Bill Meltzer: Wrap: Flyers Surge, Then Tumble in 5-2 Loss to Pens

Wasn’t on Simmons but he finished-4, there line struggled offensively as well. Maybe
Be worth trying Laughton,Raffle and Simmons. Power play is struggling now, Penguins got the bounces, deflection off Amac in front, one off Manning on blocked shot, bad Pinch by Hagg for the two on one, Provy who is usually solid with a bad clear and Kessel puts it in the net. Overall score didn’t indicate the game. Reffing
Didn’t do us any favours bad missed call on Jake and some borderline calls on Hagg,
Even the one at the end of the game how does Oleksiak get a double minor for head butting, should be an automatic major or suspension for head butting especially for a 6’7 monkey.

Weal is lost. Raffl is ineffective. Lots of passengers.

yyz

Weal is lost. Raffl is ineffective. Lots of passengers.
- Pixote Andolini

Yes, but it would be nice if Couturier scored again someday, the entire 3rd line was better and the pk was better than 75%. I don't see that Mrazek is any better than Elliott was before he got hurt.

I don't dislike Hakstol like a lot of posters but the one thing that bugs me the most is that this team appears to play with no emotion. I know this isn't the 2012 Penguins but I still think causing a little chaos can get to them. Flyers make it to easy for other teams some times. They're not a hard team to play against.

They're in a tail spin right now and need to get out of it sooner than later.

Our safety net lead in points from not being in playoffs is sure getting smaller quick. I think honestly we will fall into a WC spot and out of the top 3. Team has been losing badly lately and giving up a ton of goals.

Bill, how do they right the ship?

Bill, how do they right the ship?
- coffee junkie

By staying home, can't lose if you don't play

Gonna be pretty tough to beat Boston on the road tomorrow and the Jets are a very very good team, very fast. Im sure its going to be 6 straight losses come sunday.

That call on Haag for boarding is embarrassing.

It’s a bad combo right now of a brutal stretch of schedule against good teams that’s exposing the Flyers lack of quality depth.

Manning is a 6/7 guy at best

Hägg/AMac would both be fine on a 3rd pair with a skilled partner, as a duo they’re just bad

Filppula looks like a guy who is just done, it actually looks like he’s lost a step from just a couple months ago

Weal is an undersized player who while talented, doesn’t have enough speed and skill to fully compensate for his lack of size

Raffl is too inconsistent to be a top 9 guy

Simmonds is rusty, he’ll be fine

Lehterä is just too slow to be effective in this league

Couturier is looking like a guy who plays 21+ hard minutes every night and is starting to wear down

And finally, while Mrazek is a solid goalie, he’s not going to put a team on his back and steal games on a nightly basis

They had a real nice stretch but this is still a middle of the pack, one and done in the playoffs, type of team. Help is on the way, but for this year at least, what you see is what you’re gonna get

"Power play was [poor] tonight and it’s frustrating," Giroux admitted. "We did a good job of drawing those penalties and gaining momentum and then [the power play] wasn’t good."

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Edit: Great blog by the way! Very informative & well written. I wished we played the Flyers more often so I can get a review like this.

Simmonds looks like a guy that is going to have surgery announced as soon as the season ends. Just hasn't looked like himself all season.

And to echo others, Weal really looks useless out there too.

Simmonds looks like a guy that is going to have surgery announced as soon as the season ends. Just hasn't looked like himself all season.

And to echo others, Weal really looks useless out there too.
- hereticpride

Weal is a solid possession guy who creates some chances. He's having a rough year in the scoring department, but he has value. He's really not someone to worry about that much.

I'd be more worried that the coach thinks matching Filppula against Crosby is a good idea or that the team has 3 bad defensemen playing when there are viable replacements in the minors. Ditto for the veteran 4th liners.

Weal is a solid possession guy who creates some chances. He's having a rough year in the scoring department, but he has value. He's really not someone to worry about that much.

I'd be more worried that the coach thinks matching Filppula against Crosby is a good idea or that the team has 3 bad defensemen playing when there are viable replacements in the minors. Ditto for the veteran 4th liners.
- PhillySportsGuy

Coach doesn't make the roster...

"Power play was
- Aussiepenguin[poor] tonight and it’s frustrating," Giroux admitted. "We did a good job of drawing those penalties and gaining momentum and then [the power play] wasn’t good."

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Edit: Great blog by the way! Very informative & well written. I wished we played the Flyers more often so I can get a review like this.

Oh and that high stick on Lindblom wasn't a fake job on the ref? There were plenty of bad calls in the Pens favor last night.

Weal is a solid possession guy who creates some chances. He's having a rough year in the scoring department, but he has value. He's really not someone to worry about that much.

I'd be more worried that the coach thinks matching Filppula against Crosby is a good idea or that the team has 3 bad defensemen playing when there are viable replacements in the minors. Ditto for the veteran 4th liners.


- PhillySportsguy

Weal along with the rest of the bottom 6 needs to chip in some offense. Weal is at 48% in Corsi and that's not enough. Weal is looking like a player who may not belong in the NHL.

The coach has basically two options. Play the Filppula line against Crosby or go head to head with the Couturier line. On a team that needs it's top lines to score getting them away from having to defend the Crosby line is sound strategy.

There is no guarantee that Sanheim can play at a level to significantly upgrade the Flyers defense at this point.

Coach doesn't make the roster...
- dragonoffrost

If the coach decides to sit Sanheim, what option does he give Hextall other than sending him to the minors?

The fact that this team continues to play Hagg, MacDonald and Manning while a better defenseman is sitting in the minors dominating lesser competition is an indictment of the entire organization.

