Process Improved but Scoring Remains Elusive

The Flyers wrapped up a five-game homestand with a 2-3-0 record. There were signs of progress in HOW the team played on the whole but wins remain elusive. The Flyers have only won two of their last 15 games.

The team's 4-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning was pretty resounding, especially in a lopsided second period in which the Flyers were hemmed in for much of the frame.However, the other two losses in the homestand -- 3-2 to the New Jersey Devils and 4-1 to the Washington Capitals -- were winnable games in which the Flyers' ongoing struggles to convert scoring chances into goals proved fatal.
In last Saturday's game against New Jersey, the Flyers by far had the better of the play from a territorial standpoint for the first two periods. A tentative start to the third period, which saw the Flyers cough up two goals that Carter Hart would have wanted back, suddenly put the Flyers in a two-goal hole. Philly drew back within one goal and later had a would-be tying goal disallowed for goaltender interference.
The Flyers significantly outplayed the Devils in a scoreless first period. Philly also had an edge in play in the second period but never led. The two teams traded off goals by Fabian Zetterlund (PPG) and Travis Konecny (PPG).
In the third period, two early goals by Dawson Mercer and Jack Hughes propelled the Devils to a 3-1 lead. The Flyers drew back within 4-3 on a Lukas Sedlak tally. A potential tying goal by Joel Farabee was immediately waved off for goalie interference by Morgan Frost.
Hart saw just 18 shots for the game, stopping 15. Akira Schmid got the win for New Jersey, stopping 31 of 33 shots.
In the game against Colorado, the Flyers exploded for five goals and 12 different players recorded at least one point. It was the team's first five-goal game since Nov. 8 against St. Louis (5-1 home win) and just the fourth game all season in which the Flyers mustered four or more goals.
On Wednesday against Washington, the Flyers limited the Capitals (according to the calculations of head coach John Tortorella) to 11 bonafide scoring chances for the entire game. Hart did his part, holding Washington to two unstoppable goals. Unfortunately for the Flyers, their offensive woes returned after a one-game respite.
Kevin Hayes (9th goal of the season) notched a power play goal at 15:46 of the first period. For just the fourth time all season, Philly took a lead to the first intermission. On the Hayes goal, Konecny missed a shot. Hayes retrieved the puck, moved laterally up high in the offensive zone and threaded a shot that found the net.
Washington's T.J. Oshie (5th) answered with a power play marker of his own at 3:51 of the second period. The score remained tied until near the midpoint of the third period.
In the final stanza, Dylan Strome (6th) scored on a deflection at 9:19 to put Washington ahead. Strome radically changed the trajectory of the puck, which seemed to headed wide of the far side -- Hart stuck out his stick in case it was reachable -- and then went on net to the goalie's glove side. The sequence started with a failed clearing opportunity for Sedlak.
The Flyers came close to tying the game on a subsequent power play but Hayes tucked a would-be goal off the near-side post. Hayes had beaten goalie Charlie Lindgren to the post and received a tape-to-tape dart of a pass from Frost. Everything was there but the finish.
Later Alex Ovechkin scored two empty net goals (14th and 15th) at the 18:25 and 19:51 marks to turn it from a one-goal victory for Washington to a three-goal margin. A frustrated Travis Konecny confronted Ovechkin after the latter empty netter for what he seemed to perceive as Ovechkin showboating by taking the puck all the way to the net for a tap-in. Konecny received a 10-minute misconduct with the outcome already sealed.
Ultimately, the Flyers played "well enough to lose" to New Jersey and Washington. The structure was better. The breakouts were cleaner. The forecheck was more effective both up ice and the neutral zone. The special teams showed desperately needed signs of improvement (see below). But when a team cannot score, it leaves itself with no margin for error.
"Confidence is hard to teach, offensively," Tortorella said. "We're going to lock in the other (off-puck) part. That's encouraging to me because it's the hardest part and we've been improving in that aspect."
Three straight games with a PPG
Entering the game against New Jersey, the Flyers were mired in an 0-for-19 (eventually 0-for-20) drought on the power play. For the season, the Flyers were ranked dead last in the 32-team NHL with an anemic 13.3 percent success rate. It wasn't just the lack of goals but the massive struggles in gaining entries, getting set up and moving the puck that were of major concern.
However, starting with the Devils game, the Flyers have notched at least one power play goal in each of the last three games. Philly was 1-for-3 against the Devils, 2-for-3 against the Avalanche and 1-for-3 against the Capitals to go 4-for-9 overall. Even when the Flyers didn't cash in with a goal, most of their power plays over the last three games have generated extensive attack zone time, creative puck movement and looks at the net.
