Carter Hart and Brain Elliott had no help in this one folks. Now I know the Flyers weren’t going to go undefeated on their way to the Stanley Cup Finals, but in this game the Flyers just weren’t ready to play. The team as a whole had a complete defensive breakdown! The Flyers made crucial mistakes that young players learn not to do (or at least look out for) as early as in the 10-and-Under (squirt divisions), and 12-and-Under (peewee divisions) or age brackets of developmental youth hockey leagues everywhere.
https://www.nhl.com/video/tatar-buries-rebound/t-318383294/c-5403811
On the first goal the Canadiens scored you can see that as Montreal broke into the Flyers Defensive zone by way of forward Brendan Gallagher receiving a pass from his teammate and then carrying it to the far side corner boards. Gallagher then set up in the corner and looked at his options. When Brendan did that you’ll see that all five Flyers players that were on the ice got “sucked in” and left their assignment (opposing player) and were drawn into Gallagher who had the puck. This left half of the ice wide open as well as the other four Canadien players that were on the ice. This is called the vacuum effect! When Montreal’s veteran forwar in Tomas Tartar saw this he made a B-line straight for the Flyers crease. Gallagher just had to put a shot on net and Tartar was left wide open to put in the rebound. This could have been avoided if the Flyers players would have communicated who was going to cover who. If you ever sit close enough to the ice you will hear the league’s best teams yelling things back and forth to each other the entire game. Communication is the key to prevent easy mistakes like this one. When playing this sport (and most others) you should never assume you know what your teammate is thinking or going to do in any situation, no matter how long you’ve played with them or how well you think you know their tendencies.
https://www.nhl.com/video/kotkaniemi-goes-five-hole/t-318383294/c-5403818
The second goal was a broken down play and Flyers Defenseman Justin Braun began to panic and chase the puck (and who ever had it at the time). He should have instead stayed with his man and let the wingers do that. While this was going on you can see that Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere (Ghost) was enamored by Braun doing so and payed no attention to Montreal’s Jesperi Kotkaniemi who managed to slip behind him and screen Flyers goalie Carter Hart. Once the shot was taken Kotkaniemi was able to knock home an easy rebound before anyone even knew he was there. When a play is breaking down the last thing you should do is chase a player. It leaves your man and others open for a pass, and leaves your teammates mixed up on who they now need to cover. Also Hart should have been screaming “screen” or “man behind you” so loud that we could have heard him over the announcers during the broadcast. Ghost should have been more aware and not broken the golden rule for defenseman. Which is to NEVER LET AN OPPOSING PLAYER GET BEHIND YOU!
https://www.nhl.com/video/tatars-second-of-the-game/t-318383294/c-5403866
On Montreal’s, Tomas Tartar’s second goal you’ll see that the Canadiens began to cycle the puck around their offensive zone on the Power play and once again the 6’2 Jesperi Kotkaniemi was able to slip in unnoticed behind three Flyers players this time and screen Carter long enough for Tartar to rip a nice wrist shot right over Hart’s glove. Again this is defensive basic 101 you constantly keep an eye out over your shoulder to make sure no one has gotten behind you. As a young goalie Hart has to learn to communicate his needs to his defenseman. Hart is often so focused on the puck in the play he tends to forget this. In juniors playing against teenagers Hart’s talents may have allowed him to do it all on his own but in the NHL he’s now facing the best players in the world and will need to learn to ask for some help.
https://www.nhl.com/video/armia-banks-puck-home/t-318383294/c-5403858
On the Canadiens fourth goal Braun chased Montreal’s Joel Armia to the corner boards, Ghost was caught flat footed (standing still on the ice) and watching as two other Canadien players drove towards him and the Flyers net. Armia was able to create enough space between him and Braun to notice Ghost sleeping on the play. Joel then threw the puck towards Ghost and the net; Shayne was able to see this and at the last minute turned his skate to try and redirect it. The puck does in fact redirect but unfortunately for Ghost it goes right into the Flyers net. Only after the puck is already in the back of the net do you see Flyers forwards Nate Thompson and James van Riemsdyk come into the play gassed with their heads down. I’m sure both players heard it from Flyers Head Coach Alain Vigneault (AV) and other coaching staff when they returned to their team’s bench. Vigneault who is a stickler about his offense men playing a 200ft game also expects them to never giving up on a play.
https://www.nhl.com/video/kotkaniemis-second-goal/t-318383294/c-5403887
After the previous goal Flyers netminder Carter Hart was pulled and then replaced by Flyers backup Brain Elliott. On the last Montreal goal Flyers Forward Scott Laughton was able to kick the puck out of his team’s defensive zone after losing his stick during the penalty kill. Once the puck was out of their zone the Flyers retreated to their bench after a long shift. Montreal saw this and were able to get all their players back onside very quickly. The Canadiens then pushed the play back into their offensive zone and capitalized on the Flyers change. Not too much you can do here. The Canadiens were able to cash in on an oppuntiy out of pure team hustle and everyone playing heads up hockey and reckoning this opportunity when it presented itself.
This game certainly did not go the way the Flyers and us fans would have hoped that it would; but best believe that coach Vigneault will NOT stand for this kind of defensive effort (or lack thereof) again in this series. The Flyers are a much better team than the one that showed up to yesterday’s game wearing orange and black. They WILL bounce back in game three better prepared to take back the series lead. In the third game of this series you can expect Coach Vigneault to replace Gostisbehere and his -2 average on the night with the more defensively minded Robert Hagg. In doing so AV will look to ensure that Montreal will not be able to put on such a shooting clinic ever again in this series!
