‘You don’t want it to just be robotic’: Collaboration and creativity helping the Flyers power play cash in

Thirty seconds into the Flyers’ first power play on Thursday night against the Arizona Coyotes, a lightbulb went off in defenseman Tony DeAngelo’s head.

DeAngelo, the quarterback of the Flyers’ top power-play unit, initiated a “one-man drop” entry into the Flyers zone, leaving the puck for center Morgan Frost in the Flyers’ zone as the Coyotes waited in a diamond formation in the neutral zone. As Frost collected the puck, DeAngelo noticed the Coyotes player closest to the bench adjust his gap in the neutral zone, allowing DeAngelo to slip past the defender unnoticed.

While DeAngelo was wide-open to receive a pass, Frost held on to the puck too long, and the option went away. The Flyers failed to score on that power play, but, when the Coyotes were called for delay of game with nine seconds remaining in the first period, DeAngelo returned to the locker room with an idea for the next man advantage.

“I said after the first, ‘Hey, let’s try to hit that wall play,’” DeAngelo said. “‘Then TK [Travis Konecny], you just go with speed, because no one’s going to be paying attention to the other side.’”

Second time was the charm for the Flyers power play — after they lost the opening draw, the Flyers regrouped in their own zone and initiated the same entry with DeAngelo dropping the puck off for Frost. Again, as both Coyotes players closest to the neutral-zone boards adjusted their gaps with their eyes on the puck, DeAngelo and Konecny slipped past them on either wing and took off. Frost banked a perfectly timed pass off the end boards, the puck bounced right to DeAngelo, and Konecny was in position to receive a feed for the backdoor goal.

The Flyers tied the game, 1-1, and never trailed again, going on to defeat the Coyotes 6-2 and extending their winning streak to four games. That play served as a reminder for coach John Tortorella as to just how important it is for players to speak up when they notice something to exploit in their opponent’s system.

“There are certain days that I don’t want to listen to a [...] person and their thoughts,” Tortorella said. “OK, I don’t. But I have to fight that. Because I don’t think it’s fair. ... I think there’s some really good information that we can learn from the players.”

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That wasn’t always the case in Tortorella’s 20-year NHL career. He recalled a vast gulf between coach and player in terms of power dynamic early in his career. But, sports have evolved to a point where the athlete and the coach have more equal footing, and Tortorella tries to empower his players to share their ideas.

The prevalence of technology in the locker room has facilitated those conversations. Players pour over iPads during intermissions, looking for flaws in their opponent’s game to capitalize on. DeAngelo consulted with assistant coach Rocky Thompson during the intermission, and Thompson gave him the green light to try the play.

“When you have five of your top offensive guys on the power play, you should have the ability to go on fly and talk to each other,” DeAngelo said. “You don’t want it to just be robotic. When it gets robotic, even the fans start to notice what’s going on. So we’ve kind of done a better job with getting a little bit out of being robots.”

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The power play still is a work in progress, as the Flyers have converted on just 16.67% of their opportunities this season (29th in the league). Dating back to the beginning of December, however, the Flyers have fared much better, scoring on 21.4% in 16 games (20th in that timeframe). DeAngelo is pleased with their improvement but acknowledged that they still have strides to make. Some of the league’s best power plays, he said, have been together for years, and while DeAngelo is an experienced power-play quarterback, he’s in his first year with the Flyers.

Defenseman Cam York, the quarterback of the Flyers’ second power-play unit, appreciated DeAngelo’s creativity and enjoyed watching the play come to fruition. That willingness to collaborate has helped the Flyers come together offensively, scoring three or more goals in their last eight games after averaging just 2.39 through the first 31 games of the season (30th).

“It’s kind of like a group project,” York said. “We’re all kind of trying to solve an equation. I wasn’t too good at math. But, yeah, it’s a fun environment. Everyone’s just trying to work together to score goals. So I feel like we’ve been doing a better job with that lately of just kind of all been on the same page and I think it’s paying off.”