The Philadelphia Flyers' winless streak since their opening night shootout win in Vancouver is now at six games (0-5-1). On Wednesday night in DC, the Flyers sustained a 6-3 loss to the Washington Capitals. Washington built a 4-0 lead in the second period and later added two empty net goals after the Flyers drew back within 4-3 and had several near-miss opportunities to the time.
For a full game recap, highlights (there were some over the latter half of the game) and period-by-period notes and stats, see the
Postgame 5.
In a losing cause, Travis Konecny (5-on-4, 3rd) and Matvei Michkov (3rd, 4-on-3) scored power play goals. Owen Tippett had a seeing-eye goal from the left side above the circle. Ivan Fedotov allowed four goals on 24 shots but also made a handful of good stops and there was only one goal that could potentially have been prevented by the netminder. Two were on deflections and one was a breakaway off a stretch pass.
The Flyers took some baby steps they could build from in upcoming games. The bottom line, though, is that there are still entire periods that are a wasteland. Too much chasing the game. insufficient goaltending. Too many forwards who are not contributing nearly enough (especially at 5-on-5).
It is not hard to pick apart the root causes of many issues that have plagued the Flyers at 5-on-5 over the season's first seven games.
* The team has had too many one-and-done shifts in which there is no connection in moving up ice with five-man units, and the opponent quickly breaks out of their own zone when the Flyers can neither gain entry with pace nor establish a forecheck. Philly FINALLY started to do as Wednesday's game progressed but it was already 4-0 by the time the Flyers "got to their game" (really, anyone's game as every team needs cohesion on breakouts, entries , tracking the play and finding seams to have any chance of success).
* There have been far too many shifts in which it is a struggle to simply clear the defensive zone. Sometimes, you have to go into "bend not break" mode and just take the middle of the ice until you get a stoppage or clear the zone. The Flyers had stretches in the home-and-home with the Caps in which they did an improved job at bottling the high-danger areas. But there are still far too many prolonged shifts where the other side controls the puck.
* In the first seven games overall, the Flyers have hurt themselves with ill-timed, careless and/or undisciplined penalties. Yes, the Philadelphia PK under Brad Shaw was excellent most of last season and has continued to be strong. But the Flyers take themselves out of the flow of play far too often, even as the PK units have done their jobs well.
* The Flyers have repeatedly had trouble with yielding either a) two closely spaced opposition goals (it happened again on Wednesday at 2:49 and 4:04 of the second period as a manageable 1-0 deficit swelled quickly to a three-goal deficit) or b) a Flyers goal gives way to an opposing goal on the very next shift (which happened in the third period on Tuesday).
* John Tortorella's serial line juggling has downright excessive and counter-productive to trying to establish any sort of cohesion. Some of the combinations have been downright baffling at time. On the flip side, a mid-game switch to have Sean Couturier out with Michkov seemed to help create some positive shifts the Flyers used to generate momentum in the latter half on Wednesday.
* Egor Zamula has been struggling mightily in both the offensive and defensive zones. This cannot continue if he is to remain in the starting six.
Some positives:
* In my opinion, Couturier has looked progressively better in each of the last three games. Also, on Wednesday, Couturier provided key screens on two goals (Tippett's and Michkov's) but did not record points on the plays.
* There was nowhere to go but up for Fedotov after his dismal first two starts of the season. But even though the stats remained ugly on Wednesday, he at least seemed to his bearings in his crease. He also made his first true momentum save of the season (second period on Pierre-Luc Dubois).
* Hopefully, Tippett's goal and assist, Tyson Foerster's first game back after being a healthy scratch on Tuesday, and Jamie Drysdale's first and second assists of the season will get them going offensively if they build on some plays from the latter 30 minutes.
* If the Flyers could even semi get their 5-on-5 play on track, their special teams could actually win the team some games. On Wednesday, the Flyers were 2-for-4 on their power play (their sixth and seventh PPGs through seven games) and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
* Morgan Frost had a downright weird game on Wednesday. He had some horrid moments: An ill-timed penalty in the offensive zone late in the third period down 4-3, a failed wraparound with plenty of space to tuck the puck home, too many prolonged D-zone shifts and one-and-done forarys, a continued issue with getting tossed from faceoffs, a minus-four on the night (two were via empty netters that had nothing to do with him). But he also had good moments: a good burst on a breakaway at the end of a long shift, seven shots on goal for the game, two very good passes, a couple clean faceoff wins on left circle power play faceoffs. There were some building blocks after meh games in Seattle, the home opener and Tuesday's game. As long as that's the takeaway above some clear needs from improvement and visible frustration, it could be turned into something productive. That goes for many players.
* Konecny's own frustration level bubbled over the top in Tuesday's game -- three minor penalties for one thing, continued non-finishes on some good looks at the net for another -- but his goal in the second period snapped the entire team into a better place.
* I don't want to lose mention of Travis Sanheim and Cam York playing a pair of generally strong games in the back-to-back set or the welcomed return of Nick Seeler for the B2B. There are still many things to sort out from the crease, to the D, and the forwards. But I don't want to dwell only on the negatives. Sanheim in particular did what the Flyers needed of him in the back-to-back. That there is still an over-arching need for a "true No. 1" on the blueline does not take away from Sanheim's ongoing importance and deserving praise for holding up his end of the bargain in the home-and-home with Washington.
* Yes, the two late empty net goals made the final score seem like a rout (side note, opposition ENGs remain far too near-automatic when the Flyers pull the goalie) but the internal focus should be on what started going right. The things that went wrong remain glaring and need fixing but even a hint of positive signs are sorely needed up and down the roster.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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