Poor game management continues to ‘bite’ the inexperienced Flyers

DENVER — By playing within their structure and with confidence, the Flyers scored four goals and dominated the pace of Sunday’s game against the Arizona Coyotes. But as has been the story so often, it ended in defeat. Why weren’t they victorious?

It all comes down to game management, coach John Tortorella said Tuesday after reviewing the game again. The decision-making, both in regulation and in overtime, put the Flyers in a predicament where their positives were canceled out.

» READ MORE: Overtime problems will crush Flyers’ hopes of being competitive if they’re not fixed

“That’s the biggest thing we need to improve on right now,” Tortorella said.

They had a strong offensive showing, scoring more than three goals for just the seventh time season. They also played well defensively for the most part. But their few breakdowns ended up in the back of the net.

Tortorella specifically pointed to the Coyotes’ last regulation goal. Tied 3-3 in the third, the Flyers gifted Arizona the lead via a breakaway goal. Before the puck even dropped, the Flyers made bad decisions. Their faceoff alignment was wrong, Tortorella said. Then Travis Konecny took an ill-advised shot from the point through traffic. It was blocked up high and Coyotes forward Nick Ritchie immediately went the other way to make it 4-3.

“The times that you’re not dead on, you just can’t get hurt,” Tortorella said. “Sooner or later, there’s going to be some bad minutes in the game. It’s just managing those times.”

Overtime ended after another poor decision. Tortorella has placed an emphasis on puck possession in the extra session, and the Flyers were dominating it. Then defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen needlessly dumped the puck. After having the puck and generating quality scoring chances throughout overtime, the Flyers began the next shift at a disadvantage because they had to defend. Within seconds, the game was over.

“It just seems like we have control of most of the games or are in the games, and we seem to have one breakdown or one mistake that usually seems to bite us and ends up in the back of our net,” defenseman Travis Sanheim said.

The thing is, decision-making and game-management skills are developed through time and experience. The recent return of veteran James van Riemsdyk from finger surgery should help.

“He’s a player that can teach along the way during the game for these guys,” Tortorella said. “That’s the key with him. He himself is playing really well, but I also think he can help out some other guys.”

Every time you start a shift, there are many factors to consider. Van Riemsdyk said you need to be aware of the score, the time left, and the faceoff location, among other things. One of the biggest things he’s learned during his 14 NHL seasons is that it’s not just about what you should do in certain situations — it’s also about what “you definitely don’t want to do.”

The 33-year-old van Riemsdyk is the oldest forward on a team with six active forwards 25 years old or younger. Even the defensemen are relatively young. So some of this can only be learned by trial and error over time.

“And you hope that with these lessons that guys pick up right away and they don’t happen or happen less frequently,” Sanheim said.

In overtime, teams typically send out two forwards and a defenseman to try to secure the second point. Tortorella tried that. It didn’t work.

So he decided to shake things up on Friday. Heading into overtime against the Vegas Golden Knights, and with an 0-5 record in games that went past regulation on the season, he sent out two defensemen and one forward.

“It was a little bit of a surprise,” Sanheim said.

The Flyers dropped that game, but Tortorella deployed the same strategy again two nights later against the Coyotes. They lost that game, too, but he’s still confident this is the right strategy for this team.

“At three-on-three, there’s a lot of open ice,” Tortorella said. “Right now I just don’t feel comfortable with the pairs of forwards and one D as far as defending it. ... When we’ve tried it with the two D and a forward, we’ve had the puck more and I think we’ve been in better position to get the puck back, so that’s kind of how we’re going about it.”

The Flyers practiced three-on-three overtime situations at morning skate on Tuesday. Sanheim said the biggest difference in having two defensemen out there is when they’re defending and knowing who to pick up. Provorov said they focused on that, as well as making sure they keep opponents to the outside while on defense during overtime.

After combining for three goals and 10 points against the Coyotes, Morgan Frost, van Riemsdyk, and Owen Tippett will be the top line for the Flyers’ game against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night (9 p.m.). ... Felix Sandström was the first goalie off the ice at morning skate, suggesting he will start. ... Winger Cam Atkinson skated with the team but is still not ready to play.