Flyers falter in second period vs. Boston, lose third straight preseason game, 4-0

BOSTON — Good teams have good second periods, assistant coach Brad Shaw said Wednesday, and, clearly, the Flyers don’t qualify yet after posting their second sluggish second period in a row during their 4-0 loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday.

Initially, the Flyers looked like they had cleaned up their performance after Wednesday’s game, which stunk so bad coach John Tortorella made sure to repeat it four times in four different ways.

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They were killing plays in the defensive zone quickly and making crisp passes to move the puck through the neutral zone and into the offensive end. While there were some mistakes, players were putting in extra effort to make up for them.

“I thought our first period was fantastic,” Shaw said. “Pretty much everything we wanted from our team. And then Boston picked it up a little bit, but I thought we took our foot off the gas. I really think we let them back in. And that’s a dangerous thing.”

After winning the shot battle 8-2 in the first, they were outshot 13-5 in the second. They played tired, and, as a result, fell behind 1-0. They weren’t able to bounce back in the third, spending too much time in the defensive zone. It completely killed their momentum, and the Bruins seized the opportunity. In the third period, Boston scored three unanswered goals, including an empty-netter.

Noah Cates has been the talk of training camp, but close behind every mention of Noah comes praise for his older brother Jackson as well. While Noah, 23, has earned the organization’s appreciation because of his knack for doing the little things right, Jackson has been lauded for his fitness and his consistency.

But the praise always comes with an asterisk — all of those strong performances have come while the two of them were playing side-by-side.

» READ MORE: Cates brothers’ unbreakable bond has carried them from their Minnesota basement to the Flyers

“Maybe sometimes you get a little more familiarity with a sibling like that,” Shaw said.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms coach Ian Laperrière added, “They’re brothers — that’s probably why.”

But on Saturday, the Flyers split them up. Noah skated with Morgan Frost, with whom he logged significant time last season, and Tyson Foerster, while Jackson centered Hayden Hodgson and James van Riemsdyk. Jackson and Noah even were split up on the penalty kill. It took some getting used to — Noah said when they called for Jackson’s line, he jumped up — but it also let them demonstrate different aspects of their games.

Individually, each made some noticeable plays. In five-on-five play and on the power play, Noah stood out by creating good scoring opportunities and showcasing his playmaking ability. Meanwhile, Jackson killed an early Bruins power play with a takeaway that led to a Bruins penalty. However, it took some getting used to.

“it’s just kind of pro hockey, it’s gonna happen,” Noah said. “Lines change a lot, so, gotta get used to it, you know, can’t get too attached any one player or whatnot. So I like playing with him, and, you know, I’ll be fine not playing with him.”

By the time the season rolls around, the penalty kill will be well prepared. Through three preseason games, the Flyers went on the penalty kill 12 times. Saturday, they added four more to maintain their average of four shorthanded opportunities per game.

For the purpose of evaluating players’ performances on special teams and teaching systems, it’s been good practice.

“I thought our penalty kill took a huge stride today as far as pressure reads and as far as the little things that we talked about before the game,” Shaw said.

But for a team that’s been sprinting nonstop through training camp, playing shorthanded has only tired them more.

Before the two second-period penalty kills (and Zack MacEwen’s fighting major), the team was playing its strongest game of the preseason. Their slow second was not helped by the penalties. And when they tried to come back in the third, they quickly went on the penalty kill again, snuffing out any potential momentum.

“I think when you give up a power play goal, I think they’re demoralizing,” Shaw said. “I want to have the penalty kill be a momentum sort of infuser for us.”

One of Tortorella’s first orders of business as Flyers coach was to tell Kevin Hayes he was going to be hard on him. In response, Hayes came out hard on Saturday in front of his and Tortorella’s hometown crowd.

Hayes, who said the only good thing about his first preseason performance was that he was feeling healthy, has created offense in the past with his large frame and skill. He showed that off early Saturday, as well, setting up opportunities on offense and on the power play.

More notably, Hayes also performed well in other aspects of the game. He made one strong defensive play late in the first when he retreated quickly to the defensive zone and got his stick and body in the right position to break up a Bruins attack. He also contributed on the penalty kill, aggressively forechecking to make it hard for the Bruins to get set up.

However, as the team faltered, so did Hayes’s game. As the Flyers dug themselves into a deeper hole, Hayes’ performance, or lack thereof, contributed to the third goal. The center was caught napping in the defensive zone, losing his man, John Beecher, at the back post as Beecher redirected Derek Forbort’s pass with his skate to make it 3-0 Boston.

Goals 2 and 3 were kinda mostly my fault,” Hayes said. “And I know it’s preseason, but that stuff can’t happen. And I thought up until that point, I played pretty well.”

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The Flyers travel to Long Island on Sunday for their second game of a back-to-back. Puck drop against the New York Islanders is set for 7 p.m.