In 2022, the Philadelphia Flyers fell out of the tree, hitting every last branch on the way down. They entered tonight without a victory, winless in their previous eleven. Nick Seeler enlisted as the 4LW. It’s the most out of whack lineup of them all. An uncomfortable nod to 2020-2021, when the Samuel Morin experiment didn’t work like Matt Martin on Long Island.
So what? The band plays on.
“Right now, it feels like we’re hitting rock bottom. We can’t catch a break.”
Claude Giroux; 1/22/2022
Something has to give. Are these Flyers really the worst in franchise history? Before Chuck Fletcher addresses the media regarding the team, a win would help. A victory would be more celebrated than the Ironman streak Keith Yandle ties.
How did Philadelphia do versus the Dallas Stars?
First Period
More than ten minutes expired, and the Flyers totaled one shot. A shoot-first mentality fell to the wayside; too many zone entries went to waste because of an extra pass. Into the neutral zone, cross-ice and stretch passing were there, but the Stars smothered.
With a defense-heavy lineup bleeding into the forwards, the forecheck was critical. Philadelphia was aggressive to pinch the puck in the offensive zone. Overcommitting was Rasmus Ristolainen, leaving Roope Hintz open on an area pass. Hintz, on a breakaway, scored to put Dallas on the scoreboard first.
Hintz was highlighted as the player to watch for the Stars. In his career, he averages a point per game versus the Flyers.
Second Period
Philadelphia opened the second period with a flurry from James van Riemsdyk, Claude Giroux, and Cam Atkinson. Yandle nearly set up a scoring play to van Riemsdyk in the slot, but the shot missed wide.
Through two clean periods of hockey, Ivan Provorov evened the score with a tad of luck. The puck deflected off of John Klingberg into the net. A tied game shows the fight displayed against Dallas, hoping to avoid new lows.
Daniel Briere was at the Wells Fargo Center, watching along.
“Best game I’ve seen Frosty play. I thought he was very effective.”
Mike Yeo; 1/24/2022
Max Willman, Morgan Frost, and Gerry Mayhew were grinding minutes in the second. Mayhew and Willman remain relentless. Frost excelled on defense in the neutral zone. A line of recalled players served as the Flyers identity line, tasked to set the tone. Into the third period, the scoreboard read 1-1.
“Both Gerry and Willy are super fast players so I think we all kind of just said we wanted to play with speed.”
Morgan Frost; 1/24/22
Third Period
Usually, it is the tiny details that create the big highlights. Konecny continued to buzz on the ice, hustling in the offensive zone to force takeaways. The inability to sustain pressure and constantly defending caved Philadelphia.
Carter Hart keeps the Flyers in games, but the defense finally broke late in the third period. Jacob Peterson scored the game-winner off a backdoor feed from Alexander Radulov. An empty net allowed Philadelphia a six-on-five advantage. Travis Sanheim capsized at the blue line, allowing Joe Pavelski to cash in.
The Flyers match an all-time losing streak, stretching to twelve consecutive losses. They drop another, 3-1.
Up Next
Next for the Philadelphia Flyers are the New York Islanders. They’ll take the show on the road to Long Island tomorrow at 7pm.
(Photo Credit: Alex McIntyre)
