Photo Credits: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
I won’t drag this out or sugar coat it, the Flyers home opener was a disaster. You could always check out the box scores if you wanted to know the gruesome details on all seven unanswered Pittsburgh goals, which you probably don’t.
Flyers Fans packed the Xfinity Mobile Arena Wednesday night hoping to see the same type of intensity they saw in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season.
The last time these two teams saw each other was in the handshake line after the Flyers sent the Pens packing in six games. Tonight dejected fans poured out of the building without even finding out what the goal song is this season.
The conversation in the press box after the horn was “how do you even start to wrap up a game like this?” Then on my way home it hit me. You can’t write a concise and focused piece on this game or you wouldn’t be accurately describing what we all just witnessed. There was nothing concise or focused about it.
Takeaways
The Penguins do deserve credit. They played a solid game. They came out aggressively forechecking in the the Flyers end. They kept knocking pucks loose and regaining control. They were snagging rebounds and snatching pucks away from Dan Vladar before he had a chance to get on top of them. The Penguins were relentless.
Pittsburgh was out-shooting the Flyers at a ratio of 2-to-1 the entire game. It started in the 1st period when the shots were 11-5 and continued till time ran out with the Penguins finishing the game with a 38-19 shot advantage.
When it rains it pours
The Flyers power-play continues to suffer. They went 0-for-3 on the night. They also gave up and incredibly bizarre short-handed goal. The Penguins sixth goal of the game came 11:52 into the final period. Nick Robertson was coming in down the left side. Jamie Drysdale was racing back and got his stick in front of Robertson’s shot. The puck deflected off Drysdale’s stick and went wide. The shot came off of the back dasher and hit Vladar’s skate as he was backing into his net guiding the puck across the goal line.
The Pens capped off the scoring with a power-play goal. It was their second of the night. The Flyers could not pull it together. They were clearly outmatched. Their passing was off. They failed to make clears when they needed them the most. And they plagued themselves with giveaways. You name it, it was happening. One too many passes instead of taking the shot. All of the things that can drive you crazy, all at the same time, all night long.
The Flyers were good in the faceoff circle. There were a few really satisfying hits. Ristolinen creamed Crosby with a clean one. Noel Acciari had a few stand out plays, …there were not a whole lot of positives. The scoreboard matched the game.
In contrast the Penguins were consistent and unrelenting. They had a game plan, they were disciplined and they stayed with it. The Flyers looked haphazard and unprepared.
After the final game last season the Flyers were given a standing ovation by the home town crowd after being swept by the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round of the playoffs. Tonight the crowd that showed up to the much anticipated Season Opener was booing by the end of the 1st period and it continued throughout the night. As I’ve already said, it was a disaster.
Gut Check
The Flyers gave up five goals in 3 out of their 4 pre-season games. You write that off. It’s only the preseason, that was not the final lineup, etc. But something has not gelled yet for this team. They just got spanked 7-0 in the regular season opener. Counting the preseason they’ve been outscored 22-4 in their last 5 games.
This is basically the same crew that shocked the hockey world just last Spring. They need to find themselves and they need to do it quickly.
Next Up: Flyers vs Devils in NJ Thursday night at 7 PM.
About Author
