The Flyers have a real chance to do some damage in the playoffs with how deep this team is currently structured. Fortunately, one area of improvement that has improved as the season wore on was Special Teams. The Penalty Kill is really carrying the load of the Special Teams right now, spear headed by a Coach in Mike Yeo.
Before the pause (Coronavirus) the Flyers power play was ranked 14th in the league with a success rate of 20.8%, and their Penalty Kill was ranked 11th in the league at 81.8%. 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.” He did say the Power Play would take a little longer to regain that chemistry from the long layoff.
Head Coach Alain Vigneault is never completely satisfied and that’s what makes him such a great coach. Especially, after the Flyers Penalty Killing Unit forced the Pittsburgh Penguins to finish 0-3 with the man advantage, followed by the Boston Bruins finishing 0-3, and the Washington Capitals finishing 0-4 , “We have spent a lot of time lately on our special teams, power play and penalty killing,” Vigneault said last week, “Every game is different. There are some games where you are going to get one. There are some games where you are going to get more. It has to make a difference. I thought yesterday even though we only had the one, it did make a difference. It gave us some momentum. Our penalty killing last night against one of the better teams in the NHL was very effective. It’s a start. We talked today to our group about the need to get better. We’ve gone through the different phases. That first phase in Philly, and then arriving here in Toronto and playing that exhibition game. I thought for the most part, it was what I expected. I thought the intensity was good. I believe the execution will get better. The game in conditioning will get better. We have three important games in from of us. We’re going to play them obviously to win, but also to prepare our team for that first real playoff game. Still a lot of work ahead of us.”
Vigneault understands the importance of Special Teams, but the Flyers have to start cashing in with the man advantage, “Specialty teams are a big part of the regular season and a big part of the playoffs,” Vigneault said, “On the power play, a lot of times it’s your more skilled players, your top end players, players you expect to lead the team in the right direction. Our power play, if you look at different segments that we’ve had throughout the year, our last twenty games was one the best in the league. Our penalty killing was really good. I expect that. We spent a lot of time in today’s practice on specialty teams. We’ll do some of that tomorrow. I’m very confident that our group specialty team wise is going to be ready come Game 1.”
Now the overall success of the Penalty Kill is fueled by the Goaltenders. Brian Elliott made key saves yesterday, while Carter Hart was very good in this area, as well, against the Bruins. However, the personnel deserve credit here for the successful PK in the Round Robin games featuring players like Scott Laughton, Justin Braun, Kevin Hayes, Michael Raffl, Joel Farabee, Nate Thompson, Derek Grant, Claude Giroux, Matt Niskanen, Ivan Provorov, Travis Sanheim, Philippe Myers, Tyler Pitlick, and Sean Couturier.
The Flyers Power Play will hopefully click sooner rather than later, and hopefully it’s sooner. PP1 is cycling the puck well, and have generated some nice scoring chances. They have had everything but the finish. PP2 may need some work, but I think the addition of Shayne Gostisbehere in the lineup tomorrow should help this area. Positive results will come over time, and you bet your bottom dollar this will be worked in practices leading up to August 11 (Start of the actual playoffs).
They really moved the puck well, so let’s hope the PP has some success in the future. Like Vigneault 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 2019-20 Flyers team, and knowing that is half the battle. Fortunately, the PK is killing it, they deserve much kudos.
Flyers News:
Ghost is in tonight for Robert Hagg, and Vigneault indicated he will get Power Play time tonight. Let’s hope Ghost improves the struggling Power Play tonight. He also hinted at Joel Farabee getting Power Play time tonight, as well.
