With 13:11 left in the 3rd, the Kings scored what they thought was their 4th goal of the night. But, Dave Hakstol challenged the play after his goalie was outraged on the ice.
Brian Elliott was beside himself about the no call on the ice. Kings Dustin Brown was in the crease and had his stick on Elliott’s blocker.
It took about 4 minutes, but referee Brad Meier skated to right below the Wells Fargo wording at center-ice and said “It has been determined that there was goalie interference, NO GOAL.”
For the first time this season, the Flyers came out on the right side of the goalie interference challenge. The Flyers have been pegged by the inconsistent rule all year.
However, they finally got it right tonight. It didn’t effect the outcome of the game, but it is a start for a Flyers team that can’t seem to get lucky on these calls.
Here are 4 more observations from the Flyers 4-1 loss to the Kings…
Sloppy Start
In the first 10 minutes of the game, the Flyers had trouble handling the puck and leaving their own zone. Something that has plagued the Flyers against teams that like to stack the blue-line and make you pass around them.
“I thought we came out a little flat.” Couturier said. “Didn’t have the jump that we usually do.”
The Flyers are a team that love to skate up through center or use their famous drop pass to a charging forward coming out of the zone. The Kings did a tremendous job tonight, blocking the Flyers from doing this.
To make matters worse, the Kings capitalized on the Flyers sloppy start by scoring in the first 6 minutes of the games.
Turnovers
The Flyers had issues with the turnover bug against the Kings. However, that does not take away the great team effort the Kings put forth against the Flyers.
“I think there was more turnovers in the third period when we pushed to try to tie the game, especially after that third goal.” Voracek said. “We try to push obviously though everything and sometimes it happens.”
For the game, the Flyers gave the puck up 5 times. It may not seem like much, but the turnovers came at bad times for the Flyers. 2 of the Kings 4 goals were off Flyers turnovers. This was the ultimate difference in the game tonight for the Flyers.
“It wasn’t our best effort. We have to be better for sure.” Couturier said. “Just better to forget this one and think about the next one.”
Penalty Kill
A unit that has gone unnoticed over the Flyers win streak is the penalty kill. After giving up 14 goals in November, the penalty kill has only given up 1 goal in December. In December, the Flyers penalty kill is 12 for 13.
The Flyers penalty kill has been up and down all season. However, dating back to the final few games of the losing streak, the Flyers penalty kill units started to turn it around.
In the first 6 games of the losing streak, the Flyers gave up 8 goals, 16 of 24. In the final 4 games, the Flyers gave up 3 goals, 12 of 15. A massive turn-around that helped propel the Flyers to a 6-game winning streak.
No Record This Time
With the Flyers loss last night, it ended a 6-game win streak the team was riding. However, what the Flyers were trying to accomplish tonight wasn’t just their 7th straight win. No. They could have become the 2nd team in NHL history to win 7 straight directly after losing 10 straight. I guess the hockey gods weren’t as rewarding as they have been the last couple of games.
Result : Flyers 1 – Kings 4, LOSS
Record : 14 – 12 – 7
Next Game : 12/20 Detroit Red Wings, Philadelphia PA, 8:00pm
Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
