The Philadelphia Flyers lost a tight match on the road against the Seattle Kraken in overtime by a score of 2-1. Though just a single point could go a long way for the Flyers, they would’ve liked to be victorious in this one. What were some takeaways from the defensive showdown?
Even Strength Offense Needs to Step Up
While the Kraken and Flyers alike didn’t generate much even-strength offense, Philadelphia needed their scorers to perform to win this game. The Flyers weren’t outplayed necessarily, but they didn’t get enough chances to warrant chalking away this loss as bad luck. They were certainly competitive, but the two points were not earned and thus not acquired.
The only goal scored by Philadelphia was on the penalty kill by Travis Konecny, who notched his fourth shorthanded goal of the season. It’s a good sign to see the penalty kill buzzing again, but that was essentially canceled out by their inability to do anything offensively aside from that.
The Flyers have had games in the past where they have generated plenty of offense, but they just had rotten luck finishing-wise. That was not the case here and hasn’t been the case for a while. When the Flyers haven’t scored goals — especially during the month of December — they haven’t been getting the scoring chances required to make them a tough team to play. Their responsible defense and reliable goaltending should do much of the heavy lifting for the rest of the season, but the even-strength offense has to show up for the wins to come.
Not too long ago, the Flyers were getting prime scoring opportunities every game, regardless of how much they actually scored in said game. Their ability to play well defensively and also generate offense is what made them such a good team early on. The difference recently has been that their defense and goaltending have both taken a step in the right direction, but the offense has slipped.
The fact that the Flyers didn’t score at even strength isn’t the issue, but instead, their absence of chances. If they can get that sorted out, the goals will come naturally, and this will be a worry of the past.
Tight Defensive Games Will Go Either Way
To give just a little more credit to the Flyers, their defense had an exceptional game. If anything, it was one of the major reasons why they had a chance entirely. The Kraken, a team sitting eighth in the NHL in expected goals against, were clearly going to be a bit of a challenge for the Flyers to score against.
On the other hand, the Flyers are the fifth-best team in the NHL in expected goals against, so a tight defensive game was in order. Philadelphia cannot be expected to win a large majority of games that are decided by just a few errors. They were the ones that came up short this time, but their loss, in general, isn’t something to fret about. The Flyers cannot win every game that turns out like their match with the Kraken.
With how good the Flyers are defensively, they’re going to have games where neither team can score. This will especially be the case as they play great defensive teams like the Florida Panthers, Boston Bruins, and New York Rangers more often as the season moves along.
Related: Flyers’ Defense Corps Could Change After Trade Deadline
Considering the Flyers are ahead of schedule in terms of clinching a potential playoff spot, they can afford to split tight defensive games. It’s not ideal to have a game where neither team can score, but they are important learning experiences. Cruising to victories is nice, but there will be times when an offensive unit that lacks defining star power cannot score enough. The Flyers are limited in that way, so they’ll just have to make do.
Flyers Need Better Coverage in Overtime
The Flyers didn’t lose to the Kraken solely because of their overtime mishap, but it was uncharacteristic of them in a game in which they played tremendous defense. Defender Rasmus Ristolainen has taken a big step in the right direction this season, but some of his play from his yonder years came back when he lost his man in overtime, setting up a tap-in goal for defender Justin Schultz.
Ristolainen absolutely shouldn’t be scapegoated, but his misunderstanding of who his man was serves as a teaching point for the entire team — not just himself. The Flyers still might have lost the game anyway, but a needless goal resulted because of some poor coverage. With less margin for error at 3-on-3 versus a standard 5-on-5, mistakes are heightened in the extra frame.
The Flyers have played well in overtime overall, but they haven’t been perfect defensively. Their loss here was a pretty egregious example of what happens when players are left wide-open, so it is unlikely for a team coached by a preacher of responsibility like John Tortorella to make that same silly mistake again. If they don’t learn, it could become a pattern.
Flyers Could Use Revamped Fourth Line
It was excusable early in the season — and frankly, still is now — but the Flyers’ fourth line has not played nearly good enough to be kept together as it is. While they rarely allow goals against them, they are frequently hemmed in their defensive zone, desperately trying to survive and get to the bench. Nothing usually comes of these incidents, but if a line is spending most of its time in its zone, there’s a problem. Led by forwards Nicolas Deslauriers, Scott Laughton, and Garnet Hathaway, the Flyers might want to consider revamping their bottom line.
The individuals on the Flyers’ fourth line are all capable when separated, but they haven’t played well enough together, outscored 5-2 as a trio this season. Multiple times every game, they get trapped and are being outworked. They almost always manage to live to tell about it, but that’s not a recipe for success.
The Flyers have bodies in the American Hockey League (AHL) that they can call upon just to experiment with some new things, although that’s unlikely to happen. At the very least, they should be considering spicing up the fourth line if it continues to be a liability on more shifts than it proves to be a worthwhile unit it ice.
On Dec. 31, the Flyers will close out the calendar year on the road against the Calgary Flames. Their 14-16-5 record makes them an easy team to overlook, but the Orange and Black will have to bring all they have to end 2023 on a strong note.