Date Published: 11-3-2022
Photo Credit: Rick Osentoski/USA Today
The Flyers have surprised many people this season with their hot start, unfortunately that can all be put to bed now. They now technically lost three straight games 0-1-2 in their last three, and they are now 0-3 on the season in the second end of a back-to-back situation. Last night they lost to Toronto 5-2.
It appeared the Toronto Maple Leafs wrong life support as they entered last night’s game with a record of 4-4-2, with all that firepower they have. Fans expected more from the Leafs this season, so the Maple Leafs weren’t going to be pushovers in this game. The Flyers knew this, and it was their game plan to hit, and hit again. The Flyers finished with 45 hits for the game led by Nic Deslauriers with six, followed by Ivan Provorov with five. This was a tactic of where down your opponent, unfortunately that did not occur.
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For the past few games the Flyers have been caught in their defensive zone a lot. They have had problems maintaining the puck, to which teams have had tons of possession time, “That comes with not having the puck, and making plays,” John Tortorella said yesterday about allowing a high number of shots each game. Felix Sandström face the barrage of shots, 44 to be exact, so in this back-to-back situation the Flyers allowed 83 shots on net combined. That’s just not going to when you hockey games on most nights, as the goaltenders have stood on their heads at times.
Sandström made Point blank saves last night, and the one on Tavares that he scored on was a beautiful initial save. Unfortunately, Rasmus Ristolainen went to take the body on the fourth goal allowed. John Tavares skated to Sandström untouched, made a beautiful move to which Sandström made the initial save, but Tavares gathered the rebound and roofed it for the fourth goal for the Maple Leafs, “Obviously, we are a hard-working group,” Owen Tippett said following the game. “Back to back’s are hard but it’s not an excuse you have to be ready to play every game.”
“He’s had three starts here, and we let him out to dry,” Scott Laughton said of Felix Sandström. Laughton did bring up a great point, the Flyers committed too many penalties last night, and it gave Toronto extra possession time. It felt as though the Flyers were chasing the game, they had to stay out of the box with the arsenal of dangerous players the Maple Leafs have with a man advantage. I’ll say this again, you can only give these great players so many opportunities before they eventually cash in. The Maple Leafs just have too much talent with the likes of William Nylander, Mitch Marner, and Auston Matthews to name a few. The Flyers committed 10 penalties, to which the Maple Leafs garnered five power plays. One major key to the game was to be disciplined and the Flyers were anything but, the Maple Leafs capitalized on two of those opportunities with the man advantage.
A Positive Owen Tippett
One Flyer who’s game has grown the most is Owen Tippett. He scored a Power Play Goal (PPG) last night, and that was his second PPG of the season. However, his defensive skills have improved dramatically over the course of a season. Maybe this is due to confidence, or it might be the John Tortorella effect, regardless it’s great to see him taking that next step in his game.
Tortorella pointed to some players having that drive last night, while some others did not. Well, Tippett falls into the category of having that drive. This was his fourth game since coming back from injury, and he looked fresh.
Hopefully his recent success continues and he is able keep up his confidence. Tortorella has said over and over that the team is in need of goal scoring, so hopefully you can provide in this area. Tippett was one of the few positives, along with Tony DeAngelo and Travis Konecny’s continued success.
Going to be another long season……