Photo Credits: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
The Philadelphia Flyers were in Raleigh North Carolina to faceoff against the Hurricanes kicking off Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Flyers are the underdog in this series. The Hurricanes finished the regular season as the number one team in the East. These two teams faced each other four times in the regular season. Carolina won 3 of 4 contests but all of them were settled in overtime or by shootout.
This game unfortunately did not require any extra time. In fact it seemed settled pretty early on. ThecCanes soundly defeated the Flyers shutting them out 3-0. The scheduling of this opening game came on short notice to the Flyers. Of course the Hurricanes got the same short notice but they had been sitting in wait after sweeping their 1st Round series against the Ottawa Senators.
Carolina’s fans were certainly ready. Their arena was rockin’ before the puck even dropped. And absolutely nothing happened during the course of the night to change their mood.
Philly vs Carolina
The home team scored early 1:31 into the opening period Mike Reilly fired a slapshot from the point that was perfectly redirected over the shoulder of Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar by Logan Stankoven.
Six minutes later Jackson Blake blasted through the Flyers defense and flubbed his first attempt and possibly his second as the puck slowly slid between Vladar and the short side post and into the net.
Carolina was not allowing the Flyers to break into their zone, in fact they weren’t allowing them to break out of their own end. The Flyers were resorting to dumping the puck which led to multiple icings. They could not break out nor in cleanly so dumping became the only way to relieve the pressure.
Tilt
People use the term “tilt” do describe a hockey game or a portion of a game where it seems like the ice is slanted in one direction. The puck is always just returning to the same end of the ice. The 1st period of this hockey game was the perfect example of a “tilt”, and the direction was clearly towards the Flyers net.
Special Teams
The Flyers got their first power-play 12:28 into the game. They did not register a single shot on goal. They got their second man advantage 36 seconds after the first expired. Again they did not manage to get a single shot on the Carolina net. As the 1st period came to an end Carolina had a 12-4 shot advantage and a two goal lead.
2nd Period
During the 2nd period Carolina’s speed advantage became even more apparent. The Flyers were trying not to allow pucks to linger on their sticks. They were attempting to move pucks around but often there was little or no legitimate intention. They were just making sure they didn’t hang onto it long enough to have it stripped from them.
The Flyers looked more in control when they were shorthanded and icing was an option without repercussions. This game was certainly a learning curve. The Flyers were needing to make adjustments on the fly. They will have little time to regroup as the NHL finally announced that Game 2 will take place on Monday night.
Carolina netminder Frederik Andersen did not see a lot of work tonight as the Flyers managed just 19 shots total. They didn’t hit double digits until well into the 3rd period. At one point Porter Martone seemed to have Andersen beat as he was caught out of position. Martone was on his way around Andersen with the puck. Andersen resorted to pulling Martone’s skates out from under him instead of focusing on the puck.
This put the Flyers on the power-play for the third time. Again, just as in the first two, the Flyers did not manage to register a shot on goal. To their credit the Flyers penalty kill did not allow any goals in this game, the Hurricanes were 0-for-4 on the man advantage.
The Flyers were just starting to get some pucks towards the net when the Hurricanes struck again. Stankoven and Jarvis came in on a 2-on-1. Jarvis snapped a crisp cross slot pass to Stankoven who scored his second goal of the game. The Canes rode this 3-0 lead until the end of regulation.
3rd Period
The game had its share of chippy moments. The on ice officials were utilizing ten minute misconducts to send players to the locker room in the second half of the final period. They were determined to not allow the rough stuff to get out of hand.
The Flyers had their 4th and final unsuccessful power-play in the final minutes of the game. They pulled Vladar with almost five minutes remaining to skate 6-on-4. They managed one shot on goal and ended the night 0-for-4 with the man advantage.
Epilog
The Flyers have a lot to figure out before Monday night. Carolina clearly had the better of them all night long. They never allowed the Flyers into this game. They ran the pace and the Flyers chased it.
This game was a learning experience for the Flyers. They did look better as the game wore on. They don’t have a whole lot of time before the next game to study up and adjust their approach. Carolina played very aggressive, pressuring the Flyers in every area on the ice. They were not giving the Flyers the time or space to make wise decisions with the puck.
When the Flyers were attempting to match the Hurricanes speed they were making rash decision and throwing away possessions. In the 3rd period they were slowing the pace of the game instead of trying to keep up and that was working a lot better for them. Maybe they actually had more time to make decision than they though they did.
It will be interesting to see how they alter their approach in Game 2. After soundly shutting out the Flyers in the opening game of the series you would expect the Hurricanes to stay the course going into Monday night.
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