Bill Meltzer: Wrapup: NYR 3 - Flyers 2 (OT); Raffl Injured; Phantoms Update

Same old script

One more dumpster fire of a year for a deadline sell. Draft a couple more stud forwards

Flyers got pretty thoroughly out played, including the top line. There was no hint in the game of a second scoring line for the Flyers.

Flyers got pretty thoroughly out played, including the top line. There was no hint in the game of a second scoring line for the Flyers.
- MJL

Voracek had a strong night as did Raffl prior to exiting the game. Giroux chronically has mediocre preseasons so I'm not worried about that -- plus he did log 3 mins of PK time on a night they went 6-for-6.

Agree there was very little generated elsewhere in the lineup. Gagner and Lecavalier did little to nothing; I also think it says something (even in the preseason, but in a game that was close to A lineup vs. A lineup) that Gagner got relatively little ice time in the game. I thought the McDonald and Gudas defense pairing was brutal in this game

Strong overall night for Laughton, although it didn't end well.

Voracek had a strong night as did Raffl prior to exiting the game. Giroux chronically has mediocre preseasons so I'm not worried about that -- plus he did log 3 mins of PK time on a night they went 6-for-6.

Agree there was very little generated elsewhere in the lineup. Gagner and Lecavalier did little to nothing; I also think it says something (even in the preseason, but in a game that was close to A lineup vs. A lineup) that Gagner got relatively little ice time in the game. I thought the McDonald and Gudas defense pairing was brutal in this game

Strong overall night for Laughton, although it didn't end well.
- bmeltzer

The top line got badly outshot in the game, as did the entire team. With the team being so badly outshot, the MacDonald-Gudas pair gave up the least amount of shots. I have not been impressed with Gudas at all, this pre season.
On the tying goal late in the 3rd, MacDonald got hung out to dry by his teammates. Laughton lost the draw and compounded it by losing his check Stepan, and letting him get by him. Ryan White who has back door checking responsibilities, leaned towards the blue line, and was caught in no man's land, leaving MacDonald all alone between Stepan and Kreider.

Bottom line, at ES, other than a few players, Laughton comes to mind, the Flyers had a poor game. Poor execution and sloppy play led to a lot of turnovers on the breakout. Lack of neutral zone checking, and way too many easy outs for the Rangers, which seems to be a recurring theme every time they play the Rangers.

Hope waffle is ok.
We don't need injuries before we get out of the gate.

The top line got badly outshot in the game, as did the entire team. With the team being so badly outshot, the MacDonald-Gudas pair gave up the least amount of shots. I have not been impressed with Gudas at all, this pre season.
On the tying goal late in the 3rd, MacDonald got hung out to dry by his teammates. Laughton lost the draw and compounded it by losing his check Stepan, and letting him get by him. Ryan White who has back door checking responsibilities, leaned towards the blue line, and was caught in no man's land, leaving MacDonald all alone between Stepan and Kreider.

Bottom line, at ES, other than a few players, Laughton comes to mind, the Flyers had a poor game. Poor execution and sloppy play led to a lot of turnovers on the breakout. Lack of neutral zone checking, and way too many easy outs for the Rangers, which seems to be a recurring theme every time they play the Rangers.
- MJL

Yes, it looked very much like most Flyers-Rangers games of recent seasons, whether it was under Laviolette, Berube or now Hakstol. Not a team the Flyers match up favorably against.

I thought MacDonald was soft on the puck and was himself of little help on several coverages. But Gudas was absolutely the weaker half of the pairing. The preseason has been his first action in nine months but, if it's a matter of rust, he's got a week to work through it.

The top line got badly outshot in the game, as did the entire team. With the team being so badly outshot, the MacDonald-Gudas pair gave up the least amount of shots. I have not been impressed with Gudas at all, this pre season.
On the tying goal late in the 3rd, MacDonald got hung out to dry by his teammates. Laughton lost the draw and compounded it by losing his check Stepan, and letting him get by him. Ryan White who has back door checking responsibilities, leaned towards the blue line, and was caught in no man's land, leaving MacDonald all alone between Stepan and Kreider.

Bottom line, at ES, other than a few players, Laughton comes to mind, the Flyers had a poor game. Poor execution and sloppy play led to a lot of turnovers on the breakout. Lack of neutral zone checking, and way too many easy outs for the Rangers, which seems to be a recurring theme every time they play the Rangers.
- MJL

MacDonald is a (frank)ing scrublord

I want everyone to look at this picture and pray for me. Pray for me and my fantasy team. I have a .06 point lead before any potential score changes. If enough people believe in my win, it will come true...just like Santa.



Oh and by the way, (frank) DST and K.

I want everyone to look at this picture and pray for me. Pray for me and my fantasy team. I have a .06 point lead before any potential score changes. If enough people believe in my win, it will come true...just like Santa.



Oh and by the way, (frank) DST and K.
- Mononoke

I just prayed.












For the other guy.

I thought Laughton and his linemates played poorly. He also was out for GWG and his turnover led to goal. He tried to do too much. He was good on PK.

The whole game was relatively painful to watch. Mason was the sole bright spot. Happy days

jesus was the game really that bad?

Quoting Nuker



That's what I needed this morning, thanks.

Players are going to have to learn to play differently with 3 on 3. You just cannot make risky plays out high when you are the last man back. You won't be able to dump the puck in with your men in the zone and the opposing team's out high. If the dman gets a pass past you to a forward at the blue line it's off to the races. Those are just two examples. You have to eliminate plays that will lead to odd-man rushes the other way.

