Sloppy first periods have turned the Flyers into sellers | On the Fly
Over the last 20 games, the Flyers have led after the first period once, been tied four times, and have trailed a staggering 14 games.
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The Flyers aren’t dead yet, but they might be by the time the weekend is over. They used up most of their margin for error during an awful March. Now, they not only need wins, but they need help.
The trade deadline is Monday, and the Flyers have put themselves in the sellers’ market. Money is complicating things in this flat salary-cap era, which is the primary reason Shayne Gostisbehere and his $4.5 million salary went unclaimed recently when he passed through waivers.
Pending unrestricted free agents Scott Laughton and Michael Raffl are probably the Flyers’ top rental prospects: good locker-room guys, can play anywhere in the lineup, decent penalty killers. Maybe Erik Gustafsson fetches a late-round pick.
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— Ed Barkowitz (flyers@inquirer.com)
Flyers’ first periods have been murder, and there’s plenty of blame to go around
The third period of Tuesday’s loss to the Bruins has gotten plenty of understandable scrutiny. After throwing everything except the Ed Snider statue at Bruins rookie goalie Jeremy Slayman in the second period, the Flyers managed only four shots in the third.
Just as troubling was their performance in the first period. They weren’t overwhelmed, but they were outscored. Again.
The Flyers didn’t lay an egg in the third period on Tuesday. They didn’t have the energy. Instead, they left the nest empty while Boston pumped in a shorthanded goal and an empty-netter.
Over the last 20 games, the Flyers have led after the first period twice (corrected), been tied four times, and have trailed a staggering 14 games. That’s 70% of the time they have gone to the first intermission with heads hanging low, needing a rally.
“It’s a tough league to fall behind and try and come back,” coach Alain Vigneault said in the middle of this stretch.
“We can’t have 6-nothing and then we start playing,” Oskar Lindblom said after the Rangers opened the March 17 game with two in the first and seven in the second.
“You would like to start a game like that,” Gostisbehere said, referring to the Flyers’ second period on Tuesday. “There’s a little more urgency when you are down two goals and you need a big win.”
The coach will say he needs to have them better prepared. The players say it’s on them. I tend to side with the players.
“We came out [in the second period] with a vengeance,” Gostisbehere continued. “We were chipping pucks in deep, going to work, and making it hard to play against. That’s our hockey right there.”
More things to consider:
The last time the Flyers led after the first period was March 15, which is 13 games ago and two days before the 9-0 game.
They have been outscored 31-10 in the first period since March 2. They entered that night outscoring opponents 17-12 in the first 20 minutes.
They’ve given up at least one goal in 15 of their last 20 first periods. They are 7-11-2 in that span.
Bettors who enjoy wagering over 1.5 combined goals for the opening period have cashed 13 times in 20 games. That’s a 65% success rate.
Sam Reinhart, Patrice Bergeron, and Mika Zibanejad have beaten Carter Hart and Brian Elliott for goals, but so too have Riley Sheahan (three goals all season), Henri Jokiharju, and Karson Kuhlman (each with two goals all season).
Former Flyer Mark Friedman scored the first goal of his career in the first period on March 4 when this insanity all began. Maybe he put a “Hex” on the Flyers in honor of his new general manager.
Whatever’s happened, it’s ruined the Flyers’ season.
Things to know
Mike Sielski: The Flyers have reached that point that they have reached frequently over the last decade, the point at which they have to play better than they have all season just to salvage their season.
The Flyers have a math problem: too many points needed, not enough games or consistency. Sam Carchidi dissects.
Those 25 shots on goal in the second period? Yeah, we list every player here in our observations from Tuesday night’s disappointing defeat.
A picture is worth a thousand words, so here’s the equivalent of 15,000 words, courtesy of staff shooter Steve Falk’s photo gallery from Tuesday.
Video from Twitterverse: This might be the longest penalty shot of the season, if not beyond.
This and that
Item: Kevin Hayes had five shots on goal for the fifth time this season on Tuesday. It was the first time he didn’t score in one of those games.
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Item: As if Lou Lamoriello didn’t torture Flyers fans all those years he was with the Devils (1987-2015), he’ll move into second place all-time in regular-season wins by a general manager if the Islanders beat the Flyers on Thursday. It’s an odd little statistic, but one that’s pretty neat. He’s tied with Glen Sather (whose Oilers beat the Flyers twice in the Stanley Cup Finals in the 1980s) at 1,319 victories.
Only David Poile, Nashville’s GM who has yet to win a Cup, has more at 1,436. Poile’s father, Bud, was the Flyers’ first general manager. Bud Poile selected Bernie Parent in the 1967 expansion draft and took Bobby Clarke in the 1969 amateur draft, but he was gone by the time the Flyers started winning Stanley Cups.
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Item: Remaining schedules for the teams in the hunt for the final playoff spot in the East Division:
Boston (46 points, 20 games left): vs. Buffalo 6, vs. Washington 4, vs. N.Y. Islanders 3, vs. New Jersey 2, vs. N.Y. Rangers 2, vs. Pittsburgh 2, vs. Flyers 1.
N.Y. Rangers (41 points, 18 games left): vs. N.Y. Islanders 5, vs. New Jersey 4, vs. Boston 2, vs. Buffalo 2, vs. Flyers 2, vs. Washington 2, vs. Pittsburgh 1.
Flyers (41 points, 18 games left): vs. New Jersey 5, vs. Washington 4, vs. Pittsburgh 3, vs. N.Y. Islanders 2, vs. N.Y. Rangers 2, vs. Boston 1, vs. Buffalo 1.
Flyers’ next 5
Thursday: at N.Y. Islanders, 7 p.m. (NBCSP)
Saturday: vs. Boston, 2 p.m. (NBCSP)
Sunday: vs. Buffalo, 2 p.m. (NBCSP, NHLN)
Tuesday, April 13: at Washington, 7 p.m. (NBCSP, NBCSN)
Thursday, April 15: at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m. (NBCSP)
Also:
Monday, April 12: Trade deadline, 3 p.m.
From the mailbag
Seems like the head coach took a team contending for the top seed and saw it fall apart down the stretch. Tossing guys under the bus as his PP system is transparent and antiquated. All his young defenseman regressed and he has no answer to make any line work.
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This isn’t on the coach. This team has been through how many coaches? Its the GM that needs to go.
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Terrible leadership. Bad contracts to G, Jakey, Hayesy and JVR. Last three GMs including Fletch have been horrible.
Send questions or observations via Twitter to beat writers Ed Barkowitz (@EdBarkowitz) or Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) or columnist Mike Sielski (@MikeSielski).