd of the period) deflected home a Thomas Chabot point shot to tie the game at 3-3 with 6:34 remaining. Finally, a Travis Sanheim turnover on an attempted pass to Dale Weise led to a counterattack. After a blocked shot, Matt Duchene batted the puck on the backhand and into the net (11th goal of the season) to give Ottawa the lead with 2:59 left.

Philly's final desperation push fell short and they went down to defeat to fall to 1-5-1 in their last seven games and 10-12-2 for the season. Journeyman Ottawa goalie Mike McKenna earned the win with 34 saves on 37 shots.

The Flyers' collapse undid any sense of progress they made over the first 40 minutes against a vulnerable and seemingly demoralized and leg-weary Ottawa team. Philly was strong on the PK this night, killing three penalties emphatically. Anthony Stolarz played well in goal -- tough to fault him for what happened. The team had come out looking focused, united and determined despite all the speculation and potential distractions stemming from the firing of Ron Hextall as GM and the very tenuous nature of head coach Dave Hakstol's job security.

The first 40 minutes went fine. Although the first period went to intermission tied at 1-1, the Flyers controlled the majority of the play territorially and were also the more physical team.
The Flyers' and Senators' respective first-period goals were self-made puck luck tallies.

First, Claude Giroux's slick stickhandling and patience enabled him to set up Travis Konecny for a shot (7th goal of the season) that deflected off Ottawa's Chris Tierney and past goaltender Mike McKenna. Ottawa then evened the game on a Thomas Chabot shot (7th goal) that severely deflected off Flyers forward Oskar Lindblom and turned into a knuckleball that fluttered into the Flyers' net.

In the second period, the Flyers played another strong stanza against an Ottawa team that wasn't putting up much resistance. This time, Philly got rewarded with taking a two-goal lead to the locker room.

The Flyers 2-1 go-ahead goal at 3:22 of the second period officially went as a 6-on-5 goal. Scott Laughton drew a delayed tripping penalty behind the net. On the delayed call, Jakub Voracek scored from the mid slot. Provorov earned his second assist of the game. Provorov made a good read in the high slot, recognizing that Voracek (the extra attacker on the delayed call) was open and delivering him the puck with a good pass. Laughton collected the secondary assist. At the 6:00 mark of the second period, a seeing-eye point shot by Gudas made its way through layers of traffic and past McKenna for a 3-1 lead.

Philly had several chances to further build on the lead against the team with by far the poorest team goals against average in the NHL but were unable to do so. In the third period, the Flyers did less attacking and Ottawa found a surge of energy. Everything seemed manageable right up until it slipped away and the Senators skated off with a win.

"We got away from it a little bit the third period even though we didn’t give anything up we didn’t generate and have the same kind of end zone time and puck possession the whole time. We give up a goal from 200 feet away that gets to our net on our tip and we didn’t have the push back we should of there," Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol said.

The Flyers do not play again until Saturday. Their next game is a road contest against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The team will practice at the Skate Zone in Voorhees on Wednesday at 11 a.m. ET.

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For those who were unable to watch Tuesday morning's press conference in which Flyers team president Paul Holmgren and Comcast Spectacor CEO David Scott discussed the dismissal of Ron Hextall as general manager, below is a transcript of the at-the-podium portion of the presser, courtesy of the Flyers. Holmgren and Scott also fielded questions in media scrum fashion after the formal portion of the press conference.

Opening Remarks from Dave Scott: “I want to welcome you all here today. Certainly, yesterday was a tough day for the whole Flyers organization. These decisions are not easy, but I wanted to tell you that Paul and I have been in constant communication in the last several weeks and really pondering the team performance. The bottom line is, we just thought we needed to make more progress. So we made the change. I do want to acknowledge Ron Hextall. I talked to him yesterday. These things aren’t easy, but we’re all working through it. I think he left us in a good place, as I look at it. We’ve certainly got a younger team now. We’ve got cap space. We’ve got a good farm system. We’re feeling very good about that. I could tell you, Paul and I, we’ve worked together closely and our number one priority going forward is getting this new GM hired. And Paul’s an experienced leader. He’s been with us forty years as President, GM, Head Coach. I love working with him. He is so well-liked inside the organization and respected in the whole hockey community. I think he’s going to do a great job heading up the search. I can tell you that I’m committed to getting the right fit long-term for the Flyers organization.”

Can you tell us who made the decision? Paul, was it your decision and you approved it, Dave? Or vice versa? How did that come about?

DS: “I can tell you that we talked a lot about this. Ultimately, it was Paul’s recommendation and I supported Paul.”

You just finished allotting Hextall [credit] for cap space, good cap space, left us in a good place, good farm system. The press release said philosophical differences. I think everybody who saw that said, 'What are those philosophical differences?'

PH: “That’s a good question, Sam. Obviously, in a lot of ways you can go with that. Ultimately, I’ll echo what Dave said about Hexy. Hexy in his time as General Manager has put this organization in a good spot. With the young players that are in place right now and our farm system, our prospect cupboard is full. There’s cap space, which is always a good thing. Having said that I just felt in the best interest in the organization, it was time to move on, look for a new voice with a different mindset that can push the team to the next level.”

