Flyers Fan Reaction (FFR4) Gm 32: PHI 3, LA 6 – Crypto.com-inite
You gotta be Quicker than that. The Philadelphia Flyers lose, 6-3, doubled up to start 2022 by the Los Angeles Kings in their first visit to Staples Center Crypto.com Arena in two years and one day. Philadelphia’s seven-game point streak (5-0-2) comes to an end with tonight’s result; it’s their first regulation loss in twenty-four days as well.
2021 certainly did not treat the Flyers as well as they hoped it would. Philadelphia began the year as dark-horse contenders and ended it on the heels of a ten-game losing streak and fired the only coach to lead them to a playoff series victory after the most recent lockout so far while spending the middle of the year watching the playoffs from home. But when the clock struck midnight, all of that officially became a thing of the past. It’s a new year, and a new Flyers and anything is possible for them to accomplish in 2022. The change of a year can renew optimism in just about anything, after all. And the Flyers were ready to cement their recent turnaround for good.
And then the Kings scored 17 seconds into the game. Alright, 2022 is canceled, folks. It was a good run while it lasted. See you in 2023.
A way too easy wrap-around goal for Viktor Arvidsson kicked off the scoring, putting the Flyers behind early. Even though the Flyers tied the game thanks to a rebound goal by Joel Farabee, his third goal in four games since returning from injury, they never settled in defensively. The same shot prevention issues that plagued the Flyers in 2021 reared their ugly head again on New Year’s Day, with turnovers a primary culprit once again. Just look at this far too casual one by Ivan Provorov that led to Trevor Moore’s lead-restoring goal 90 seconds after the Farabee tally. It was far from their only one, as Kevin Connauton, in particular, struggled to move the puck in his return from a one-game healthy scratch on Thursday.
The Flyers cleaned up their act a bit in the second but just weren’t able to solve Jonathan Quick while the game was within reach. It wasn’t that the Flyers necessarily played poorly in this game; the first period was more of a track meet than merely a total defensive cratering. Philadelphia’s power-play looked good but couldn’t cash in on its opportunities; LA began the second on a 5-on-3 thanks to two undisciplined penalties and capitalized less than a minute into the second period. The Flyers were cleaner on their breakouts in the second, but a couple of dangerous rushes for Farabee and Travis Sanheim resulted in fanned shot attempts.
And just when the Flyers started pouring on shots and scoring chances in the middle part of the second, Brendan Lemieux got behind Connauton on a set-breakout play by Los Angeles and just barely trickled his one-handed backhander off the post and over the goal-line. The same formula played out in the third; a Kevin Hayes power-play strike cut the deficit to two, but Quick held down the fort until Phillip Danault buried a dagger off a two-on-one with just under eight minutes to play, with the Flyers third pair getting burnt once again courtesy of a failed pinch by Keith Yandle.
It all just snowballed, just like everyone said it would if they didn’t turn their underlying process around. Between somehow going 5-0-2 during a stretch where they had just a 45.67% expected goals share, the bevy of points earned almost entirely by goaltenders standing on their head (Felix Sandström against the Sharks, Martin Jones at Florida and in Vancouver, and Carter Hart too many times to count, just to name a few), and the multitude of heroic late third period comebacks, which are exciting but shouldn’t be depended on, it feels like the Flyers have already used up their fair share of luck for 2021-22.
That doesn’t mean they won’t continue to earn better results than their play deserves; one season is easily a small enough sample size for a team to dance through the raindrops to success. But it feels like we’re nearing the point where the Flyers are going to have to earn their success; forwards making themselves easier to hit on the breakout for their defense, cleaning up their in-zone play, and improving their ability to maneuver through the neutral zone, whether it’s an improved forecheck or creating lanes for controlled entries, just to name a few important issues to fix.
The Flyers aren’t in a dismal spot standings-wise; a win either on Thursday or tonight would put them in a playoff spot by raw point totals (although they and a few other teams ahead of the Bruins trail Boston in points percentage by a fairly significant gap). But their 10-game losing streak rapidly increases the urgency for the Flyers to solve these problems.
One loss doesn’t eliminate any of the various directions the Flyers could go in 2022. But for the cynical fans out there — and there are understandably many given the mediocrity that has plagued the franchise for the last decade — it’s easy to see tonight as the beginning of a referendum for the team’s present and future. If the Flyers can’t make those necessary adjustments in time, the future of Claude Giroux will eventually come into question. After all, the Flyers captain is slated to become a UFA for the first time in his career this summer; if tonight’s game is the start of a downwards trend for the Flyers, it’s easy to see Giroux waiving his no-move clause and heading to another team to chase the first Stanley Cup of his legendary career, an award which could potentially push his Hall of Fame case over the finish line.
Continuing to push forward towards contention in the immediate aftermath of a Giroux is a daunting task; so daunting that it’s reasonable to ask if it’s worth pursuing. Many of those same cynics have long clamored for a full-blown rebuild that they see as the only way to acquire the high-end talent(s) needed to push the Flyers back into the league’s group of elite teams. But that’s also a difficult path to see the Flyers taking given they signed Sean Couturier to an eight-year extension and traded for veterans on multi-year deals in Ryan Ellis as well as Cam Atkinson.
