Flyers show they ‘can learn much better about momentum’ in final stretch of the season
In their last seven games, the Flyers have blown multi-goal leads three times.
After letting a 2-0 lead slip away to the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night and ultimately falling, 5-3, the retooling Flyers learned they have a lot more learning to do.
The Flyers blew away their opposition in the first period, outshooting the Ducks by 16-6 and outscoring them 2-0, thanks to early goals from defensemen Travis Sanheim and Ronnie Attard. But the hosts’ momentum started to slip late in the first period after two failed power-play opportunities. It took an immediate plunge coming out of the first intermission, as the Ducks dominated puck possession in the opening minutes of the second period.
That resurgence from the Ducks wasn’t rooted in luck. They played with a renewed sense of urgency and physicality, winning the majority of their one-on-one battles at both ends of the ice. Additionally, when the Flyers did have the puck, they struggled to move cleanly through the neutral zone to get on the attack.
Those factors led to the Ducks registering the first four shots on goal of the period through three minutes, giving way to back-to-back goals from forwards Sonny Milano and Zach Aston-Reese in a span of 1, minute 32 seconds.
The Flyers can spend time picking apart the do-overs on each individual goal — perhaps they want to see more physicality from defenseman Cam York to box out Milano in front of the net on the first goal, or better execution through the neutral zone during a line change less than 40 seconds before the Ducks regained possession and scored their second goal.
But ultimately, a complete five-minute lapse changed the complexion of the game for the Flyers, from playing with the lead to fighting for it.
“We have to understand that we’re not good enough to do that,” interim coach Mike Yeo said.
In their last seven games, the Flyers have blown multi-goal leads three times — on March 27 against the Nashville Predators (gave up a 2-0 lead), on April 3 against the New York Rangers (gave up a 3-1 lead), and now against the Ducks on Saturday.
The Predators scored three straight in the second period to go up, 4-3. The Rangers scored three consecutive goals in the third period, sending the game to overtime. The Ducks scored three straight in the second period to give them a 3-2 lead.
Only the game against the Rangers ended in a victory for the Flyers, as goalie Martin Jones hung on through overtime to help center Kevin Hayes win the game in a shootout.
The Flyers may not be completely bottoming out during games like they did earlier in the season, but their periodic free falls are making their lives far more difficult.
“I think that we can learn much better about momentum, how to change it and how to keep it,” Yeo said.
That understanding of how to regain control in the midst of the action and not waiting until intermission to reset, according to Yeo, comes with experience. Five of the Flyers’ 18 skaters in the lineup on Saturday were ages 23 and younger.
As the Flyers look to regroup before embarking upon a stretch when they’ll alternate home and road games over the next week, Yeo’s message to his least experienced players is simple: You don’t have to be a hero.
“It’s not just going out and scoring a goal that turns the momentum,” Yeo said. “Obviously that’d be nice. But typically what it is, it’s winning your one-on-one battles. It could be winning faceoffs. It could be just simplifying the game a little bit, getting back on the forecheck and putting them on their heels. It could be shooting the pucks. Doing the things that generate momentum for your team.”
Despite the Ducks’ comeback, the Flyers showed some fight when they clawed back to tie the score early in the third period. They started stacking positive shifts early after a clean offensive-zone entry from defenseman Travis Sanheim and some solid forechecking work along the boards from Noah Cates helped spark momentum.
Minutes later, a give-and-go play between defenseman Ivan Provorov at the top of the left faceoff circle and center Nate Thompson below the goal line led to the game-tying goal for Provorov.
Now, it’s just a matter of learning how to sustain those habits through the entire game if the Flyers want to get the most out of their last 10 games of the season and feel better about themselves heading into the offseason.
“I think we’ve got enough veteran guys that know how to win,” Jones said. “It’s about committing to the game plan for 60 minutes and simplifying the game, especially when there’s those tense moments in the games. We’ve got to find a way to keep it simple, get pucks in behind them, and do all the little things that you need to win.”
While these games may be meaningless on paper, they’re awfully meaningful for the young players learning how to win at the NHL level and for the veterans fighting to prove they deserve to keep their jobs and be a part of the solution next season.