The final 40 minutes of the game were atrocious for the Flyers: Their scoring woes continued. Their off-puck play and compete level disintegrated. It was unacceptable.
Zach Bogosian (1st goal of the season) gave Tampa an early lead. In the second period,an even strength goal by Steven Stamkos (10th) and a delayed penalty tally by Corey Perry (1st) built a 3-0 edge.Alex Barré-Boulet (3rd) made it 4-0 in the third period.
Carter Hart was left to fend for himself far too often after the first period. He finished the game with saves on shots. Andrei Vasilevskiy was tested in the first period and then barely broke a sweat most of the remainder. He earned a 34-save shutout.
The Flyers went 0-for-1 on the power play. They were 2-for-2 on the PK.
TURNING POINT
The Flyers played a decent first period but trailed 1-0 at intermission. They appeared to be hanging by a thread even before Stamkos' goal made it 2-0 but things rapidly went downhill from there. The Flyers got outskated, outhustled and outcompeted even when Tampa had a commanding lead.
MELTZER'S TAKE
1) The last thing the Flyers needed was to find themselves chasing the game early but they yielded the first goal just 2:28 into the game. Bososian blasted a scorching point shot that went off the post and into the net; possibly with an inadvertent screen from Nick Seeler. The assists went to Mikhail Sergachev and Patrick Maroon.
2) It took the Flyers some time to get rolling from a positive puck possession standpoint but they eventually established favorable underlying numbers in the opening period -- 59.47 percent five-on-five shot attempt share at 5-on-5, 12-8 scoring chance edge, 5-1 high danger chance edge, 15-for-28 on faceoffs -- but couldn't solve Vasilevskiy. Derick Brassard took only four shifts in the first period and then left the game with a lower-body injury.
3) The Flyers took a 1:48 carryover power play into the second period. They were unable to gain entries and get set up. This has become a serial issue.
At 6:43, the most dangerous player on the ice, Tampa's Stamkos, was left unmarked and scored from point blank range.Bogosian and Ryan McDonagh. Later, the Flyes' fourth line on the ice and a delayed penalty on Philadelphia upcoming, Perry was able to step out of the corner, move across and score from near the net.
4) Second periods have been a nearly chronic problem for the Flyers all season, and this game was no exception. Shots were 15-8 in Tampa's favor. and Tampa had a whopping 74.2 percent shot attempt share at 5-on-5, a 15-0 scoring chance edge and 9-0 high danger chance advantage. In short, it was complete dominance by Tampa.
5) Tampa had a territorial edge for the first six minutes of the third period. There were several icings. Finally after a Flyers' icing, Stamkos won a right-circle draw to Barré-Boulet, who immediately snapped a shot over Hart. At the other end of the ice, Zack MacEwen was one of the few Flyers creating any semblance of positive plays.
