Streaky Flyers hoping to avoid skids
While that run of Flyers success through the month of February elevated the club to a solid playoff position, perhaps it hasn’t changed their long-term outlook. That’s one of the obvious doubting questions produced by the Flyers’ threegames-and-counting losing streak, one that began with an awful home game against Carolina last Thursday then intensified over the weekend in Florida.
True, the Flyers scored six goals in earning a point against NHL front-runner Tampa Bay Saturday. The Flyers also blew a pair of two-goal leads against the Lightning. This before returning to the awful level against a Florida Panthers team that blew past them Sunday, both literally and figuratively.
Including Steven Stamkos’ shootout winner for Tampa, the Flyers have allowed 15 goals over this 0-2-1 stretch, and naturally much or most of the blame for that will be cast upon new goalie Petr Mrazek.
You know ... unless you watched a lot of those last three games.
With the exception of that bucket of goal feast in Tampa, the Flyers have been slow to crank the offensive gears lately, with a couple of factors at play.
For one, Wayne Simmonds has been on the injured list, and probably will return within the week. Or so his team’s bosses hope.
Secondly, the Flyers’ lower-line forward employees like Val Filppula, Jordan Weal, Scott Laughton, Michael Raffl, Jori Lehtera (do we have to go on? Oh, OK) ... Dale Weise and the ghost of Matt Read don’t amount to much of a hill of offensive beans.
It’s one thing to play responsible, two-way hockey on third or fourth lines, but there is some offensive talent spread among those Grade-C forwards and essentially it’s not being used.
The third factor could soon take on much more importance. That’s a Flyers defense that is again in trouble. It might soon be time for top defensive pair Shayne Gostisbehere and Ivan Provorov to increase their workload...
Is 50 minutes of ice time for them too much to ask?
Anyway, beyond that terrific top pair in danger of being burned out before the playoffs, there’s an Andrew MacDonald who hasn’t been at his best lately, though he hasn’t been nearly as culpable as the one-two self-destruction of Radko Gudas and Brandon Manning. And newcomer Johnny Oduya made his Flyers debut Sunday. It took him a little over 2½ minutes of game time before he made his first turnover boo-boo, which Aleksander Barkov turned into a Panthers goal in the blink of an eye.
The 36-year-old Oduya, who played only because MacDonald had been scratched with an undisclosed injury, barely had time to redeem himself, because he went out hurt early in the third period.
Now here’s Flyers management with an injury update... ... Yeah, that’s what we thought.
So, if MacDonald and Oduya are still ailing by Tuesday’s practice, Travis Sanheim (16 points in 14 Phantoms games) will be brought up ready to fill in for one or both.
With more seasoning, Sanheim is capable of being a dynamic force from the blue line at the NHL level just as he’s been in juniors and the minors. For now, however, he is prone to turnovers, and the Flyers as a whole in recent games have been turning the puck over far too often.
This has detracted from the start for goalie Petr Mrazek, acquired in an almost emergency move prior to the trade deadline when goalies Brian Elliott and Michal Neuvirth both went down with injuries. Mrazek had a great start for the Flyers that included a 1-0 shutout win over Montreal.
He also suffered the consequences of the last three games which not only ballooned his goals-against average but also may have deflated his confidence.
Mrazek took the blame for the Florida loss, but that he was given the start ahead of Phantoms grad Alex Lyon after that wild and exhausting game in Tampa the day before again showed how little faith coach Dave Hakstol has in playing rookie goalies in big games.
And they’re now.
It’ll be Mrazek back in net Wednesday night against Pittsburgh, which moved a point ahead of the Flyers in the Metropolitan Division standings after beating Calgary in overtime Monday night at home. But it will have to be a different Flyers team in front of him that night, one that has to return to playing a grindit-out, defense-first style instead of the wild-flail style that burst from the gates in Tampa.
Otherwise, the Penguins could make like the Panthers against the Flyers and keep their latest southbound all big games streak intact.
And now, a new Wells Fargo Center...
With a mostly lousy last three games behind them, the Flyers perhaps thought the time was right Monday to unveil plans for their home building. No, they’re not blowing up. Instead, there were excitable press release statements about how much Comcast/NBC (or is it NBC/ Comcast?) money they’re spending on the nearly 22-year-old digs.
If it’s all a little overdue it’s also something to look forward to.
“We have kept a close eye on recent introductions and upgrades across the NHL and NBA landscape,” Comcast Spectacor chairman and CEO Dave Scott said, “and designed a strategy that embodies the ‘best of the best’ arena features and advancements as we continue to elevate the customer experience at the Wells Fargo Center.”
Actually, suite renovations and WiFi upgrades began in 2016 due to the Democratic National Convention. it Maybe there’s a connection to what happened to the Democrats, since the new WiFi seemed to half-work just like the old WiFi in many areas of the old, gray building.
Anyway, over the next two years there will a new sound system installed throughout, appropriate for any gray presidential candidates to utter promises, or any old rock stars who really can’t hit the high notes any more, or any screaming non-stars selling all kinds of merchandise on the Big Screen.
There will also be an entire mezzanine level replaced with a new concourse with wall-to-wall LED monitors showing the action, along with new concessions and windows with views of the Philadelphia skyline and techno-geak toys and other amenities ...
And ... “8,000 brand new seats, featuring cup holders.” Cup holders! Wish my ‘99 Subaru had them.