It’s a difficult dichotomy to solve. The easiest way to solve it would be not needing to solve it; by just making those improvements and turning things around in the here and now. That in itself of course isn’t easy, especially with key pieces like Ellis and Couturier sidelined. But we’re also nearing the point where Yeo’s coached enough games for the “new coach boost” to start wearing off. The long-term picture is so blurry it’s difficult to tell which way the Flyers are leaning. Tonight’s game painted a similar picture that we’ve seen for the last ten years; brief flashes of light that just aren’t sustained long enough to guide them anywhere meaningful. At least to start 2022, the Flyers are fighting an uphill battle. And the consequences of their success or failure to win that battle are likely to be severe.
Lindies
The first Flyers news of 2022 was expected but positive nonetheless; Carter Hart, Derick Brassard, and Scott Laughton were all removed from COVID protocol today; they will join the team for their game on Tuesday in Anaheim. Other than Ryan Ellis and Sean Couturier, who both also have lower-body injuries that would prevent them from playing on their own, the Flyers don’t have anyone in COVID protocol for the first time since December 13. Brassard is still battling an injury himself, so his status is still in doubt. But Laughton and Hart should be good to go on Tuesday.
The returns of Hart and Laughton (and maybe Brassard) should provide at least a bit of a boost to Philadelphia. Here’s something else that could: pretend every period they’re playing in is the third. On this road trip, the Flyers haven’t out-chanced their opponent in any first or second period. They only out-shot their opponent once: the first period against San Jose. They’ve outshot their opposition in every third period of the trip while also outscoring them 4-2 (excluding tonight’s empty-netter).
Arvidsson’s opening goal was the quickest goal to start a game by a King since the Great One himself Wayne Gretzky scored at the same time on January 26, 1991. It’s also their earliest goal in a game ever against the Flyers.
Los Angeles entered the night tied with the Islanders for the fewest first-period goals in the league with 17. Tonight was just the fourth time in 33 games the Kings have scored multiple goals in the opening twenty minutes.
When Adrian Kempe ripped in a power-play one-timer 46 seconds into the second, the Flyers fell behind by multiple goals for the first time since December 8. That was also their last regulation loss before tonight’s defeat.
Cam Atkinson picked up his 200th NHL assist as part of a three-helper night. Pretty good start to 2022 for Cam, as well as the Flyers’ entire top-line of him, Giroux, and Farabee; they were Philadelphia’s only line above breakeven in terms of expected goals (56.47%). They were also on the ice for both of the Flyers’ 5v5 tallies.
With Connauton struggling once again tonight and Yeo’s apparent lack of trust in Nick Seeler (he’s been healthy scratched in 9 of the 10 games Yeo has coached), it might be time to give Cam York a look. The Flyers’ 2019 1st round pick hasn’t had the most amazing first pro season in the AHL by most accounts (he’s also dealt with COVID). But he’s currently on the Flyers taxi-squad, which means he’s with the team for the road trip. A one-game audition couldn’t hurt too much; at the very least, it would be hard for York to be significantly worse than the alternative.
Travis Konecny is at his best when he’s playing on the edge, but he crossed it on a couple of costly occasions Saturday. First, Konecny took an unnecessary cross-checking penalty after the whistle, the first of the two penalties that led to Kempe’s de-facto 5-on-3 goal (it technically went in a second after Konecny exited the box). Then he earned ten-minute misconduct in the third period for yelling at an official about what he thought was a missed hooking call, taking him off the ice at a stage in the game where the Flyers were desperate for offense. We’ve seen Konecny get off his A-game a bit when pucks aren’t going in; namely during his goal-less 2020 playoffs performance. Perhaps tonight. is another instance of that, seeing as Konecny hasn’t scored since November 15.
One area where Yeo certainly seems to stand out compared to Alain Vigneault — timeout usage. Vigneault tended to hold on to his timeout as long as possible; he usually saved it for the traditional late-game, down a goal or two situations. Yeo’s much more aggressive with his timeout calls; he’s frequently used it to keep his top PP unit out or before a 5-on-3 to draw a play. The one he designed during his timeout in this game not only worked, but it’s something I’ve never seen before. Once the Flyers won the face-off, Martin Jones went to the Flyers bench, and the extra attacker Kevin Hayes immediately flew off the bench. Sure enough, Hayes instantly buried a one-timer from basically the same spot Kempe scored with two Flyers in the box. The definition of “so it crazy, it just might work.”
3 Stars
3rd: Trevor Moore (LA) – Goal (4), 3 Assists (5, 6, 7), 4 Shots
2nd: Phillip Danault (LA) – Goal (5), 2 Assists (11, 12)
1st: Viktor Arvidsson (LA) – 2 Goals (7, 8), 2 Assists (9, 10), 4 Shots
Next
PHI: 1/4, 10 PM @ ANA (17-10-7, L1)
LA: 1/6, 10:30 PM vs. NSH (20-11-2, W1)
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All Advanced Stats are 5-on-5 unless otherwise stated and via Natural Stat Trick
