Key players continuing to strike out in loss to Stars
PHILADELPHIA >> Six games into the Flyers’ season, here are some partial scores: Claude Giroux, no goals.
Shayne Gostisbehere, no goals. James van Riemsdyk, no goals.
The captain. The one-time franchise signature defenseman. And a $35 million freeagent investment.
There may be other explanations for a four-game losing streak that included a 4-1 loss Saturday to the Dallas Stars. But those struggles are high on the list.
“Certainly, it’s frustrating,” van Riemsdyk said after taking a game-high nine shots on goal. “You see all these games. One goal makes a huge difference. It’s tough right now. Obviously I am here to score goals. And it’s just not going in.”
Saturday, van Riemsdyk was on the third line with Scott Laughton and Tyler Pitlick. Not one had scored a goal through five games. That trend continued.
“I’ve got to stick with it,” van Riemsdyk said. “I am getting a lot of good looks. But unfortunately, you don’t get credit for good looks.”
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Excellent on the penalty-kill to that point, the Flyers allowed two power-play goals in Edmonton. They surrendered another Saturday.
“We could be better on the PK,” said Sean Couturier, who scored the only Flyers goal,
43 seconds into the game. “The last two games they scored at crucial times where PK couldn’t get the job done. It hurts. You can win games with a power play and you can lose games with the PK. Tonight on the PK we couldn’t get the job done and it cost us.”
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The Flyers out-shot the Stars, 39-16, holding them to one shot in the second and four in the third, including three in the final two minutes.
In Alain Vigneault’s mind, there was a value to such dominance.
“We didn’t give up a lot of chances, not a lot of shots,” the head coach said. “And we created quite a few. We didn’t spend a lot of time in our zone. We spent a lot of time in their zone. It’s not easy to create opportunities. We did. But we’ve got to find a way to make the other team pay for their mistakes.
“We have our work boots on here. As a coach, when your team is giving 100 percent of what they have, and I believe that’s what we did tonight, you have to be behind your players, support them and trust them.”
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Carter Hart shut out the Devils in his first appearance at the Wells Fargo Center this season. Saturday, he was touched for three goals on 15 shots.
“It’s tough when you don’t get many shots, and then you get a puck right in the middle of the slot,” Hart said. “It’s tough to try and find a way to stay in the game. But I am a professional and I have to find a way to stay focused for the whole game, whether I get 60 shots or five shots. I still have to find a way to prepare for each shot.”
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Sensing the Flyers had begun to settle after losing a 1-0 lead, Chris Stewart figured he’d rumble with Jamie Oleksiak. Stewart rallied to win the fight and flexed his right biceps for the camera on the way to the penalty box. Didn’t help.
“I expected to get the fans into it a little bit,” Stewart said. “But I think they out-shot us, 8-1, after that. So it kind of backfired.”
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The Flyers will be off Sunday before hosting the Vegas Golden Knights Monday night at 7.