Laughton made a horrible decision in OT. He carried the puck from behind the net out to and along the blue-line. Both of his linemates were deep in the zone. The result was inevitable.

But amazingly that sequence is being downplayed in most of the game summaries I've read. If it was Schenn who did that...

I just prayed.


For the other guy.
- Nucker101

God doesn't care about fantasy football -- joke is on you

One other complaint about the reporting, and Bill, you are even a bit guilty here. Watch the Simmonds power play goal. Schenn really makes the play here. First, he retrieves the puck off the face off and gets in back to Streit. That was nothing really outstanding...just doing his job on the FO.

But when the shot hits the net, he is the one that tracks the rebound, outmuscled his man to gain possession and makes a nifty pass to a wide-open Simmonds instead of just trying to bang a poop at the net. But read most of the game summaries and Simmonds is getting the majority of praise and Schenn's effort on the play is either completely minimized or omitted altogether.

Send all the young kids down and revert back too the same old crap this team did last year.

One other complaint about the reporting, and Bill, you are even a bit guilty here. Watch the Simmonds power play goal. Schenn really makes the play here. First, he retrieves the puck off the face off and gets in back to Streit. That was nothing really outstanding...just doing his job on the FO.

But when the shot hits the net, he is the one that tracks the rebound, outmuscled his man to gain possession and makes a nifty pass to a wide-open Simmonds instead of just trying to bang a poop at the net. But read most of the game summaries and Simmonds is getting the majority of praise and Schenn's effort on the play is either completely minimized or omitted altogether.
- TheGreat28

I thought Schenn showed excellent patience in dishing that puck over to simmonds. Schenn and Jake were strong all game.

Seeing Gagner, Vinny, Umberger out with the pair of Gudas and MacDonald was absolutely brutal. 13 mill pile of wasted space and Umby was at least mobile (gasp)

The game looked staged to me...... If you catch my drift. Designed to result in a 3 on 3.

Still I think if you sit the worst guys ( Vinny, Gagner) and have Medvedev in the lineup the trickle down on defense will help

I also thought there was a huge reluctance to shoot on the power play, like they were just moving it around and playing it safe to retain the puck...

I didn't see the whole game, but I agree with the other commenters that mentioned Schenn's great play down low to Simmonds. I am not a huge fan of his, but I would love for him to put it all together this year and play with grit & skill more consistently. Also, Laughton thought he was Forsberg at the end of the game, trying to circle the entire offensive zone playing keep away. Thought he had some good moments during the game but that was a bad decision and he seems to need work on his faceoffs. Otherwise, Mason was awesome. As someone else mentioned, the game seemed like it was taken from last year's script. I count that as a shootout loss again compliments of Forsberg...I mean Laughton.

One other complaint about the reporting, and Bill, you are even a bit guilty here. Watch the Simmonds power play goal. Schenn really makes the play here. First, he retrieves the puck off the face off and gets in back to Streit. That was nothing really outstanding...just doing his job on the FO.

But when the shot hits the net, he is the one that tracks the rebound, outmuscled his man to gain possession and makes a nifty pass to a wide-open Simmonds instead of just trying to bang a poop at the net. But read most of the game summaries and Simmonds is getting the majority of praise and Schenn's effort on the play is either completely minimized or omitted altogether.
- TheGreat28

I thought Schenn was one of the better players in the game. It was a really nice pass in heavy traffic by Schenn to give Simmonds a gimme.

Players are going to have to learn to play differently with 3 on 3. You just cannot make risky plays out high when you are the last man back. You won't be able to dump the puck in with your men in the zone and the opposing team's out high. If the dman gets a pass past you to a forward at the blue line it's off to the races. Those are just two examples. You have to eliminate plays that will lead to odd-man rushes the other way.

Laughton made a horrible decision in OT. He carried the puck from behind the net out to and along the blue-line. Both of his linemates were deep in the zone. The result was inevitable.

But amazingly that sequence is being downplayed in most of the game summaries I've read. If it was Schenn who did that...
- TheGreat28

If we look at the two major mistakes Laughton made in the game, one the decision making on the 3 on 3, and secondly, losing his check off the faceoff on the game tying goal, both are correctable errors with coaching. What's more important is that Laughton was one of the best players on the ice for the Flyers overall in the game, and there weren't many. That's what should be taken from the game concerning Laughton and his play.

Send all the young kids down and revert back too the same old crap this team did last year.
- twpguy

It's easy to blame Berube as being the worst coach in NHL history but this is pretty much the same group that got Laviolette fired so why do people think a 3rd coach is going to make them better? Especially when Gagner, Medvedev and Neuvirth are the only additions from a team that finished 7th worst overall.

If we look at the two major mistakes Laughton made in the game, one the decision making on the 3 on 3, and secondly, losing his check off the faceoff on the game tying goal, both are correctable errors with coaching. What's more important is that Laughton was one of the best players on the ice for the Flyers overall in the game, and there weren't many. That's what should be taken from the game concerning Laughton and his play.
- MJL

Here's the thing I worry about with Laughton. Yes, he is a really hard worker. Yes, he is particularly strong defensively. But in the offensive zone, he starts making what seems to be shaping up to be a good offensive play, and then it seems to fizzle and go nowhere. The Flyers have had a lot of guys like that over the years.

It's like a Mamula in football...almost getting a sack. Bottom like is they had no real secondary scoring yesterday. The centers have to take the majority of blame for it, and not just Vinnie.

Same old script

One more dumpster fire of a year for a deadline sell. Draft a couple more stud forwards
- Just5

Shouldn't they at least play 1 game this season before we proclaim the season lost...