Photo Credit: Vasili Gianarakos
The Philadelphia Flyers put forth a different looking roster in their matchup taking on the Ottawa Senators. Tyson Foerster made his season debut, while Emil Andrae participated in his first ever NHL game. Both players replaced Bobby Brink and Egor Zamula within the Flyers lineup.
The Flyers were unable to follow up on the strong play they showed in their season opener. Though pieces of their transitional play from the first game in Columbus continued in the opening frame against Ottawa, they could not sustain that beyond the initial period of the game.
Philadelphia trailed 2-0 after 10 minutes of play in the first period. Senators’ defenseman Jakob Chychrun tallied both goals. The Flyers responded after being down and were looking to play a quick transition game to do so. They capitalized for their first goal of the game on a 5 on 3, power-play.
Tyson Foerster earned his first point of the season with an assist on Travis Konecny’s goal (3rd of the season). Foerster’s wrist shot created a rebound for Konecny who put the puck by Senators’ goaltender Anton Forsberg.
From that point forward Ottawa essentially took control of the game. In the second period specifically, the Senators dominated the Flyers and outshot them handedly, 12-4. Not only did they outshoot them, but the Senators controlled the puck far more often and sustained offensive zone pressure for lengthy stretches due to that.
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In period two, Senators’ defenseman Jake Sanderson scored a power-play goal the Flyers immediately responded to with a tally of their own. Only 18 seconds later Cam York scored on a wrist shot to make the game 3-2.
York showed his offensive skill with the goal. He flew up the wing with a burst of speed that created space for himself to release a quick wrist shot and beat Forsberg. Such a response could have been a momentum builder for the Flyers heading into the third period but the 3-2 score was short lived.
The Flyers allowed a back breaking goal to end the second period with only six seconds remaining that made the score 4-2. Travis Sanheim turned the puck over on the half wall in the defensive zone which eventually led to the goal against. Former Flyers captain Claude Giroux stripped Sanheim of the puck and sent a pass to Brady Tkachuk in the slot, who wristed the puck by Carter Hart.
In the third period more of the same occurred from a Flyers perspective. They were outplayed in several different areas of the ice by the Senators whether that be offensively or defensively. Ultimately, Tkachuk added another power-play goal for the Senators and they managed to secure the 5-2 victory.
Final Thoughts
When analyzing the 5-2 loss it’s evident the Flyers were having trouble handling the speed of the Senators in transition. Ottawa’s speed allowed them to gain the Flyers blue line and enter the offensive zone quite easily throughout the matchup.
This led to the Senators controlling the puck far more often than the Flyers, as well as several shifts of extended offensive zone pressure. As a result, the Flyers were pinned in their defensive zone frequently which impacted their ability to create offense and transition the puck effectively up the ice. Their inability to do so consistently during the game contributed to the lack of offensive zone pressure the Flyers had within this matchup.
Another integral facet to the game was the special team’s battle. Unlike their matchup taking on the Blue Jackets the Flyers did not perform well on special teams, and this was the defining factor that explains the loss.
The Senators went 3 for 5 on their power-play opportunities and gained momentum through capitalizing on those chances. On the other hand, the Flyers went 1 for 6 on their power-play chances and gave up three goals on the penalty-kill. Overall, Philadelphia was unable to garner any momentum from their special teams and this spilled over into their 5 on 5 play.
The Flyers never had any rhythm to their offensive play in terms of consistently being able to transition the puck up ice, enter the offensive zone, and sustain puck possession for extended periods of time while attacking. Instead, they found themselves defending often in this game which is never a recipe for success.
Head coach John Tortorella notably mentioned that he thought the Flyers power-play deflated the team’s overall play and ability to create offense aside from their initial 5 on 3 goal.
The Philadelphia Flyers are now 1-1 so far on the season and will take on the Vancouver Canucks in their home opener on Tuesday, October 17th.
Interview Clips and Audio
Audio from Garnett Hathaway:
Audio from Travis Sanheim:
