The Philadelphia Flyers extended their winning streak to three games with their 4-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes on the road. Improving to a 14-10-2 record on the season, what are some takeaways from the Flyers’ victory?
Flyers’ Penalty Kill is Historically Dominant
The Flyers’ penalty kill this season gets its praise, but it probably still isn’t enough. Travis Konecny scored his third shorthanded goal of the season in this game, moving the club’s total goals on the penalty kill to seven. As a whole, their dominance hasn’t been matched by any other team in recent memory. Assistant coach Brad Shaw has created something special with it.
On top of the Flyers’ seven shorthanded goals through 26 games, they have only given up eight goals at 4-on-5. This means that they are scoring 46.7 percent of their overall goals when down a man. Somehow, they have a higher share of goals on the penalty kill than nine teams do at 5-on-5, notably including the Tampa Bay Lightning and New Jersey Devils. Since 2008-09, no team has ever outscored another at 5-on-5 when shorthanded at 4-on-5 in a season, much less nine of them. Right now, the Flyers have one of the most ludicrous penalty kills in history.
The Flyers’ pace probably isn’t sustainable if no team has come close to where the Flyers are in recent memory, but the sample also includes both the 48-game 2012-13 season and 56-game 2020-21 season. Twenty-six games into the season, the Flyers are riding an unprecedented run. It’s likely to end at some point, but their numbers have never been seen at the NHL level.
Flyers’ Defense Frustrating Good Offenses
Arizona’s offense is no gimme to deal with. Scoring 3.24 goals per game after the conclusion of their match with the Flyers, they rank 13th in the stat for the season. The Flyers’ defense was a big reason why the Coyotes were unable to get much going offensively. Whenever they found some open space, it closed almost immediately. Collectively, the Flyers seem to have found the golden ticket to shutting teams down.
Goaltender Carter Hart did have a good game for the Flyers, but the defense was a big story. It seemed as though whenever Arizona was getting open space and about to get a nice look for a shot, it was immediately taken away. The Flyers are great at swarming the puck carrier and closing off space. They respect all shooters, and it has given them the second-best expected goals against per 60 (xGA/60) among all 32 teams with a total of 2.59 on the season. The numbers back up the eye test; the Orange and Black are not giving up many quality opportunities like they have in previous seasons.
Konecny Had One of His Best Games of the Season
Travis Konecny has been one of the Flyers’ best players all season, but this game was one of his best. He had his fourth multi-goal game of the season, but he was also passing effectively and skating up ice without being stopped. There are times when he looks like a true star player, and this game was certainly one of them.
Konecny was on the ice for the Flyers’ only goal against, but he also outscored Arizona by himself. In terms of pure offense, he had a very impressive game. Since his rookie season with the Flyers in 2016-17, his speed and skill was always apparent. Since that point, he has become a more reliable player. The evolution in his game is apparent over the last few seasons, and he is only continuing to get better.
There will be debates on whether the Flyers should make Konecny a part of their rebuild moving forward. Including this season, he has two seasons left on his contract and turns 27 on March 11. He is one of the players on the Flyers that they’d be both fine with keeping for the future but also trading to get a haul in return.
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He may or may not be in their plans down the line, but he is making his case this season. What’s important now is that his 14 goals have him on pace for 44 on the season, and that would put him among some of the best scorers in the league.
Flyers Able to Keep Up With Coyotes’ Pace
By no means are the Coyotes a slow team, but the Flyers were able to keep up with them in this game pretty well. They didn’t get beat by Arizona’s speed but rather matched them throughout most of the game. Against a young team in the desert, that’s exactly what you’d like to see out of Philadelphia.
The Coyotes are a team that is much further along in their rebuild than the Flyers are, with their best prospect entering this season in Logan Cooley playing in every single one of their games to this point. They have a 13-10-2 record, and will probably be entering the buyer phase sooner rather than later if that holds up. The Flyers aren’t at that stage, so hanging in there with a team that made some notable signings in the offseason is admirable.
Despite head coach John Tortorella’s negative quotes after the game, the Flyers should still be very happy with their effort. They executed well, and the Coyotes never truly had a chance of winning with the Flyers doing an excellent job of pulling away. The Flyers get a day off before they take on the 16-8-2 Colorado Avalanche on the road on Dec. 9. That will certainly be a tough one for the Flyers, facing a loaded roster in Denver.