Sunday night’s 1-0 overtime loss to the Islanders marked the Flyers fourth loss in there last five games.
With only 11 games remaining in a shortened 56-game regular season, there chances of making the playoffs become slimmer and slimmer each and everyday.
Tonight, two guys that were front and center in the FlyersNittyGritty spotlight were forwards Kevin Hayes and Wade Allison.
Hayes came into last nights game with 26 points in 44 games played. Over his last 26 games coming into Sunday night, Hayes had scored only four goals and registered a total of 10 points. Simply put, that’s not nearly as productive as the Flyers need the 28-year-old center to be.
His career numbers against the Islanders aren’t anything to write home about either. In 30 career games against the Islanders, Hayes has tallied only 13 points.
That point total stayed put following the Flyers 1-0 loss to the Islanders. However, Hayes actually fared pretty well against the MassMutual East Divsion rival.
Playing on a line with Joel Farabee and Wade Allison, Hayes finished with five shots on goal, one hit, one giveaway, and five takeaways in 16:02 minutes of ice time.
Hayes had a high danger scoring chance early on in the first period as he stood all alone in front of the net but couldn’t put it past Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin. He then fed Joel Farabee the puck a few minutes later for another quality scoring chance in which Farabee just completely missed the net.
In the second period, Hayes put the puck towards the net where Wade Allison was waiting with his stick on the ice to redirect the puck. As was seemingly the theme of the game, Sorokin made the save.
All in all, Hayes had a chance or two to score a goal, set one up, or both.
He did however take a penalty early in the third period with the game still scoreless when he was sent to box for hooking Islanders forward Leo Komarov. The Flyers killed it off and Hayes left the box unscathed.
Hayes was noticable in a few other ways tonight as well.
There were quite a few times where he was either battling for the puck along the boards, keeping the puck in the Islanders zone, or playing good stick on stick defense.
That had to make Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault smile.
Overall, Hayes didn’t do anything to wow anyone. However, he didn’t do anything to really hurt the Flyers either.
Instead, he quietly went about his business and performed at an exceptional level.
As for Wade Allison, the 23-year-old forward was playing in only his third career NHL game.
On Saturday afternoon against the Islanders, Allison potted his first NHL goal on the powerplay. The goal is what hopes to be the first of many for the young forward.
As for Sunday night’s game, Allison, along with the rest of the Flyers, was kept off the scoresheet. That doesn’t mean that he didn’t fare well against the second place Islanders though.
Playing on a line with Joel Farabee and Kevin Hayes, Allison finished the game with two shots and five hits in 13:17 minutes of total ice time. He, just as Hayes did, took a penalty in the third period when he was sent to the box for holding Islanders speedster Mathew Barzal.
Allison wasn’t as noticeable last night as he was the past two games but was still effective. Energy was one thing he’d had in his first two games in the NHL and it continued into last nights game versus the Islanders.
In the first period, Allison was seen supporting his teammates along the boards. One thing the Flyers don’t do enough of is win puck battles. Hopefully Allison will help with that. He also set up Joel Farabee, who was standing right around the slot area for another high danger scoring chance.
The score was 1-0 Islanders so it’s clear that no one on the Flyers lit the lamp.
In the second period, Allison got time on the power play just as he had in his first two games. On an Ivan Provorov blast, Allison was creeping around the net and was ready to try and pot the rebound if Sorokin gave him the chance.
Allison will likely continue to get looks on the powerplay throughout the Flyers final 11 games of the regular season. While he’s been mostly net front in these first three games, Vigneault could always switch things up and try and use him in a different way on the man-advantage.
Overall, Allison was another one of those guys last night that didn’t blow anyone away with his play but didn’t do anything to cost the Flyers either. Through three games, the 6’2, 205 pound forward has been as advertised.
The Flyers don’t return to game action until Thursday night when they take on the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Puck drop is set for 7PM.