DS: “I just wanted to add on really quickly too. Sam, we talked in length about this decision. For me, I just boiled it down to one question: Do I think we can do better as a team now, not in two years or three years, but now? I think that answer is yes.”

Dave and Paul, if the philosophy is good, or you didn’t like the philosophy, but you like what he did and when you talk about direction, more times than not the coach gets it first. Was there a problem with Ron wanting to dismiss the coach and him saying no? And that you had to have somebody go in that direction?

PH: “Absolutely not. That never came up. It was Ron’s decision all along. It was never discussed with me.”

When you talk about needing something different, doesn’t that usually start with the coach?

PH: “That’s another good question, Howard. The way I look at it is we had 98 points last year. We were a playoff team. We got beat in a good series against Pittsburgh in six games. The next step was to get better. We’re a quarter of the way through the season. Where we at? This quarter compared to the last were kind of that same. I don’t know. I think right now, that’s a question for the next General Manager, to evaluate where we’re at.”

But doesn’t it start with the coach? That’s my point. It starts at that level. He’s the one...

PH: “My feeling right now, under the circumstances with the injuries, in particularly to our goaltenders, you can question it if you want. I think the coaching staff has done a decent job under the situations that they’re in.”

What brought this to a head yesterday? For this to come down without Ron’s successor hired or even at least in mind? And the players and coach having to answer these question that they don’t have the answers to yesterday? Can you shed some light on the timeline?

PH: “I don’t know if there was any one point over the last while. There’s a tipping point. Dave and I have had a lot of conversation over the last number of weeks about where we’re at and where we’re going. We are one quarter of the way through the season. There’s a lot of hockey to be played. Maybe there’s things to be done. Like I said earlier, maybe with a different mindset in the General Manager position, we can push this thing forward.”

Dave, you mentioned just a few minutes ago, that you looked at the current state at the team now and the way that the team is playing. Now with that in mind, how does a General Manager come in without gutting the current roster? How does a new General Manager improve the team now without making a coaching change?

DS: “I think you have to look at everything. We’re very focused on the trade deadline coming up February 25th. We think there’s going to be some opportunities out there and frankly, we don’t want to miss out.”

To either Dave or Paul, did the organization feel that Ron’s plan was not working? Or did you feel it was not working fast enough?

PH: “Both of us have echoed how well or how good position Ron’s put the organization in. Ultimately, I got to the point, talking with Dave and talking with Brian Roberts. I felt it was necessary to push our team forward. To have a different mindset in that chair. Are there things Ron was thinking about doing to the team? I don’t know. He was unyielding in his plan and remained that way. Good for him. He’s a well-thought out, deep-thing guy. He put us in a good position. I think in order put the team in better position moving forward, we needed to do what we did.”

How much did the perception of fan patience play into this decision?

PH: “Flyers fans are the best in the world. They’ve been through thick and thin. They’re good when things are good. They express their displeasure when things are bad. I have no worries that are our Flyers fan will be there when it counts. None.”

How receptive was Ron to outside voices from scouts, other members of the front office, the coaching staff? Was he kind of singular thought or was he really open to what other people think?

DS: “I will just say that he was very confident of his plan and his vision. Paul said it, he wasn’t wavering from that plan. To me and to Paul, this is the fifth year. You guys look at the same data we look at. We thought it was time for a change.”

When Ron was hired it was made clear that there was a change in approach, and that was a change that was endorsed by Mr. Snider. You were the GM, Paul, during the old approach. You’re obviously going to be picking the next GM, does this change mean that there is going to be a move back to the old approach? Is there a third way?

PH: There’s more than one way to skin a cat, so, you know, Ron’s approach was good, as I’ve said, he put us in a good position. I think moving forward, is there someone out there that has a fresh look upon things, I think any hockey guy can look at the Flyers right now and see just what we’re talking about. There’s a lot of good young players on the team. There’s some good, some really good, older players. We have a good team, we have a lot of good players. Are there things the new guy coming in can look at and say I can add a couple pieces that can really really help the team now and for the future. I don’t know, that’s going to be up to the new GM. I don’t know if I’m answering your question but, you know, if you look at the difference between Ron and I, we had a lot of debate, I mean you kind of said it, I was an aggressive guy and Ron was more of a deep thought-out. I think both approaches have qualities, good qualities. Both approaches probably have bad qualities, when you go right down to it. But, you know, we’re here to do what’s right. In my mind, and I think in Dave’s mind, what’s right for the organization. We are in the process of moving forward.

Paul, usually a new GM likes to bring in his own coach, and I brought that up to Dave Hakstol yesterday, and he acknowledged that yeah that’s usually the case. So, what did you tell him as far as his future with this team given the current situation?