For the season, the Flyers have pulled their power play up to 16.7 percent overall. It's still only good enough to rank 29th in a league where 25 of the 32 teams have scored on at least 20 percent of their power plays. This continues a trend in recent years where power play scoring rates have climbed across the league. The league median this season is 22.5 percent success. Just five years ago, a 22.5 percent success rate on the power play was good enough to rank 7th leaguewide and the Flyers ranked 15th at 20.7 percent.
The Flyers still have a long way to go to climb back to respectability by today's power play standards -- there's a whole lot of catching up to do -- but at least there have been some positives to build off in the last week after the PP was an utter black hole for weeks on end.
The Flyers have not won the overall special teams battle in three straight games yet this season. However, they are now on a three game streak of at least not LOSING the combined special teams battle (power play output, penalty killing success, plus or minus any shorthanded goals scored/yielded). The Flyers were a special teams plus-one against New Jersey (3-for-3 PK, 1-for-3 PP), plus-one against Colorado (4-for-5 PK, 2-for-3 PP) and broke even against the Capitals (3-for-4 PK, 1-for-3 PP).
The Flyers' PK itself was pretty good over the last three games in terms of denying entries, getting sticks and bodies in the lane, getting needed saves from the goalies when they had a reasonable chance at a save, blocking shots and getting needed. The issue was the sheer number of times the Flyers put themselves shorthanded, especially against Colorado and the first 22-plus minutes (four minor penalties taken) of the Washington game. There are still too many needless penalties taken by the Flyers. Eventually, they'll get burned, and that's what happened against the Caps.
For the season, the Flyers rank 29th in the NHL with a 75.8 percent success rate on the penalty kill. The PK had a major downturn in November to early December after ranking 8th overall at 82.9 percent through the season's first 12 games. From an eye-test standpoint, the PK has looked a lot better structurally over the last few games but, just as with the power play, there's plenty of room for improvement over a much longer sample size than the very recent uptick. This includes showing better discipline and enforcing accountability for players who repeatedly take needless penalties.
Although the Flyers dodged a bullet on the first three Washington power plays on Wednesday, they had to expend a lot of energy to do so, and it took the players who do not play on the penalty kill out of the rhythm of the game. It also, in the bigger picture, did a favor to a Caps team that was at the end of a grueling six-game road trip.
"Four penalties in, what, the first [23] minutes of the game? Yeah. Offensive zone penalties, A neutral zone penalty. We're still in the game. It's one team that's been on the road for a while and it's one team that's been at home for too long. That's the kind of game you get. It comes down to a third period. They beat us in the third period," Tortorella said.
Vital Personnel Returning
The Flyers are far from the NHL's only banged-up team at present but they've been one of the league's hardest-hit clubs. To date, inclusive of the Washington game on Thursday, the Flyers have lost 156 man-games to injury.
At least the team has started to get some key personnel back in the lineup. James van Riemsdyk returned to the Flyers after a 20-game absence due to a broken right index finger. He recorded two shots on goal and was credited with one hit in 12:47 of ice time. JVR's return follows those of Travis Konecny (six games missed) and Scott Laughton (four games missed).
Cam Atkinson (upper-body injury) practiced with the team on Tuesday but, as of this writing, remains unavailable to play. On Wednesday, he missed his 27th game of the season. Atkinson is not on IR, however. He has technically been on the active roster all season.
Wade Allison remains on IR with an oblique muscle strain and hip pointer, He has missed 13 games to date. Allison is doing rehab skating but has not yet rejoined the team for practice.
Tanner Laczynski was placed on IR on Tuesday due to a lower-body injury sustained in the third period of the Colorado game. He is out on a week-to-week basis. It will be awhile until he's well enough to begin the rehab skating and reconditioning part of the return-to-play process.
Playmaking prospect Bobby Brink is still on target to make a late December or early January return from off-season hip surgery. He's been working out in Allentown with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. When he's cleared to play, Brink is slated to play for the Phantoms. There is no specfic timetable for an NHL recall. That will be determined by how the player performs -- and how he feels -- but it'll probably take some time to fully recover his game after missing all of training camp and entire NHL and AHL seasons to date.
Sean Couturier will be on IR for several more months after undergoing back revision surgery. He is hoping for clearance to play by some point in early to mid March. He last played in a game on Dec. 18, 2021.
Chuck Fletcher confirmed recently that defenseman Ryan Ellis will remain on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) for the duration of the 2022-23. Over the last two seasons, he has missed all but four games, of which three were the first three games of the 2021-22 schedule. Ellis is still dealing with a multi-symptom chronic injury that affects his entire core including his lower abdomen, pelvic, groin, lower back and hip areas. It's never improved sufficiently to work up to a return to play.