NEW YORK -- With his scoring slump moving past the 100-game mark, forward Matt Read has taken on a new philosophy for how to start delivering some goals for the Philadelphia Flyers.
"I'm trying to get into the habit of learning to score again," Read told NHL.com.
It's been a process.
Read has no goals in the past 10 games, one in the past 19, three in 24 games this season and only 11 in the past 104 games. His prolonged slump has come after he scored 22 goals in 75 games in 2013-14, which was part of the 57 goals he scored in his first 196 games from 2011-14.
He scored on 15.1 percent of his shots (57 of 378) in his first three seasons; he has scored on 5.9 percent of his shots since (11 of 187).
"I feel like I'm getting Grade A opportunities every game, but haven't gotten a bounce or put it past the goalie," Read said. "I just gotta keep going, keep setting my linemates up. If you're working hard and trying to be the hardest-working guy on the ice, sometimes that's going to go a long way toward helping your team win a game."
Read helped the Flyers in their 3-1 win against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. He pass out of the defensive zone sent forward Wayne Simmonds in for a breakaway goal. He was also on the ice for center Sean Couturier's goal.
The assist on Simmonds' goal was Read's first point since scoring against the Winnipeg Jets on Nov. 7.
He's shooting more often in games now too. Read has seven shots in the past two games and 14 in the past five (2.8 per game) after getting only 31 shots through his first 19 games (1.63 per game).
"But it's about being in the right spots and finding that confidence to have the idea of getting your eyes up and picking a corner rather than just shooting as quickly as you can and gripping the stick as tightly as you can," Read said. "If you're frustrated and gripping the stick too tight that's when errors and bad things happen. Definitely can't worry about it, just gotta keep playing."
And learning, or in Read's case, re-learning.
"I work every practice to try to score every shot I have," Read said. "If it's after warmups or every drill, I try to score every time."
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