Flyers Start Home Stand With A Win Over Montreal So Let's Just Forget I Said Anything Bad About Them
Final Score: Flyers 3, Habs 1 | (26-20-6)
I believe the exact words I used yesterday were “I don’t give a shit about the 2016-17 Philadelphia Flyers team anymore” after Dave Hakstol scratched Ghost for the 3rd time this season and Travis Konecny for the 2nd time. HOWEVA… Barstool Sports is a comedy website so obviously that was just a joke. And I’m never one to toot my own horn but did my scathing review yesterday–which to emphasize again was just a joke–inspire the Flyers to finally put together a pretty decent game last night? Seems a little than just a coincidence to me.
Game 1 of a 5-game home stand in the books. Starting this thing off with a win is huge. Granted, it wasn’t the prettiest of games. There was a lack of excitement and the game really never got any real buzz to it. But the Flyers have shown this year that they are as streaky as it gets. That’s both a good thing and a bad thing. Can a win last night catapult them to a few more wins during this homestand? For sure. There’s still another losing streak coming around the corner but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, the Flyers were able to overcome a pretty lackluster 1st period and finish strong in the final 40. Like I said, it never felt like the game really got going but they did enough to stay in control after giving up the early lead and that’s a step in the right direction after Tuesday night’s abomination. So let’s get to some highlights.
Claude Giroux Must Own Stock In PECO
For as bad as Claude Giroux has been in his own zone this season, that’s how good he’s been on the powerplay. Granted he gets a ton of help here from Price getting double screened by Markov and Simmonds. And even with the screens he still almost got his glove on it. But still. You get the puck on net and eventually good things will happen. How many times have the Flyers missed the net on the powerplay this year? How many times do they set up for a one-timer only to miss by 5 feet and have the puck wrap around the boards all the way out of the zone? It’s every fucking powerplay and it’s infuriating. But Giroux takes the extra half second here to set up shop, knows that Simmonds is doing his job in front to take up real estate, and puts it on target. I’m not a “SHOOOOOT!!!!” guy, but I am a “shoot the right way and make sure it gets on net!!!” type of guy.
Matt Read. Big Russ Tyler Guy
Again, a pretty uncharacteristic goal for Carey Price to give up but the way he’s been playing this year, any goal you score against him is uncharacteristic. But Matt Read manages to get ahold of this one with the puck on its edge and SMOKES it by Price. That thing was on a rope and I haven’t seen a knuckle puck that lethal since D2. And again, this is just another example of the Flyers getting shots on target and getting some bounces going their way. Read was thinking shoot as soon as he crossed the blueline here. There are a few guys on this team (cough, Voracek, cough) who would think about making that pass to Couturier here even with Shea Weber all up in his shit. Shea Weber is a pretty decent defenseman, not sure if you’ve ever heard of him. But Read knows that play isnt’ there so he just goes bombs away instead. Funny how that works out some times….
Needs Improvement:
If this clip looks like one chaotic mess to you, it’s because it is. The 1st lines’ play in the defensive zone continues to be something seriously flawed in the Flyers game right now. As soon as they get trapped in their own zone, they just start skating around like deranged drunks playing beer league. Anything longer than 10 seconds in the the D-zone for this group and there’s a good chance the puck is ending up in the back of the net. Clearly the line is a little jumbled here with Weise still out there but it’s been an issue for much longer than just this one goal. Like I said before, the team did a great job at not letting the early goal snowball into anything worse. So that’s a little inspiring. But that line still needs to be better.
Ghost And Young Travis
“So then I says to Hak, “hey bud. If ya love VandeVelde so much, why don’t you marry him?””
I defended Hakstol when he scratched both of these guys the first time around. Both of them needed a chance to watch the game from above and use the learning experience. But there was no defending the move yesterday. If Hakstol wanted to bench the guys who played like shit against Carolina, there are at least 17 other guys that should have been in the press box last night. Even with the Flyers grabbing the win, it wasn’t because of Hakstol. It wasn’t because Dale Weise and Nick Schultz were in the lineup. It wasn’t because Travis Konecny and Shayne Gostisbehere were out of the lineup. The Flyers finally got some bounces to go their way in the 2nd and 3rd periods while the Canadiens regressed last night. And that’s all there is to it.
With that being said… I’m pretty sure the Flyers are now 2-1 when Shayne Gostisbehere is scratched. That puts them on pace for at least a 109 pt season and that’s not even counting points for overtime losses. People lie, numbers don’t. Trade Shayne Gostisbehere for Zac Rinaldo so we can finally get some heart on this team again.