Losing battles hurting Mrazek’s efforts in war of confidence
PHILADELPHIA » Petr Mrazek hasn’t been around here all that long, but it’s been long enough to have seen the Flyers repeatedly do what they did late in the third period against the Vegas Golden Knights Monday night.
A failed clearing attempt, a bit of a chronic malady for the Flyers of late, eventually resulted in a puck passed out to wide-open Vegas center Ryan Carpenter. One crisp shot from the circle and past Mrazek’s glove later, the Golden Knights had a 3-2 lead that they wouldn’t have much problem protecting the rest of the way.
So it’s six losses out of their last seven games for the Flyers (35-24-11, 81 points), who are getting a little desperate in their attempt to hold onto the third playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division, with the Blue Jackets (79 points), Devils (78) and Panthers (77) right behind.
Even from a wild card perspective, no one should feel comfortable now in the Flyers’ locker room, as evidenced by Shayne Gostisbehere’s slice of honesty after this latest loss.
“Uh, yeah, we were pretty pissed,” Gostisbehere said. “We’re letting these games get away from us right now and it’s March. We can’t be doing this. We need point we can get.”
That includes the one point that teams get for not losing in regulation time. Those that old coach Bill Barber would say players should “cherish,” even if they can be doubled down upon in overtime (or a shootout now).
Over the past three games, two of those cherishable points have escaped the Flyers, losing a game with 22 seconds left in regulation in Boston last Thursday, and losing to the Golden Knights Monday night with 2:40 remaining.
Both times, the opposition’s goals came on a lost battle along the boards behind every the Flyers’ net. With a little more caution and effort, both lost points would have had the Flyers feeling a lot more comfortable in the Metro and wild card standings than they feel now.
The lost regulation point Monday came when first Val Filppula failed to clear the defensive zone when he should have, which led to Wayne Simmonds losing a puck battle along the back boards to ex-teammate Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. Two passes later, Carpenter ripped a wrist shot past the glove of Mrazek, who again had a decent but far from great night.
Mrazek started 3-0 with the Flyers while they were on a run of 10-0-2. Mrazek is now 4-4-1 with his new team, which is sinking fast and acting like it.
“Any night you don’t get any points, it’s frustrating for everyone,” the Flyers’ fill-in goalie said. “We have to stay positive. Playing every game 60 minutes, playing hard ... if you’re going to play every game like that, you’re going to get the results.”
Mrazek made a boo-boo on the Knights’ first goal, blocking a cross-slot pass with his stick, but knocking the puck right by himself in the process. And on the game-winner by Carpenter, well, it was a good shot ... but it did go right past the glove.
“That’s a tough one to put on a goaltender,” said head coach Dave Hakstol. “He was trying to do the right thing. Obviously, he can execute it differently and better and obviously you want to do that, but that’s a pretty tough, quick play from below the goal line.”
One that shouldn’t have happened in the first place.
On that latest lost board battle that wound up playing a large part in deciding a game, Simmonds said, “It was a battle on the wall, and we’re all battling. So we have to do a better job on the battles.”
If they don’t do so soon, they might find themselves losing the playoff standings war.