Friday Forecheck: It Starts with Hart

Each Friday on PhiladelphiaFlyers.com, we will feature a compendium of news, thoughts and analysis written by contributing writer Bill Meltzer. Here's a look at the club over the most recent stretch that saw the team earn a 3-1 win in Nashville, lose 3-0 to the San Jose Sharks and defeat the Florida Panthers, 4-3.

1. Ya Gotta Have Hart
It's not tough at all to identify the number one reason why the Philadelphia Flyers are off to a 5-2-0 start: their goaltending has been both outstanding and resilient. It's not that Carter Hart has been infallible in goal. As many as four of the 10 goals he's allowed have arguably been stoppable, although one appeared to be goalie interference (the second goal in the Vancouver game) and another was scored in a chaotic sequence early in Thursday's win against Florida.
The key with Hart is that he turns the page immediately, whether it's been after an opposing goal or following a dynamic save. He simply gets ready for the next shot. Just as importantly, once he gets locked in, he stays that way. Hart has gotten better and better as games have moved along this season. He was otherworldly in both the game last Saturday in Nashville (where he flirted with a shutout until a late, unstoppable goal and then slammed the door) and over the final 40 minutes of Thursday's home victory against Florida. It took a career-high 48 saves for Hart's team to defeat the Panthers, and he was under siege in the third period in particular.
Felix Sandström played well in the Flyers' 4-3 loss in Florida last week, and was decent in the San Jose game, although he's 0-2-0 while Hart sports a 5-0-0 record. Ultimately, though, there is simply no overstating how great Hart has been in the early going of this season. Without him, the Flyers easily could have only one win -- or even zero -- to show for the season to date. Instead, they find themselves with 10 points in the bank.
In the big picture, it is simply not sustainable for the Flyers to keep winning despite getting outshot and outchanced by as dramatic a margin as they have been in many of the periods played to date. No goalie can sustain a .947 save percentage in facing anything close to the shot volumes and bursts of high-danger chances that Hart has seen so far. Yes, there's better defensive structure in keeping plays to the perimeter and preventing back-door goals and outnumbered situations at the net that no goalie has a prayer of stopping. Even so, Hart has been the primary difference maker for Philly and it hasn't even been close, with all due respect to Travis Konecny's outstanding offensive start and the all-around play of Ivan Provorov atop the blueline corps.
2. Paying the price.
The Flyers blocked 29 shots -- eight by Provorov alone -- in front of Hart on Thursday. If one particular shift encapsulated the way the Flyers paid the price to win, it was a second period sequence in which Provorov was in considerable discomfort after blocking a shot. He was still down on the ice, as the play swung the other way. However, he recovered sufficiently to get back to his feet and break up a Florida rush before the end of his shift.
Back on opening night against New Jersey, the Flyers blocked 28 shots (eight by Provorov). To a man, the Flyers have been willing to absorb a puck to prevent it from getting on the net. They've also been willing to take a hit to get the puck to safety or make a play.
There's a downside to this: the Flyers are already a banged-up team (unrelated to injuries sustained via shot-blocking or resulting from taking a hit) and run the risk of losing players to in-game attrition. There's really no other way that this Flyers team can play, though. First of all, Tortorella demands it. Secondly, the team doesn't have the sheer firepower of many other clubs so they have to rope-a-dope, grind, get stellar goaltending and keep paying the price physically to find a measure of success.
Somehow, the Flyers won in regulation on Thursday on a night where the final shots on goal total was 51-22 to their detriment and the opponent attempting a staggering 104 shots. I've only ever seen shot attempt numbers in that range in multi-overtime playoff games not in regulation.
3. Resilience is becoming a footnote.
No one bats an eye anymore if the Flyers trail first in a game and if they trail by one or even two goals. They're already at four wins in matches where they've yielded the game's first goal (4-2-0 when trailing first and 1-0-0 when leading first). On Thursday, the Flyers were behind 1-0 and 2-1 in the first period and were utterly unphased by it. They knotted the score again before intermission and moved onward from there.
Konecny put it best.
"We're not even worried about it anymore," he said after Thursday. "We just put our heads down and keep working."
Another show of resilience: In what was still a winnable hockey game this past Saturday, Tortorella sat Kevin Hayes and Atkinson on the bench throughout the third period. Other players -- Scott Laughton, Cates, Morgan Frost, and Tanner Laczynski among them -- saw increased ice time. Philly controlled the third period and generated numerous scoring chances (after creating few for two periods) but couldn't made any headway on the scoreboard.
Even so, San Jose seemed vulnerable. They were a tired team. playing for the third time in four nights and having logged a staggering number of travel miles in October (their season started in Prague and later featured an east coast road trip after returning to the USA). Moreover, the Sharks were a fragile team, having only won a single game on the season before coming to Philly and having difficulty keeping leads.
If the Flyers could have scored even once in the third period, they'd have gotten back within a goal. It would not have been hard to imagine the Sharks wilting and ultimately failing to close the game out in regulation. Correspondingly, having leading goal-scorer Konecny and top playmaker Hayes on the ice in the third period would have improved the chances significantly of successfully pulling off such a comeback.
