Photo Credit: NBC Sports Phildapelphia
After what was somewhat of a promising three game winning streak for the Flyers, they’re basically right back to where they were when they had lost their tenth consecutive game to the New Jersey Devils ten days ago.
The Flyers’ bad habits were evident again Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens. With the seats empty, the Flyers delivered a lackluster performance and ended up on the wrong side of a 3-2 shootout loss.
Right from the get go, the Flyers looked flat. In the first period, the Flyers were outshot 19-8 and gave up, according to Natural Stat Trick, 13 high-danger scoring chances to Montreal.
The only reason the Flyers were only down 1-0 after the first period was because of Carter Hart, who was one of the lone bright spots for the Flyers. Hart stopped 38 of 40 shots fired his way and was the main reason the Flyers were able to get the game into overtime, followed by a shootout, and earn a point.
Overall, the Flyers were sloppy. They got a little better as the game went on but overall delivered what was a concerning performance for a team that can’t afford to come up short in games like these after losing ten straight recently.
They were flat footed from the moment they hit the ice often caught standing still and not moving their legs. They got outworked shift after shift and ended up on the wrong end of too many puck battles.
Puck possession was another concerning part of the Flyers game. They were sloppy with the puck from the moment the game got underway and finished the game with a total of 16 giveaways. The tape-to-tape passes were not there enough for the Flyers and it came back to bite them.
As for the bright spots, there weren’t many of them.
Max Willman, who played on a line with Kevin Hayes and James van Riemsdyk, was the Flyers most noticeable forward. Every time he took to the ice he seemed to make something happen. His hard work resulted in his second career NHL goal and at the time tied the game up at 1-1.
Not to take anything away from Willman, but your third line left winger, who has played in only 12 career games in the NHL, being your best player is not a good look.
Thursday nights game certainly raised some cause for concern. The hope is that it was just a fluke and that they can get back to their winning ways. Ideally, it starts tonight, when the Flyers welcome the Ottawa Senators to town in the first of three meetings between the two teams this season.
The Senators, who have a record of 9-17-1 on the season, come into tonight’s game having won five of their last seven games. That includes wins over the Carolina Hurricanes, Colorado Avalanche, New Jersey Devils, Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Florida Panthers. Despite only having nine wins on the season, they’ve defeated some very good teams.
Senators left winger Brady Tkachuk, who the Flyers remember all too well from when he jumped Scott Laughton in a game a few seasons ago, has five goals over his last five games.
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For the Flyers, left winger Joel Farabee is expected to return to the lineup tonight after missing the last seven games with a shoulder injury. He’ll play on the top line with center Sean Couturier and right winger Travis Konecny.
That’s the good news. Now for the bad news.
The Flyers will be without goaltender Carter Hart tonight due to an illness that has been undetermined. The illness is not confirmed to be Covid-19 related but hasn’t been ruled out. Martin Jones will get the start for the Flyers between the pipes tonight and will be backed up by Felix Sandstrom who was recalled from the Flyers AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley Phantoms earlier this afternoon.
They’ll also be without forward Max Willman tonight against the Senators. Willman tested positive for the coronavirus last night and has been placed in the NHL’s Covid-19 protocol.
Puck drop is set for 7PM from the Wells Fargo Center.