PH: Well he knows that we’re going to look for a GM, obviously. All I could offer to Dave yesterday was my support. And I said if there was anything I could to help you do your job better, please feel free to come and talk to me about it. Talked a little bit about his staff moving forward, that was about it. He knows, we have the players know, the coaches know, we all know it’s about winning. We haven’t been winning enough games lately, and we need to get back to work.

This is for Paul or Dave, when you go out and find that new voice, that new General Manager, what are you looking for on that checklist? What is most important, what qualities are you looking for right now?

PH: That’s a difficult one to answer, it really is. We’re going to go through a thorough process and talk to candidates. I said earlier, fresh outlet, fresh approach. I don’t know how to explain it any more than that. Right now, I do have calls from a number of people who are interested. And obviously this is a, the Flyers are a world-renowned organization and a banner franchise in the NHL, so it’s a top job and there are going to be a lot of people who are interested.

DS: I’ll just add to that too. I think, you know, we’re looking for bright, energetic, strategic thinkers. But also, balancing that with a bias for action and really making some things happen.

Obviously, teams usually do this in the off season. Go through the exhaustive GM searches, we’ve seen Minnesota and Buffalo do it recently. There has to be some sort of timeline on this, I assume, because it does put Dave Hakstol in an awkward position for a while here.

PH: Well, yes and no. Coaches in this league know that it’s like, today’s Tuesday, we’ve got a game tonight. Hak knows he’s coaching. Well, I’ve made some calls. I don’t have anything set up to speak of right now. I might by later on today, so we’ll see how it goes. We’re active, we’re going to remain active and find us the guy that’s going to lead us in to the future.

DS: Our goal is weeks not months. We want to get the right fit, but it’s a full court press.

Does there seem to be a willingness to move some of the prospects that seem, reading between the lines, there’s a philosophical fault there to be able to move forward. To not just, I’m going to use the term process, to not go in that direction but be willing to move some assets. Because it certainly sounds like there’s a change.

PH: Through general management in the NHL, they all have assets at their disposal, right? So, it’s up to them to decide which ones are core guys, which ones are guys that you can move forward with and be a big part of things, and which guys aren’t. We go back to what Ron did, he’s done tremendous things in improving our prospect pool.

But it seems like it’s full and you know, trying to read between the lines, it seems like you’d want Hart and anything that you’ve collected to improve this product here today.

PH: Whoever their GM is now has a lot at his disposal.

You talked about philosophical differences, I’m not sure if you answered that, was the philosophical differences the fact that you wanted a trade to be made and it wasn’t made? Or was it that you guys wanted Carter Hart up here? Can you shed a little bit of light on that?

PH: I would say, Sam, that without being specific, when I say Ron, and give him credit, he was unyielding in his approach, unyielding. Are there things he could’ve done to make the team better today? I don’t know that. But I think he was, he had his plans and he was thinking through. I don’t know, you can slice and dice that any way you want. But there’s some things I’m not going to disclose, because they are proprietary information, and that’s what it is. I’ll leave it at that.

Was Carter Hart one of the things, though?

PH: I’m in line with Ron’s thinking on Carter Hart, because is there a time during this year that you can bring him up and look at? I don’t know, maybe. I think Ron was probably along those same lines maybe. To put him in, we’re twenty games in to the season, I don’t know if we’re at that point yet.

I’ll piggyback off that. Was there a feeling that, I don’t know if neglect is the right word, but didn’t best serve the interest of the current core in trying to put them in the best position to win right now?

PH: I don’t know. I think we have good core players, obviously they’re not getting any younger. Is there something we can do to expedite things, speed things up, I don’t know? That’s a question for the next General Manager to hopefully evaluate things quickly and get going

DS: I’ll just add to that. I mean it’s my job to challenge Paul, and Paul to Ron. But that was a big question, what can we do now, today to make the team better now? Not two years or three years from now. I think we debated that a lot.

Dave, just kind of piggybacking off of that. We’ve heard Paul talk about it from the hockey perspective and we’ve heard him mention talking to you and Brian Roberts. We also hear that you want to win now as opposed to two, three, four years from now. How much of this decision then is based on the business side of the organization? As opposed to the hockey side of the organization. When you see a reduction in attendance for example.

DS: Yeah, I mean to me they go hand in hand. It’s all about winning whether it’s in business or in the hockey team and getting deep in the playoffs and winning the cup. I mean that’s what we’re all after. I personally feel our fans deserve better. I think we have great fans, and they’ve been patient. My vision is, we’ll invest everything we have to, and we’ll look at every opportunity to make it better. But this is about winning hockey games.

Dave, after the 2016-17 season when you missed the playoffs, you’ve said it before, the best year the Flyers have had from a business perspective, has that changed at all? And did that impact this decision at all?

DS: On the business side we have so much going on right now with the transformation and if you’ve toured our facility, I think there’s a lot of excitement about that. But at the same time, you need to win hockey games too. We feel pretty good, I mean our attendance is good. We’ve been getting all the league reports. I think a lot of other teams would like to be in our position. But, could it be better? Sure.

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