Tortorella chose big-picture accountability and an opportunity to get some young players an extended look in a non-blowout game over putting the pedal to the metal in a comeback bid.
Obviously, neither Hayes nor Konecny were happy about being spectators during the third period. But, rather than sulking, they moved ahead and had clutch performances as the offensive catalysts in Thursday's win against Florida.
Ultimately, their immediate bounceback from a rough night on Saturday showed some leadership by example. It's something that Frost and Wade Allison -- who spent the vast majority of the second and third periods against Florida -- can learn from and emulate. Additionally, Tortorella sent a loud and clear message by sitting Konecny and Hayes that no one is immune from being sat if they're not playing to their capabilities on a given night.
"I wanted to respond right away. It wasn't a good effort for me in the previous game - the last two games, actually - and I wanted to make sure I was doing as much as I could to help the team tonight," Konecny said after Thursday's game.
Hayes added, ""I respect everything that Torts brings to this room, I respect all of his ideas and all of his coaching staff. Obviously when you get benched, you don't agree with him. I don't think I'll ever agree with a coach that benches me. That was his decision. I turned the page immediately. It does nothing to my confidence. I'm not going to sit here and say I agree with it. I don't think anyone would ever agree with getting benched. I know what I can bring to this team and I think I've been doing it."
4. Shortening the bench
In each of the last two games, Tortorella has gone with just nine forwards for lengthy stretches. On Saturday, in addition to the aforementioned benchings of Hayes and Konecny, the Flyers had lost James van Riemsdyk to a broken finger suffered in the first period (he will undergo surgery on Friday).
On Thursday, the Flyers started the game with 11 forwards and five defensemen. Tanner Laczynski was unavailable because he and his wife, Madison, were awaiting the delivery of their first child. Just claimed off waivers at 2 p.m. by the Flyers, Kieffer Bellow was unable to make it from Long Island to Philadelphia with sufficient time to loosen up and get ready to play in the game.
On Thursday, the hook came out early for Frost and Allison. They weren't playing terribly but Tortorella said afterwards that he felt a few players -- those two and Egor Zamula being the implied parties because all three played sparingly -- looked a bit overwhelmed by the pace and pressure the Panthers were setting.
Make no mistake, either. Florida was absolutely the club that dictated the pace in both the first and third periods. One positive, though, was the Flyers didn't cough up a slew of odd-man rushes this time. In the earlier meeting in Sunrise, the Panthers shredded the Flyers in transition. The other big plus, of course, was that it was Florida that ultimately had to play catch up.
The Flyers did a slew of line combination juggling in the first period. When Frost and Allison were largely taken out of the mix for most of the final 40 minutes, the team was basically down to nine forwards for the second straight game.
I "needed to play Laughts' line and Kevin's line a lot tonight for us to compete with that team. I just think some other guys were overwhelmed," Tortorella said.
Correspondingly, the likes of Laughton (23:10), Konecny (22:14), Hayes (19:41) and Noah Cates (18:47, two blocked shots, one takeaway) absorbed heavy ice time among the forwards in Thursday's rotation. On defense, Provorov (24:56), DeAngelo (21:19) and Travis Sanheim (20:52, five blocked shots, four shots on goal). Ristolainen was eased back into the lineup, while Zamula was benched for most of the first period after two glaring turnovers. Thereafter, the young Russian defenseman was used sparingly.
It is hard for any player to go essentially a full period or more without a single shift and to be expected to jump right back into the flow of play. Allison did OK in the third period, keeping things simple. Simply being on the ice for a couple shifts, engaging physically and providing a respite for others playing higher in the night's rotation was helpful to the third period. It wasn't glamourous or dramatically impactful, but it served a helpful purpose.
Frost, on the other hand, saw his only two shifts of the period in situations where plays are expected to be made -- a 4-on-4 and the start of a power play -- and he took a slashing-the-stick penalty and had a failed entry attempt in a brief power play appearance. More specifically, Frost did get into the attack zone on a dump-in from the blueline but arrived too late to prevent a retrieval and easy clear for Florida.
Tortorella said they was not going to harshly judge the play of either Frost or Allison for not making a more positive impact when they finally did get a couple shifts. The head coach understands that it's pretty hard to get in the flow of play after such lengthy stretches of sitting.
"They suffered a little bit there, but getting Hayes, Konecny and Laughton out as much as possible against Florida.
7. More about Morgan
During his interview with Thompson, Frost also gave his views on Frost. Thompson has been developing a solid working relationship with the player, with the goal of helping the gifted but inconsistent player take his game to a higher level in the NHL.
"There's been good moments for sure," Thompson said of Frost's play in camp and through the first six games of the regular season.
"He's got a very high skill level and he's extremely fast. What Frosty needs to do more consistently is to use his legs and take better advantage of his speed; use his legs to get through the middle and be first on more pucks. There's a lot of big defensemen out there and he's not going outmuscle many of them. So he needs to get in, get the puck and get out faster with it."
