Date Published: 1-27-2023
The Flyers are 9-4-2 in their last 15 games, while outscoring their opponents 48-43 since December 29, 2022. They are also tied for fifth in the NHL in wins during this span, per the Flyers. Fortunately, one area of improvement that has improved as the season wore on are Special Teams and in particular the Penalty Kill. The Penalty Kill is really carrying the load of the Special Teams right now, spear headed by a Coach in Brad Shaw.
There were some key factors that led to a dreadful Penalty Kill to at least start the season, injuries and a new coach to adapt to. However, Travis Konecny, Noah Cates, and Rasmus Ristolainen seem to have sparked this unit here as of late. Travis Konecny understands the importance of a successful special teams unit, “The Penalty Kill, they’re doing well right now. It’s easy to get frustrated when the power play’s not going well, but if you look at if from the other side of the coin, that means our PK right now is right where it should be and improving.”
In 13 games since the start of 2023, the Flyers boast an 84.8% Penalty Kill percentage (28-of-33), which is good for fourth in the NHL over that span. The team is also 12 of 15 (80.0%) on the Penalty Kill in their last four games. Talk about a team improving, and it has fueled the Flyers point surge recently as they have earned points in 16 of their last 25 games (12-9-4).
Head Coach John Tortorella is never completely satisfied and that’s what makes him such a great coach. “The first ten minutes of the game I thought we were going to lose 10-0,” Tortorella said following the game against Los Angeles. “They just looked so much faster than we were. This is what I like about the team the past couple of nights – I think we found our game, started skating. Just like the other night, we come back being down 3-0. We just stayed with our game. I thought we played a good game. I thought we worked our ass off against a really good team. I thought we were going to score there at the end. He makes a great save, and they go down and score. No bitches about our game for me.”
Tortorella understands the importance of Special Teams, but the Flyers have to start cashing in with the man advantage, “We knew it was going to take some time,” Tortorella exclaimed. “I’ll put it this way: the most important part of our job right now, as we just met with the team to show them some tape, it’s a game of results. We have to get results. That’s what goes in the paper the next day, the points or no points. We’re going to coach the team and present ourselves to the team, how they are playing. That’s how we’re gonna go about it.”
Tortorella continued, ““Our power play has been ‘Knock on wood’ very important, just to keep us in the game, to get a goal to allow us to stay in it. Carter has played very well to give us an opportunity. That’s his job.”
Now the overall success of the Penalty Kill is fueled by the Goaltenders. Carter Hart made key saves on Thursday against the Wild, while Hart was very good in this area, as well, against the Los Angeles Kings. However, the personnel deserve credit here for the successful Penalty Kill featuring players like Scott Laughton, Rasmus Ristolainen, Travis Konecny, Noah Cates, Ivan Provorov, Travis Sanheim, Nick Seeler, and Nic Deslauriers
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They really moved the puck well well short-handed believe it or not, so let’s hope the PK continues to have some success in the future. Like Tortorella and Konecny both stated this is not an overnight process, the coaching staff and players are well aware of this. The good thing is they are very well aware that a successful Special Teams run will dictate the overall success of the 2022-23 Flyers team, and knowing that is half the battle. Fortunately, the PK is fueling the Flyers recent point surge, they deserve much kudos.
