As usual, problems for Flyers start in goal
If you are what your goaltending is, the Flyers are a mess.
Their first order of postseason business should be identifying who the goaltender is going to be going forward, not which defenseman to pair with Ivan Provorov or how to get rid of high-priced veterans tactfully.
It’s going to take some outside consultants to help evaluate the goaltending position properly because what happened Saturday at Wells Fargo Center was unacceptable on the part of Flyers management.
Carter Hart, who was just finding his groove, “tweaked” a lower body injury he incurred late in the shootout win over the Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday. Thus, he was unable to play Saturday, per coach Alain Vigneault.
With Brian Elliott scheduled to play Sunday at home against the New York Islanders, Vigneault opted to start 28-year-old Phantoms goalie Alex Lyon, who played like he’d only had 10 career NHL starts and didn’t deserve an 11th in a 6-3 loss to the Washington Capitals. Most of the goals Lyon allowed entered the net on his right side. Even if Lyon had kept up with the scouting matchups, he was no match for Alex Ovechkin, who drilled two shots past the overmatched goalie.
“It was exceptionally difficult,” said Lyon, explaining that he typically needs at least a day to get ready for a start. “I take pride in my preparation, but at the same time, that’s what I get paid to do, and that’s my role on this team. So, it comes with the territory.”
Let’s give Lyon credit for being transparent. Let’s also be honest. When you get your chance, you’ve got to get it done. And Lyon basically demonstrated why he’s a minor leaguer, with all due respect.
The Flyers didn’t exactly make it easy for Lyon or the rest of the team they keep urging to play hard. Injuries can worsen in a New York minute, as former Rangers coach Vigneault realizes. So, if
Hart was feeling something following his Thursday start, why in the world wouldn’t you have Brian Elliott ready?
The 36-year-old Elliott was told to take Saturday off, that he would play Sunday, and thanks for everything you do.
Well, Moose didn’t get the day off because Vigneault didn’t think the goalie situation through.
Elliott was basically yanked off his skates at the training complex in Voorhees and told to hustle over to the Center to back up Lyon. Elliott wasn’t available to talk about the experience, and Vigneault chose his words carefully.
“We were aware of it, he practiced yesterday and everything seemed fine,” Vigneault said of Hart. “But when he was warming up, he told (trainer Jim McCrossin) he couldn’t go. So, around 11 o’clock we told Alex he was coming in. We called back at the practice facility where Moose had just finished
skating and told him to come back up.”
Instead of come back up, it should have been get in there and play. Wouldn’t have mattered, though. Ovechkin buried two slapshots trailing smoke on the power play to lead the Caps to their fifth straight win in the series.
NHL goal No. 729 for Ovechkin sizzled off the left goalpost and pinballed around the net with 16:22 left in the first period.
All Lyon saw was the red light.
Goal No. 730 for Ovechkin looked like a replay of the first goal. So impressed was Flyers rookie winger Wade Allison, who notched his first
NHL goal, he proclaimed Ovechkin, “the greatest goal scorer ever.”
Time will tell on that. It also will show how good the surging Capitals really are. They didn’t play their best yet answered every Flyers goal with one of their own. They burst out of the blocks to start each period. They were trading looks at the empty net down the homestretch.
Though the Flyers tied the game twice on goals by Ivan Provorov and James
van Riemsdyk, for the most part the team was a step slow and a foot from jamming up goalie Ilya Samsonov, who stopped 22 shots.
“We put Alex in a real tough spot, and we didn’t play real well in front of him,” Vigneault said. “Obviously, they’re a good team and they’re capable of making a lot of plays. But we spent far too much time in our zone defending and we gave them a power play goal off a faceoff. We’re going to have to re-energize, regroup and get ready for tomorrow’s game.”
Also unavailable for the Flyers Saturday was winger Nolan Patrick, hit in the head with the puck Thursday. Vigneault said the trainer and Patrick felt it better to take another game off. Patrick’s availability for Sunday is uncertain.
Either way, the goalie issue remains. The Flyers have but 12 games remaining in what will be another non-playoff season. It would be the fifth time in nine years that happened.
Over that time and long before, through various
management administrations, the Flyers’ mishandling and mis-evaluation of their goaltenders has underscored every season story. Typically, the Flyers won a playoff round last year with essentially the same team, and did very little to get better.
Unless the Flyers anticipate a scorching finish this season (and if somebody does, let them step forward now), with Hart ailing and Elliott only productive when he has the proper rest between games, this would be a good time to look at their option at Lehigh Valley.
What’s the problem with taking a longer, harder look at Felix Sandstrom, the highly regarded draft pick?
Lyon got his chance. He did the best he could under the circumstances. He is who we thought he is. And that’s not good enough for Vigneault and general manager Chuck Fletcher to put on the ice against Ovechkin.