This is not new information. It's been a work in progress ever since Frost turned professional. He made some headway in moving his feet better under interim head coach Mike Yeo last season and a little further progress so far with Thompson aboard as an assistant coach under Tortorella.
Keep this in mind: Prior to the last Florida game, Frost had two breakaways and two point-blank chances on the doorstep over the previous three games. Tortorella has said the player needs to finish them because offense in his number one competency. As long as the chances are coming with some regularity, they'll start going in.
Frost would not have had these scoring chance if he hadn't used his feet effectively. What Thompson wants a little more of, though, is a higher percentage of self-retrievals after chip-ins (the type of situation where Frost was unable to come up with the puck on his third period entry attempt against Florida, for example).
"I coached against Frosty in the OHL when he was with Sault Ste. Marie and I was with Windsor. He has tremendous speed when he uses it, and he can turn it on quickly," Thompson said.
By his own admission, Frost was able to get away in the OHL with often playing at a slide or even a standstill. It's been a work in progress to unlearn that habit as a default mode. It's not a question of work habits it's a question of committing to muscle memory the instinctual habit of playing faster.
In terms of pure skating speed, though, it's not as if Frost won the CHL Top Prospects Skills Showcase back in his draft year in both fastest skater with the puck and fastest skater without the puck -- against elite competition -- by accident. It's been consistently bringing that gift into game conditions that has been a protracted process with a lot of work involved both on the ice and in video study.
One area where Frost has actually made tremendous strides since turning pro has been on the defensive side of the puck, according to Thompson.
"The other night against San Jose, he was matched against Tomas Hertl. That's a big, strong forward who is very hard to contain. Morgan did a very good job," Thompson said.
Yeo made a similar observation late last season, as did Flyers assistant general manager Brent Flahr. They've seen Frost largely figure out own-zone play. This is why he's mostly remained at center, because centers carry the most two-way responsibilities on their line.
Back in his junior hockey days, Frost led the entire CHL in plus-minus (plus-70) as an 18-year-old and followed it up with a plus-33 the next year despite playing on a less-formidable version of the Soo Greyhounds with somewhat lesser linemate. Frost admits that these numbers were not necessarily the product of him having been stellar defensively. It was a reflection of puck possession dominance by his line. Individually, in back-to-back-years, Frost either won or was first-runner up in the OHL Coaches' Poll in the best stickhandler, best playmaker and smartest player categories in his team's conference.
"It's way, way different in the NHL," Frost said. "You don't have the puck nearly as much or nearly as long. So that's been a big adjustment for me. Playing a lot more without the puck. I played a little lazy in junior, to be honest. You could cheat out of the zone, even at center. You break out in a different way. Kill penalties a different way. Faceoffs are different. Defensively, I think my reads have gotten better. My coaches have been a big help. So I think I've improved, but I still have room to improve more. And, definitely, moving my feet is something I'm aware of and I'm working to be more consistent at. When you're on the ice, you're playing on instinct. I've done a lot of work on how to react in the moment. A lot of it just confidence, and I think that's gotten better."
Final note: Frost and Noah Cates are tied for the lead in takeaways among Flyers forwards with four apiece (although Frost leads in takewaways relative to ice time). Both players are on the positive side of their giveaways vs. takeaways ratios so far, which is a good side.
So, too is the fact, that Frost has pushed himself a bit out of his comfort zone in physical engagement. He has 11 credited hits through seven games. He'll never be -- or be expected to be --a crusher but he's become more competitive in that department as he's gained muscle and confidence. By comparison, the much bigger and stronger Hayes has three credited hits in seven games to date, Cates has six. As expected, Scott Laughton has 19 to lead the players the Flyers have used at center. Lukas Sedlak has three in his three games so far as a Flyer.
8. The Cates Case
Noah Cates arrived at the pro level late last season as a mature and NHL-ready player. But he, too, has been making adjustments.
In terms of his strictly defensive play, Cates has been very solid. That was why Tortorella moved him from left wing to center (where he had some previous experience, but not a huge amount). It was expected that Cates would have some trouble in the faceoff circle as a rookie, and he has (34.2 percent won of 111 draws).
More importantly, though, the move to center had a negative effect on Cates' forechecking game, which is one of his main strengths. The center is the last forward to exit the defensive zone in most cases. It's the responsibility of a winger -- more commonly the left winger -- to be the first forward in on the forecheck (the F1). The center also needs to focus on tracking plays and needs to leave the offensive zone first among the forwards and get back to cover in timely fashion.
As a winger, it's easier to shift gears from defense to offense just a little faster than as a center. The lessened forechecking opportunities has played a role in why Cates has a meager five shots on goal through seven games despite receiving a lot of ice time. The hope, now that he's back at wing, is for the player to regain some offensive confidence.
Cates has played very well so far. But if he's going to stay in the top six of the forward rotation for the long haul, he'll need more than one point and five shots on goal per seven games. The move back to wing should help.