Just Imagine How Much Ass The Flyers Are Going To Kick When They Don't Completely Forget How To Play Hockey For Extended Periods At A Time
Bruce Bennett. Getty Images.The Philadelphia Flyers have the makings of a very, very good hockey team. The issue right now is just that they are yet to play a very, very good hockey game so far this year.
There have been glimpses, for sure. Last night's win in New Jersey was one of those glimpses for like…I'd be willing to call it 30 minutes or so. As far as the first 7 games of the season go, that was probably their most "complete" performance of the season. 2 goals on the powerplay. 1/1 on the penalty kill. They put more than 30 shots on net for the first time this season. A strong forechecking game led to the eventual game winner. And they did it all, again, without Sean Couturier in the lineup.
But the thing about hockey games that many people often forget about is that there are 60 minutes in a game. And while the Flyers looked like an overall solid team for 30 of those minutes, they also looked like dog shit for the other 30. I hate to do this to him but let's just use Travis Sanheim as an example to show just how horrific the passing on this team has been.
On this first one, I have no idea what's going on here. The forwards are all long gone here already, so they put Sanheim in a shit situation to begin with. But if you're Travis Sanheim, what good is that 100 ft pass going to do anyway? It's not like you're snapping off a stretch pass to McDavid in stride. If anybody receives that pass, there's nothing they can do with it anyway. So how about you carry the puck a little into that 100 feet of open space you have, and actually make the Devils make a few defensive decisions in the neutral zone? Instead, he just launches it to no man's land, the puck ends up with New Jersey, they immediately turn up ice with numbers on the counter, the Flyers blow another 2-goal lead.
This next one is a little more difficult decision for Sanheim to make. But instead of taking another stride or so to get around the net and hit Voracek with a clean breakout pass, he just pinballs it up the boards. You'd have to have the softest hands in the league to be able to receive that bouncing puck. So it bounces off Voracek's stick, the Flyers already had 2 other forwards breaking out of the zone, ends up with New Jersey on a 4v3, and thankfully this puck ended up taking a crazy bounce off the post and somehow managed to stay out of the net.
Two sloppy turnovers that should have led to 2 goals against, but thankfully ended up only being 1 goal for New Jersey. And obviously it's not just Sanheim. But I have a lot more faith in a guy like Sanheim being able to clean up that sloppy play than I would with guys like Justin Braun and Erik Gustafsson.
The point I'm trying to make, though, is that the Flyers are shooting themselves in the dick with sloppy passing in all 3 areas of the ice. They go through stretches of these games where it looks like they're physically incapable of completing a crisp, clean pass. But even when they go through these stretches…
The 30 minutes where they look like legitimate shit kickers are enough to get them out of these games with 2 points. I mean what a play from the Captain right there. Calm, patient, nasty assist right back to Nolan who makes the Devils wish they were smart enough to grab him with the 1st overall pick in 2017. What a play.
And if just 30 minutes of really good hockey can let them bounce back from blowing a 2-goal lead and still winning in regulation, imagine what 40 minutes of really good hockey from this team would look like. Then imagine what 50 minutes of really good hockey from this team would look like. Then think about what 59 minutes and 58 seconds of really good hockey would look like from this team. Imagine what will happen when the Flyers can put together 3 full periods of hockey that looks like this.
Lindblom makes the smart decision to just get the puck deep. Scott Laughton comes flying in on the forecheck and puts the pressure on PK Subban. Lindblom forces the turnover, Farabee is there on the back doorstep to put the game away. It doesn't need to be a 100' stretch pass to spring a guy on a breakaway to get the job done. All it takes is a little bit of Hard Dick Hockey.
I know the Flyers are capable of putting together 60 minutes of HDH. You know the Flyers are capable of putting together 60 minutes of HDH. And the Flyers know they are capable of putting together 60 minutes of HDH. Once that happens, they'll go back to the team that was dummying the entire league right before the season was paused last year. For now, it'll still be super frustrating to watch this team for stretches of every night. But once some guys come back from injuries, once Chucky Fletch is able to make a trade to bring in another legitimate NHL defender, and once everything really starts to click for this team? Wagon Status confirmed.
The Other Guys
- Jersey Jimmy put on a "Just The Tip" clinic last night.
Back-to-back powerplay goals deflecting a piss missile launched by Ivan Provorov from the point. 4 powerplay goals on the season already for JvR. He's the type of guy who can get really streaky like this, which is perfect for a condensed 56-game season. So many games in so few days, this has the makings of a peak Jimmy van Reemer year.
- I thought Shayne Gostisbehere looked really good last night for his first game back. He made a few ill-advised plays with the puck, sure, but overall I thought he added a huge boost to the blueline that has been struggling lately. I think it's pretty obvious right now the top 3 guys with Myers being injured are Provorov, Ghost and Sanheim. Myers coming back eventually will help sure up that top 4. But as long as Ghost is able to keep the mistakes to a minimum, then I think Chuck Fletcher only needs to go out and find another quality defenseman in a trade instead of going all out for another stud.
- How good is it to have Brian Elliott? Devils got a couple of huge chances early in the game like a Pavel Zacha breakaway on the penalty kill. But Brian Elliott is the most reliable backup goalie in the National Hockey League, quickly shuts down those chances and gave the Flyers enough time to finally wake themselves up in that game.
- Looks like Couturier is at least skating again right now which is huge. The Flyers are deep as shit at the forward position, but there's just no way you can properly fill the hole he leaves in the lineup. So with that being the case, we can just be happy with any win while he's still injured.