Putting Ghost and Provorov on the top pair has really shown how much this team relies on them. With both of them away from the anchors, we've seen them flourish as a legitimately great top pair while the leftovers can't even move the puck out of their own zone.

Weal along with the rest of the bottom 6 needs to chip in some offense. Weal is at 48% in Corsi and that's not enough. Weal is looking like a player who may not belong in the NHL.

The coach has basically two options. Play the Filppula line against Crosby or go head to head with the Couturier line. On a team that needs it's top lines to score getting them away from having to defend the Crosby line is sound strategy.

There is no guarantee that Sanheim can play at a level to significantly upgrade the Flyers defense at this point.
- MJL

So the team should continue to play two bad defense pairs rather than take a chance on a very talented young Dman? That's sound logic. You seem like a good fit for an NHL front office.

Weal is a solid possession guy who creates some chances. He's having a rough year in the scoring department, but he has value. He's really not someone to worry about that much.

I'd be more worried that the coach thinks matching Filppula against Crosby is a good idea or that the team has 3 bad defensemen playing when there are viable replacements in the minors. Ditto for the veteran 4th liners.
- PhillySportsGuy

Yeah, Weal is far from their biggest problem, no doubt about it. I wish the guy could bury a chance now and then and had the strength to win a puck battle or 2 but he is what he is.

I’d like to see AMac, Manning and Hägg all replaced by better players but other than Sanheim, right now, who is going to replace them? Morin has pretty much been hurt all year and I don’t think rushing Myers, who has also missed some time, up right now is the answer.

I kind of get what Hextall is doing though it is frustrating. Bringing up any more kids right now isn’t going to magically make them a contender nor will it probably change them from being a team that gets bounced in the first round. Let them try and help the Phantoms make a deep playoff run and perhaps win a championship.

Back in 2005, Richards and Carter both said that winning the AHL title was a great experience. I think some AHL playoff experience will be beneficial for our younger players.

Now all that being said, if Sanheim, Morin and Myers are all healthy next year and playing well, all 3 need to be playing in the NHL.

Crossbar

Yeah, Weal is far from their biggest problem, no doubt about it. I wish the guy could bury a chance now and then and had the strength to win a puck battle or 2 but he is what he is.

I’d like to see AMac, Manning and Hägg all replaced by better players but other than Sanheim, right now, who is going to replace them? Morin has pretty much been hurt all year and I don’t think rushing Myers, who has also missed some time, up right now is the answer.

I kind of get what Hextall is doing though it is frustrating. Bringing up any more kids right now isn’t going to magically make them a contender nor will it probably change them from being a team that gets bounced in the first round. Let them try and help the Phantoms make a deep playoff run and perhaps win a championship.

Back in 2005, Richards and Carter both said that winning the AHL title was a great experience. I think some AHL playoff experience will be beneficial for our younger players.

Now all that being said, if Sanheim, Morin and Myers are all healthy next year and playing well, all 3 need to be playing in the NHL.
- BiggE

I'm probably in the minority, but I feel the Flyers could be contenders if they brought up their younger players. I would definitely bring up Sanheim right now and I would likely bring up Morin if he got into game shape. I wouldn't rule out Myers either.

They also have some forwards performing well like NAK who could help with secondary scoring. He's been one of the best even strength forwards in the AHL this year in scoring.

I just don't get the coddling of players in their early-mid 20s. If Morin is too weak minded to rebound from a bad outing, then he shouldn't even be playing in the NHL. These kinds need to play and they'll be fine when they make a mistake. They should have been broken in long ago. This idea that the seas will part and Hexy will receive a sign from a god that it's time to play them is such a fallacy. There is no perfect time. You just gotta jump in.

As a fan, I'd rather lose with rookies making mistakes they can learn from than watching MacDonald and Hagg back 40 feet off the blue line.

The only productive thing about playing these sloths on defense for a full season is that some dumb team might talk themselves into taking one of these guys in the offseason. "The Flyers made the playoffs and MacDonald logged a bunch of minutes for them, so he must be a solid player!"

Game Observations:

- Simmonds struggled a little. Hopefully it was rust.

- Thought Hagg and Gudas struggled.

- Filppula does look like a guy that is done. I knew he wasn't a speedster but he looks slower now then a month ago. Kind of the reason I wanted a guy like Brassard. Flyers just lack a 3rd line center right now. Maybe you do role Laughton there with Weal and Simmonds

- Mrazek, while not the problem looks like a guy trying to do a little too much. Seems to have a lot of movement and not someone just trying to let the puck hit him

- PP kind of hurt the Flyers last night. They weren't able to capitalize from it or even get momentum from it.

I'm probably in the minority, but I feel the Flyers could be contenders if they brought up their younger players. I would definitely bring up Sanheim right now and I would likely bring up Morin if he got into game shape. I wouldn't rule out Myers either.

They also have some forwards performing well like NAK who could help with secondary scoring. He's been one of the best even strength forwards in the AHL this year in scoring.

I just don't get the coddling of players in their early-mid 20s. If Morin is too weak minded to rebound from a bad outing, then he shouldn't even be playing in the NHL. These kinds need to play and they'll be fine when they make a mistake. They should have been broken in long ago. This idea that the seas will part and Hexy will receive a sign from a god that it's time to play them is such a fallacy. There is no perfect time. You just gotta jump in.

As a fan, I'd rather lose with rookies making mistakes they can learn from than watching MacDonald and Hagg back 40 feet off the blue line.

The only productive thing about playing these sloths on defense for a full season is that some dumb team might talk themselves into taking one of these guys in the offseason. "The Flyers made the playoffs and MacDonald logged a bunch of minutes for them, so he must be a solid player!"
- PhillySportsGuy

You know Hagg is a rookie, right?

Your own statement contradicts what you want.